The newly admitted Class of 2028 received a warm welcome to Princeton for this year’s Princeton Preview, with temperatures reaching 70 degrees. The annual celebration, held this year on April 9 and 16, serves as an opportunity for accepted students and their families to gain a deeper understanding of what the university has to offer.
Throughout the day, students could choose to attend a variety of events from a long list of scheduled programming. Preview kicked off with lunch at 11:30 a.m., after which students could embark on tours that explored the “historical campus” and iconic buildings like Firestone Library and Nassau Hall. Aisha Olufayo, an accepted student from Windsor Mill, Md., told The Daily Princetonian that she felt these tours were the best part of the day.
“I think what really attracted me to Princeton was its campus, so getting to know some of the history and learning about the academics while doing that was really cool,” she said.
Multiple prospective students told the ‘Prince’ that they were especially struck by campus architecture on their visit day.
Siam Hossain, a prospective student from Detroit, Mich., particularly appreciated Chancellor Green Library, which he referred to as “the brown building that’s really old” with “chocolate and white flooring.”
“It was so beautiful,” he said. “Right as I walked in there I was like, wow.”
Yuga Patel, a prospective engineering student from Jersey City, N.J., was also impressed by Princeton’s architecture, saying it was “the best campus” she’s seen after attending accepted students’ days for Harvard and MIT.
“The other schools were nice,” she said, “but, when I walked onto Princeton’s campus, it was just beautiful.”
Outside of tours, students were given additional opportunities to explore academics through separate panels tailored to either prospective A.B. or B.S.E. students, as well as the Academic Department Fair on McCosh Courtyard.
“My favorite part [of Preview] was the engineering department lecture where I went and learned more about what engineering at Princeton looks like,” Patel said. “I feel like that was a very informative experience regarding what Princeton prioritizes towards engineering students.”
Lila King, an accepted student from New York City, said the student life panel and the Student Activities Fair demonstrated how engaged Princeton students are in their community, which she thinks is “really important.”
“They always talk about the undergraduate focus, which I think has really come through in a lot of the Preview day,” she said.
These students also emphasized the character and diversity of Princeton’s student body, which spoke to Princeton’s stated “obligation to attract exceptional people of every background and enable them to flourish on our campus” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer to overturn race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
Olufayo told the ‘Prince’ that the University makes it “abundantly clear” that “regardless of … what background you come from, you can succeed at Princeton.”
Hossain added that “the diverse group of people” that he met were what “made this experience at Princeton Preview so amazing.”
Patel and Hossain also brought up the friendliness they encountered at Princeton, which neither of them expected.
“It was definitely friendlier than the people I met at Harvard, for instance,” Patel said. “It was very nice to see that there’s such a welcoming environment.”
“They’re all so excited about being here just as I am, and I kind of expected everyone to be, like, really held back, but everyone here is so friendly and they want to get to know you,” Hossain said. “It has been really fun.”
Prospective students have until May 1 to decide whether to spend their next four years at Old Nassau.
Ethan Caldwell is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Megan Cameron is a contributing News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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