Princeton scea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton seems like a weird place to me now. The admissions department is run by minorities and generally super woke but they make room (grudgingly?) for legacies and athletes. Then most of the kids end up in tough STEM majors like CS where the faculty grade rigorously and many of the kids who thought they won the lottery end up miserable and wishing they’d gone elsewhere.

Is that perception inaccurate?

Nope, I was shocked by the reports from my kids’ friends last year when they were freshmen, especially since I grew up in Princeton and remember how the school was 30 years ago. Now, super hard stem classes and extreme grade deflation. Absence of social kids. Then I heard about the six suicides in three years, and concluded it wasn’t the same Princeton I remember. Hopefully they are taking steps to make it more enjoyable.

[Anonymous]

Yes, that is my observation as well, lots of legacies with the bare minimum stats for Princeton who end up in STEM majors and subsequently get crushed by material they can barely handle and end up pretty unhappy. Behind the scenes is typically some over-bearing (legacy) parent who pushed the kid into an institution and place he didn’t really belong. Heartbreaking to watch actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton seems like a weird place to me now. The admissions department is run by minorities and generally super woke but they make room (grudgingly?) for legacies and athletes. Then most of the kids end up in tough STEM majors like CS where the faculty grade rigorously and many of the kids who thought they won the lottery end up miserable and wishing they’d gone elsewhere.

Is that perception inaccurate?

It seems like a pretty unpleasant place these days. I'm an alum and my spouse is staff. DC (2026) has a good chance of getting in but doesn't want to go, and I may discourage them from applying because if they get in they would probably feel pressure to go, and I think they'd be happier at a SLAC.

[Anonymous]

Admissions officers now admit kids who can't do the work but expect them to survive. Then reject kids who would excel. It's messed up and results in mental health issues on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that is my observation as well, lots of legacies with the bare minimum stats for Princeton who end up in STEM majors and subsequently get crushed by material they can barely handle and end up pretty unhappy. Behind the scenes is typically some over-bearing (legacy) parent who pushed the kid into an institution and place he didn’t really belong. Heartbreaking to watch actually.

I am the poster who relayed my daughter’s friends’ experience. None are legacies and they were strong students at an academically rigorous private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Admissions officers now admit kids who can't do the work but expect them to survive. Then reject kids who would excel. It's messed up and results in mental health issues on campus.

I don’t think any of the students who committed suicide were hooked, most were Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton seems like a weird place to me now. The admissions department is run by minorities and generally super woke but they make room (grudgingly?) for legacies and athletes. Then most of the kids end up in tough STEM majors like CS where the faculty grade rigorously and many of the kids who thought they won the lottery end up miserable and wishing they’d gone elsewhere.

Is that perception inaccurate?

Minorities?! With jobs?! Omg what has become of this place!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions officers now admit kids who can't do the work but expect them to survive. Then reject kids who would excel. It's messed up and results in mental health issues on campus.

I don’t think any of the students who committed suicide were hooked, most were Asian.

Well two were faculty kids, so yeah I’d say they were hooked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that is my observation as well, lots of legacies with the bare minimum stats for Princeton who end up in STEM majors and subsequently get crushed by material they can barely handle and end up pretty unhappy. Behind the scenes is typically some over-bearing (legacy) parent who pushed the kid into an institution and place he didn’t really belong. Heartbreaking to watch actually.

I don't think this is true of legacies necessarily. Legacies are, after all, children of smart people and are generally privileged. Because of that privilege, they are disproportionately likely to major in the humanities or social sciences. I think it's a toxic combination of grade deflation, immense pressure on many to major in STEM, minorities/low-income folks who have potential but are coming in with less preparation than UMC/UC students, and many (not all) athletes who are academically overmatched.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that is my observation as well, lots of legacies with the bare minimum stats for Princeton who end up in STEM majors and subsequently get crushed by material they can barely handle and end up pretty unhappy. Behind the scenes is typically some over-bearing (legacy) parent who pushed the kid into an institution and place he didn’t really belong. Heartbreaking to watch actually.

I don't think this is true of legacies necessarily. Legacies are, after all, children of smart people and are generally privileged. Because of that privilege, they are disproportionately likely to major in the humanities or social sciences. I think it's a toxic combination of grade deflation, immense pressure on many to major in STEM, minorities/low-income folks who have potential but are coming in with less preparation than UMC/UC students, and many (not all) athletes who are academically overmatched.

It’s not as if some kids are sailing by with 100s on every test because they are not legacies or urm. In general chemistry and calc 1, it is common for the class average on a test to be well below 50 percent. It’s curved upward, but this can be most devastating to the kids who were valedictorians and never struggled before coming to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions officers now admit kids who can't do the work but expect them to survive. Then reject kids who would excel. It's messed up and results in mental health issues on campus.

I don’t think any of the students who committed suicide were hooked, most were Asian.

Of the 5 names I saw, 1 was black, 1 Hispanic, 2 Asian and 1 white (in 2023)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions officers now admit kids who can't do the work but expect them to survive. Then reject kids who would excel. It's messed up and results in mental health issues on campus.

I don’t think any of the students who committed suicide were hooked, most were Asian.

Of the 5 names I saw, 1 was black, 1 Hispanic, 2 Asian and 1 white (in 2023)

I know of more Asian students than this.

[Anonymous]

Daughter accepted. Hope it’s not as bad as posters describe. She’s SPIA, and finance likely.

[Anonymous]

My DD got rejected. She has great stats- good GPA, perfect SAT, good ECs (published paper, some awards, plays sport). Goes to a very competitive school in DMV. She is worried if something is wrong with her application. SHe was not expecting to get in but thought will be deferred.. Her essays also seemed ok to me. She is worried about other applications now..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD got rejected. She has great stats- good GPA, perfect SAT, good ECs (published paper, some awards, plays sport). Goes to a very competitive school in DMV. She is worried if something is wrong with her application. SHe was not expecting to get in but thought will be deferred.. Her essays also seemed ok to me. She is worried about other applications now..

Applying to Princeton without either strong legacy support or as a recruited athlete, the assumption should be that you won't be admitted. If your daughter attends a very competitive school, she likely has access to a staff person at the school who can review her application and reassure you and your daughter of the strength of the application.