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E-PrinceAs a freshman in high school, Yujhan Claros ’10, the son of Salvadorian immigrants who never attended high school, placed a voice recording expressing his desire one day to attend Princeton into a time capsule. Four years later, Claros’ hopes ...(back to the article)
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And this information is new because....
Yujhan seems cool though
It's not new info, no, but it's something that Princeton doesn't acknowledge as much as it could. Coming from a lower-income background is a HUGE culture shock. Looking back on my first semester here, I really wish I could have had someone to turn to about these issues, but really, I just didn't know what to do. We like to pretend here that everyone is on an equal playing field once we're here but psychologically, that's really not true.
I liked this article, but there should be more (maybe a separate article or some editorials/columns) about the horrendous first-year advising system. Most advisors have no idea what they're doing, and they can really screw up someone's future academic path by giving horrible advice.
Come to think of it, this would be a good issue for the USG to work on - too bad they're too busy trying to look all high-and-mighty with this referrendum.
My husband ‘75, and recently immigrated from South America, attended Princeton with financial aid (loans) and "work study." Among his many jobs he cleaned houses in Princeton. Jobs provided through PU. (Everyone isn’t equal.) Except for his father’s limited English, none spoke English when they arrived in New York. They thought Ivy referred to vines. Seven years later he was at Princeton. Other students were rich or well off and he wasn’t. And his attitude, SO WHAT.
Being a low-income student is not a new phenomenon. Everyone finds his or her way eventually. It's college, not a magic kingdom.
Woo! El Salvador!
Think this is a big deal? Ask all the foreign kids on campus - they have to go through MUCH MUCH MUCH more. So please stop bitching, you have NOTHING to complain about.
This article is slightly ridiculous. Marta Tienda claims she was "bewildered" by all of those aspects of college life...well, there I was freshman year, son of two grads from small Midwest colleges, and I had to adjust to communal living, classes in different buildings, etc. all the same. Tienda is just using parents-not-attending-college as a proxy for something else...lower socioeconomic status perhaps? That would be sort of absurd, too, since not attending college doesn't necessarily imply a lack of success.
And as for Liu's last comment...what do you think, that parents are constantly grilling their kids about exactly what they should expect college to be? My parents never did that to me. This article pretends that parents' college attendance somehow translates into kids being completely prepared for college life, which it does not. Perhaps being a legacy admit is a better predictor of this (at least in terms of being familiar with/prepared for Princeton).
claros went from a poor town in NJ where over half the kids dont go to college to exeter and found that transition less difficult than exeter to here?
i want to hear more about how thats possible
I found the fact that the student who went to Exeter was included as someone who had to make a huge jump for college strange. I'm sure the real jump was from previous schools to Exeter, and in there I'm sure he got plenty of college advising (which the article implies, but glazes over quickly). Also @ "Foreign Student", please tell me the life of a wealthy international is harder than the life of someone who grew up in a very poor neighborhood... not all internationals are poor, and although the culture shock can still be tough for some, I know many people who aren't totally unaccustomed to American culture.
i don't mean to sound rude, but i don't think your parents not going to college makes getting into a college of your choice any harder. in fact, i think it makes it easier... my parents both went to university in a different country and didn't help me with the application process at all. even if they wanted to help, they wouldn't have been able to. the american application system is one of a kind.