<p>oh, lol, probably. i really have no idea what i’m doing when it comes to apps. 
But my stuff doesn’t really fit under an art/music category, so i might just shove it all together just to be on the safe side, lol.</p>
<p>Hello, please add me to the Princeton ED roster. I’m from Massachusetts but I go to boarding school in New Hampshire. If accepted (rather large ‘if’), I will likely do the East Asian Studies program coupled with either political science or economics.</p>
<p>tell us about yourself in a way that we can get to know who you are, cfunkexonian</p>
<p>not that i’ve ever seen that statement anywhere before. :)</p>
<p>Roster:</p>
<ol>
<li>frozen-tears</li>
<li>notfadeaway</li>
<li>■■■■■■■■1010</li>
<li>HELTAHIR</li>
<li>magnusrex</li>
<li>amnesia</li>
<li>koala717</li>
<li>princeton2010</li>
<li>callthecops</li>
<li>primitivefuture</li>
<li>ThePolishDude</li>
<li>pinkdillo</li>
<li>Rhamster</li>
<li>sparkledust</li>
<li>toothfairy</li>
<li>cfunkexonian</li>
</ol>
<p>lol, notfadeaway.</p>
<p>I just counted up my essays not including the ones for schools that haven’t released apps yet, and I’m getting a total of 14. I’m hoping I can get some good overlap there!</p>
<p>oh hmm… well I’m a Chinese-American male, originally from Suzhou, China (not the most well-known city, but it’s often been called the “Venice of China” for its waterways and gardens). I’m pretty laid back for the most part. My favorite magazine is The Economist and my favorite movie is Thirteen Days. </p>
<p>I was wondering… sure we all love Princeton for good reasons, its strong undergraduate focus, excellence in programs across the board, proximity to new york city, beautiful campus etc. but in my experience it seems like a lot of people fall in love with one school for odd, often silly reasons. In my case I was dazzled by the beautiful row of cherry blossoms in front of Robertson Hall when I visited in the spring. The parking lot is also quite nice. :-)</p>
<p>Is it just me, though? Does anyone else have some silly reason they fell in love with Princeton? Often the little things are what matter.</p>
<p>Hehe, I’m considering Princeton ED, but I’m still reluctant to be bound by the stupid ED terms. I’d love to know why you all had decided to apply ED, and (should you be accepted) limit yourself to one school. I’m concerned about aid mostly. Thoughts? Oh, and any prospective math majors? :-)</p>
<p>Ooh, cfunkexonian, I know where that is! My parents’ families used to vacation there all the time when they were kids, though I’ve never been outside the US. The waterways are supposed to be beautiful, full of fish and waterlilies, and you can take boat rides and have people dive for water chestnuts…right? And like… my mom hid out at the inns there, a couple of days each, when communist assassins were hunting for their family.</p>
<p>Do you speak the dialect? If you do, I <em>should</em> be able to understand it – I speak Shanghainese. Er… to an extent… (Like elementary schoolkid language, lol)</p>
<p>Isn’t there supposed to be a saying like “In Heaven, there is Paradise; on Earth, there is Suzhou”?</p>
<p>I’m applying early to Princeton because I absolutely love it and I know that if I were accepted, I would definitely go there.
Too bad I won’t get in, though. ;)</p>
<p>Silly reasons I love Princeton? Hmmm… well, I’ve run in several indoor track meets in Jadwin Gym (their indoor track/stadium). We won the Group 2 State Champ 4x800 meter relay there. :)</p>
<p>And they have a little store that sells power bars. Damn, I am addicted to those things! :p</p>
<p>Power bars? Those are alright… have you tried Zone Perfect bars? Those are really addictive.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well… Princeton has a huge per capita endowment and has excellent need-based financial aid – no loans, just grants and work-study. However, applying early could decrease the amount of money they decide to give you, since you’re more or less locked in if you’re accepted and have to go there no matter what you pay.</p>
<p>I’m applying ED because Princeton is my #1 school, and even if I were accepted to every school on my list, I would still choose Pton. =) I don’t qualify for need-based aid, so no worries there. And of course, I kinda just want to get the decision process over early, so that I don’t have to be a frazzled mess in April, when all of the important state/national competitions are. It’s my last year, and I want to do well!</p>
<p>Haha wow frozen-tears, that’s really cool. And yeah, I speak some Suzhou-nese, which is very similar to the Shanghai dialect. I could understand it if you spoke it, or if your parents were conversing. And yea that’s awesome you know about the saying. it’s actually about both suzhou and hangzhou. Roughly translated, it means, “In the heavens above there is paradise, on the earth below lie Suzhou and Hangzhou.” shang you tian tang, xia you su hang. </p>
<p>Communist assassins? Hiding in Inns? Were they former landowners or intellectual dissidents? I’d love to hear the story sometime.</p>
<p>hmmm… Zone Perfect bars? Never heard of them. I’ll have to avoid them, though… i can’t imagine juggling an obsession with two types of energy bars, i’d gain ten pounds a day! hehe</p>
<p>=) My grandparents on my mom’s side were old money from Ningbo; my grandfather was the youngest son, though, so he didn’t inherit a lot. My grandmother, though, was from a plantation of sorts. So… they moved to Shanghai and started a textile business with my great uncle and became quite wealthy.
My dad’s side of the family were kind of nouveau riche, but there was a scandal with my grandmother (hushhush, lol). Um… my grandfather was a doctor, but he was also an underground Christian missionary, which is a huge no-no with Mr. Mao.
Of course… the houses got ransacked, antiques destroyed, gold stolen, mirrors broken, words scrawled over walls, family dissipated. Currently, we still own the houses at quite recognizable street addresses, but the government is making my uncle’s family (the only members of my family still living there) share the house with 3 other families because “one family doesn’t need so much space.” No idea where my dad’s family is; they could still be in Shanghai, dead, or in the country.
There’s a long story behind it, but I think it might be too boring, lol. PM me sometime.</p>
<p>cool frozen tears and cfunkexonian. if we make it in we can swap stories. i posted mine, and then decided to delete it. my family is from shanghai and hong kong…too bad i only speak mandarin 
but i can kind of understand cantonese. </p>
<p>oh yeah: my mom was just telling me about that saying like last week.</p>
<p>lol… I wish I could speak mandarin. I can understand just a little, but I can’t speak it at all.</p>
<p>“Ooh, cfunkexonian, I know where that is! My parents’ families used to vacation there all the time when they were kids, though I’ve never been outside the US. The waterways are supposed to be beautiful, full of fish and waterlilies, and you can take boat rides and have people dive for water chestnuts…right”</p>
<p>haha when i went there the waterways were quite polluted and dirty…</p>
<p>and add me to the list!! im applying ED…</p>
<ol>
<li>frozen-tears</li>
<li>notfadeaway</li>
<li>■■■■■■■■1010</li>
<li>HELTAHIR</li>
<li>magnusrex</li>
<li>amnesia</li>
<li>koala717</li>
<li>princeton2010</li>
<li>callthecops</li>
<li>primitivefuture</li>
<li>ThePolishDude</li>
<li>pinkdillo</li>
<li>Rhamster</li>
<li>sparkledust</li>
<li>toothfairy</li>
<li>cfunkexonian</li>
<li>jay01</li>
</ol>
<p>one more in the ED family…good luck jay01 :)</p>
<p>I am also considering applying ED to Princeton, I am a Chinese and stutying at a well-known prep school in CT. I know that Pton has the best physics department in the nation, and I really want to be part of it even though it will be very difficult for me. Nice to meet every one here.</p>
<p>Mmm… Pton did have Einstein and Feynman, but I’ll have to concede that the tech schools have better physics departments. But what Pton does offer is the best undergraduate education in the nation! :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sigh… I guess things have changed in the past 30-40 years… =</p>
<p>Haha yeah the waterways nowadays are murkyish brown. But in recent years the amount of foreign direct investment in Suzhou has skyrocketed, and they’ve built beautiful castle-like towers and bridges along the river that light up at night. It’s not the same ancient philosophical sort of beauty, but still pretty nonetheless. </p>
<p>Ha and ya I look forward to swapping stories at Princeton. My parents are both native Suzhou-nese, but my maternal grandparents are from Shanghai and my paternal grandfather is from Beijing. </p>
<p>Are any of you guys thinking of taking Chinese at Princeton? I’ve heard that the department is spectacular and the study abroad opportunities at Bei Da are just as good.</p>