Reply to Princeton has 8 suicides in 3 years

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]

I think it’s more that it is very difficult to live in a highly pressured situation surrounded by so many type A students — there are very few counterbalancing influences telling you to chill or that it doesn’t matter, and the living environment is chaotic and unhealthy too. It doesn’t matter how “ready” a student is, it’s just a very stressful situation for a kid who is probably already the amped-up, conscientious type. [/quote]

I recall a single student suicide during my four years at Princeton, and the school now has far more "creature comforts" and support systems for students than when I attended.

As far as I can tell, about 80-85% of this has to do with the profile/mental state of current students when they arrive on campus and perhaps 15-20% with the competitive environment once they are there.  [/quote]

Princeton made a concerted effort over the past decade to admit more students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

My guess is that some are not prepared for the rigor or the class differences and the stress it can cause. Being a financial aid student at Princeton, where probably 40-50% of the class are the progeny of millionaires and billionaires, can be tough.

My kids attend Big 3 schools and recent graduates who attended Princeton have described it as a cakewalk in comparison to the demands placed on them in high school.

Back in the day, the average GPA at Princeton was around 3.7 so if it’s now 3.5,it has gone down.[/quote]

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