Princeton has 8 suicides in 3 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suicides are at all schools. but more common at "top" schools.. I am guessing the reason is obvious. So sad nonetheless

Pleas site sources where it’s more common at top schools

My one kid attends school ranked in the 80s. Only heard of 1 suicide there in the last 6-7 years. My alma mater is T10, had 9 suicides in ~5 years.
Sure that's antidotal, but both schools are similar size, within 100 miles/same weather/etc. Difference is one is a T10 pressure cooker, the other isn't the typical pressure cooker (but still has strivers and plenty of good smart kids).

You went to a top 10 school and don’t know that the word is anecdotal?

[Anonymous]

I know a kid at Princeton who complained frequently about grade deflation to a friend (my kid). They survived TJ but Princeton broke them to tears! Parents should think twice before sending their kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid at Princeton who complained frequently about grade deflation to a friend (my kid). They survived TJ but Princeton broke them to tears! Parents should think twice before sending their kids there.

💯
It’s like the like torturing kids with grades. It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Current student here, class of 2025. I am trying to gather more information as time goes by but it is heartbreaking. Justin Lim '25 and Jazz Chang '23 passed away in the same week (mental health). Jaqueline Gonzalez '25 passed away due to a prolonged illness. Misrach Ewunetie '24 passed away by suicide, similarly to grad student Maura Coursey. They both used pills and one was deemed an "accidental" due to mixed drug toxicity. Sophia Jones '27 as well by suicide. James Li '27 we are not sure yet. James' brother incent Li, died by suicide when he was struck by a train in 2017. What I can say is, Princeton is difficult and there is not a lot of talk about it. We are expected to know, to learn, and to succeed. It sucks to have these vague emails about someone's passing and no acknowledgment that there is a mental health epidemic we need to address. We need effective programs. Some schools are doing wonderful things for their students to feel a sense of joy and happiness...we need to learn from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current student here, class of 2025. I am trying to gather more information as time goes by but it is heartbreaking. Justin Lim '25 and Jazz Chang '23 passed away in the same week (mental health). Jaqueline Gonzalez '25 passed away due to a prolonged illness. Misrach Ewunetie '24 passed away by suicide, similarly to grad student Maura Coursey. They both used pills and one was deemed an "accidental" due to mixed drug toxicity. Sophia Jones '27 as well by suicide. James Li '27 we are not sure yet. James' brother incent Li, died by suicide when he was struck by a train in 2017. What I can say is, Princeton is difficult and there is not a lot of talk about it. We are expected to know, to learn, and to succeed. It sucks to have these vague emails about someone's passing and no acknowledgment that there is a mental health epidemic we need to address. We need effective programs. Some schools are doing wonderful things for their students to feel a sense of joy and happiness...we need to learn from them.

What kinds of things? What specifically do the programs do that help reach these students?

[Anonymous]

I went down an online rabbit trail the other night, reading about the Princeton creative writing instructor who has now lost both of her sons (her only children).
Each was struck by a train before they were 20 years old. One was a senior in high school and one a freshman at Princeton.
She wrote extensively about grief following the first loss and now it happened a second time.
It is haunting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is sad, news of suicides mostly came from U of Penn and Cornell, Princeton was supposed to be a better place for mental health support.

"Mental health support" is a myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not just the Ivies. NC State had 14 student deaths last year, at least 7 confirmed suicides. UGA had a student suicide yesterday (and a murder today) Unimaginable heartbreak for all involved.

But Princeton has our important elites.

[Anonymous]

OMG PP you are not being helpful. To the Princeton student-I wish you well. We visited campus and it is beautiful. I hope you are able to find time for some fun and don’t over stress on grades.

[Anonymous]

This article talks about how WPI took a real hard look at itself, and made changes after a number of suicides.
Other schools could learn from them.




https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/magazine/worcester-polytechnic-institute-suicides.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Pk0.CYuQ.AAthuL6vq29U

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went down an online rabbit trail the other night, reading about the Princeton creative writing instructor who has now lost both of her sons (her only children).
Each was struck by a train before they were 20 years old. One was a senior in high school and one a freshman at Princeton.
She wrote extensively about grief following the first loss and now it happened a second time.
It is haunting.

Her older son was a sophomore in HS, and he died right after they moved to Princeton from the Bay Area.

[Anonymous]

Grade deflation is not causing suicides. 18 years of coddling and failure to face any challenge and develop resiliency causes suicides. Parents shouldn't blame college's honesty for their failures.

I don’t disagree, but I think it is more than this - kids need more social connections away from devices. Most connections today are either online or in competitive environments (sports/clubs).

[Anonymous]

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return

Interestingly, Princeton has relatively low retention rate compared to other top schools, lower than UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just the Ivies. NC State had 14 student deaths last year, at least 7 confirmed suicides. UGA had a student suicide yesterday (and a murder today) Unimaginable heartbreak for all involved.

But Princeton has our important elites.

No, MIT and CalTEch do.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, it seems some students are just not ready for college and especially not ready for a competitive pressure cooker college for whatever reasons. Perhaps they push through high school to get the top grades, EC’s etc and then are just burnt out. Perhaps they think an elite college is the ultimate prize at the end of high school and once they are in they feel their work is done only to find out that they have to continue to grind and the pressure is even more intense. I don’t know. Just wondering. It’s really sad.