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E-PrinceCaitlin Caldwell ’12 always dreamed of becoming a doctor. So when she learned she had been accepted to Brown University’s eight-year medical program, which includes both undergraduate and graduate education, she was ecstatic. But Princeton had offered her full ...
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"I think about students who aren’t on financial aid here … What’s life like for you? You don’t even think about your tuition or money. You just go do your Princeton thing.”
I don't receive financial aid from Princeton, but I still worry (a lot) about money and the financial burden my education places on my family. I have three part-time jobs and chose not to join an eating club to save money. I admit the situation isn't the same, and I'm grateful that my family can afford to pay for a private school tuition, but I think it's unfair to say that money isn't a concern at all for non-aid students. For students from middle and upper-middle class families who just miss out on qualifying for aid, $50,000 a year is a lot, especially in this economy.
I love Ana and Carola. They are both sweethearts!
reporting tasnim
I agree...Tasnim, this is a great, interesting article. Well done.
this article offers some very interesting, perhaps unusual perspectives. i think some of the quotes overemphasize how much the moneyed atmosphere of the university influences individual behavior--I never felt compelled to wear boat shoes or pastels--but the university's patrician history does loom large.
the article only sort of skirts the topic of FSI, but includes some pretty substantial commentary on its purpose from Ms. Caldwell. It seems there is more to be said about this.
Nonetheless, a well done article.
As a student who has grown up among people who are near the poverty line and others with more money they know what to do with, I can attest to the differentiation of economic lifestyles. Even in the academic workplace, poor and middle class people quietly and strongly envy wealthier folks. Most with incomes that greatly exceed tuitions really don’t fully grasp what it is like to worry about having enough money 75% of the time throughout every day of their lives. It’s not just tuition but also the contributions of every facet of life related to one’s finances that combine to form the real essence of the burden. The amount of one’s income versus the degree of one’s concern over finances is NOT a linear relationship. Right now though, times are changing in a unique way. The upper class is only beginning to find out how things like academic tuition, especially multiple, can be a hassle given the combination of rising costs and declining incomes. As the current economy continues, we will see fewer upper class students attending top tier colleges. Tuition and high salaries will have to come down and endowments will have to get wiped out, otherwise these expensive colleges will develop shrinking student bodies with infrastructural stagnation. These things will inevitably become harsher for middle and upper class students.
"Later, she said, she realized that nearly all of the FSI students who were not athletes were black."
Hahaha I've always found this to be extremely hilarious. Srsly, this is a slap in the face to all the black ppl here.
even tho im on fin aid and in a club, i totally agree with steph hill. its pretty ridiculous that we feel that the clubs have some sort of duty to make membership accessible to all students
"“At Princeton, you have to be preppy. You have to wear boat shoes or dress in pastels at Lawnparties. You have to go to the Street. And if you don’t do these things, you’re not a Princeton student,” she said. “Here you’re put in a shape-shifting box where you have to shift yourself to make yourself comfortable in situations.”"
what a fucking load of bullshit-- this is exactly the type of thing that certain students use as their excuse for why they don't "fit in". I know plenty of students with money who do not fit this stereotype and love princeton, as well as plenty of students without money who fit this stereotype and love princeton. vice versa, I know plenty of students with or without money who hate princeton, for reasons not related to this fake ideal of a princeton student.
people need to realize that even thought money and appearances only make a difference if you let it-- if you are a cool person, people aren't going to force you to wear boat shoes and pastels.
"When that roommate asked her roommates to split the cost of cable service, which came to $60 each, Caldwell and another roommate from a low-income background initially declined."
that doesnt really mean anything - i know a kid who has had 6 different middle class roommates in the past two years and none of them were willing to help pay for cable