A guide for pre-frosh

At first glance, Princeton may seem both academically and socially daunting to you, the visiting high school senior. As a recently admitted student, you will have likely heard of a social scene dominated by eating clubs that smack of high-end society or of a senior thesis that assumes apocalyptic proportions. What, you may wonder, is the true pulse of this campus?

It is impossible to deny that Princeton social life, oriented around the Prospect Avenue eating clubs, bears the legacy of an elitist tradition. It is not only the mansion exteriors that give this impression. Five of the 10 eating clubs field a membership based on the often-criticized bicker system, in which club members evaluate and vote on prospective sophomore members. In some cases, it appears that social connections may be integral for membership in many Bicker clubs, contributing to an aura of exclusivity. The different stereotypes attached to many clubs also add to perceived stratification of social life at Princeton.

But it is also important for you to know that the eating clubs do offer many undergraduates a social experience that fosters a strong feeling of student community. The proximity of the clubs to each other means that the overwhelming majority of socializing at Princeton happens in a localized area rather than scattered in rooms across campus. To walk along Prospect Avenue is to see and interact with a wide array of students. Eating clubs are student-run and provide undergraduates with a variety of destinations and activities on a given evening. With students on foot and club members with watchful eyes (and legal liability), a Saturday night on Prospect Avenue is unquestionably safer than many collegiate alternatives.

Please take a look at $30 million Whitman College, now in the final stages of construction. While some universities have "freshmen dorms," Princeton freshmen and sophomores, and, for the first time, upperclassmen who choose to are housed in residential colleges. Inspired exactly a century ago by the system at Oxford and Cambridge, Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879's, vision now includes six university-run social and dining complexes. There will be an increased variety of living and eating arrangements with accompanying financial aid for upperclassmen next year. Taking meals as a club member, living and eating in a residential college or splitting between the two will be a few of the many optionss.

It is the academic climate at Princeton, however, that has drawn most of the student body. Princeton's distinctive character as a major research university with an undergraduate focus yields interaction with premier professors and access to topnotch resources, even for freshmen. Unlike many of Princeton's peer institutions, graduate students will not overshadow you. Academic programs provide flexibility for students to explore diverse interests while pursuing a degree. Opportunities for funding, advising, study abroad and career guidance are vast, especially for the student who takes initiative. While junior papers and the senior theses are rigorous and at times stressful, independent work is a challenge that, upon completion, most Princetonians value as a rewarding and fulfilling experience.

Now it is for you to imagine your own potential Princeton experience.