Princeton 2011

[Falciferum]

Hi!

Anyone attending Princeton in 2011?

[NewEnglandNat]

Hi!

Anyone attending Princeton in 2011?

I'm still waiting on one school but I've all but made the decision. History.

[caudex]

Still waiting on a couple schools, and I'll be visiting Princeton next weekend. Odds are good that I'll be heading there though. Chemical Engineering.

[Falciferum]

I will be going for Geosciences. I am only 22 but I will be going there with my wife I think we are lucky in many ways because it seems loneliness is a big problem for many new graduate students, but I hope it will not isolate us or anything and that we will be able to make new friends. We're British as well and it will be our first time in the USA so it is all very exciting and frightening at the same time!

We have applied for a studio in Lawrence. What about you?

PS: She will be a new PhD student as well

Edited March 10, 2011 by Falciferum

[caudex]

I will be going for Geosciences. I am only 22 but I will be going there with my wife I think we are lucky in many ways because it seems loneliness is a big problem for many new graduate students, but I hope it will not isolate us or anything and that we will be able to make new friends. We're British as well and it will be our first time in the USA so it is all very exciting and frightening at the same time!

We have applied for a studio in Lawrence. What about you?

PS: She will be a new PhD student as well

I'm 21 and will be going there with only my cat . I've applied to housing at Butler and Lawrence I believe -- the only ones that allowed pets. Hopefully loneliness isn't a problem, I figure thats what the visit day will tell me. My other visits have all showed a great community of grad students within and outside of department boundaries, so I hope Princeton is the same.

I'm Canadian, but I've spent time doing full time research at American universities before, so I figure there won't be much of a transition. Nice to see another Commonwealth-er.

[wenhua.ju]

Hi, Astrophysical Sciences.

I'm a Chinese student from Peking University, Beijing. I've never been to USA and have no idea about housing and all other stuff... I heard the meal plan is bad and expensive so I want to apply for apartment. I'm a girl. Any suggestion about housing for me? THX!

Edited March 21, 2011 by wenhua.ju

[Dreams]

I'm 21 and will be going there with only my cat . I've applied to housing at Butler and Lawrence I believe -- the only ones that allowed pets.

Lawrence doesn't allow cats. Basically only Butler allows uncaged pets (Millstone does also but you will not be living there).

[barricades]

So. What do you all think about the housing accommodations? I'm not thrilled about living in a dorm (I never have), but graduate social life does seem to center on the Graduate College. So I might consider it. Any thoughts?

[Civil_Engineer]

I'll be there for Civil and Environmental Engineering (MSE).

[BachRocksMySocks]

I'll be there for Civil and Environmental Engineering (MSE).

I am entering the PhD program in Music at Princeton. Very excited! The real estate market looks shitty for graduate students, so I decided to go with the graduate housing (Lawrence/Butler) for myself and my partner (who is not a student).

[mewtwo]

Hi! I'm headed there for a Ph.D. in Computer Science. I don't really care about living conditions (particularly if it's only for a year), so I just followed everyone's advice and put the Graduate Colleges (it is a proper noun, right?) as my top choice. It would be nice to see pictures or floor plans, though... Both are hard to come by online without the appropriate Princeton account.

I'm not terribly excited about the meal plans generally costing more than paying for each meal at the door, but I guess the difference isn't too drastic for the high-end meal plans. At least I'm lead to believe that the food is good (with my current university's meal plan, I'm ecstatic if they have the ingredients necessary to form a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. =(!) Any word from current students about the matter?

Does anyone here know of good work places? I'm a huge fan of working in libraries, but only if they're reasonably quiet (unlike the one at my current university ). I know Princeton has multiple libraries, but how crowded are they? I'd imagine, based on Princeton's reputation alone, that the libraries are generally full of studiers. Are there any private study rooms around campus, or otherwise awesome quiet study spots?

I can't wait to start!

[Katanaji]

Personally I love working in cafes/busy places; the silence creeps me, and I NEED the snacks and hot drinks which are usually forbidden in libraries.

I hope there are coffee places opened til late in Princeton...

[BachRocksMySocks]

Personally I love working in cafes/busy places; the silence creeps me, and I NEED the snacks and hot drinks which are usually forbidden in libraries.

I hope there are coffee places opened til late in Princeton...

I am the same way - I often need business around me in order to keep up my own work. I also need drinks and snacks! Sadly, it seems like in the quiet town of Princeton there aren't a lot of coffee shops at all, let alone lots of places open super late.

[Presbygeek]

I'll be studying at the Seminary, so I will be right down the street from all of you.

[barricades]

So. This place is a little slow...

I'll be joining the history department, not quite sure where I'll be living yet...

Have people received their netid # in the mail yet? I'm overseas, so no clue how long it will take...

[mewtwo]

So. This place is a little slow...

I'll be joining the history department, not quite sure where I'll be living yet...

Have people received their netid # in the mail yet? I'm overseas, so no clue how long it will take...

I didn't receive mine in the mail, but I heard that local (US) students were supposed to get their netid password by the 9th of June or so, so I called them and they simply reset it for me over the phone. You can look up your netid in the student directory and find the number to call by logging in with a wrong password.

My housing decision was sent to my @princeton.edu address and the accept/reject deadline is TODAY, so be sure to get on it!

Edited June 16, 2011 by mewtwo

[barricades]

I didn't receive mine in the mail, but I heard that local (US) students were supposed to get their netid password by the 9th of June or so, so I called them and they simply reset it for me over the phone. You can look up your netid in the student directory and find the number to call by logging in with a wrong password.

My housing decision was sent to my @princeton.edu address and the accept/reject deadline is TODAY, so be sure to get on it!

Thank you mewtwo!

Just did it! Housing accept/reject for me is on the 26. Got a tiny room in the New Graduate College

[neuroticchemist]

Thank you mewtwo!

Just did it! Housing accept/reject for me is on the 26. Got a tiny room in the New Graduate College

Do you know if they've sent all of the housing emails or just the ones for people starting during the summer?

[barricades]

Do you know if they've sent all of the housing emails or just the ones for people starting during the summer?

I'm not sure how they are sending them.

I'm not, however, starting in the summer, so you might want to look into it!

[neuroticchemist]

I'm not sure how they are sending them.

I'm not, however, starting in the summer, so you might want to look into it!

oh, it showed up now. I think maybe they sent them in batches based on which housing you got. Deadline for mine is the 28th.

[tragicomix]

Hey all,

I''m from India and I'm joining the EE dept this fall. I've been allotted a room in the new graduate college.

I'm a bit worried about the weather in Princeton because I have don't have any experience living in a "cold" place. The last time I had to experience slightly cold weather was when I spent a summer in Sweden. This was an unmitigated disaster weather-wise because I assumed a Swedish summer would be somewhat similar to an Indian summer. In fact, it was far colder than the winters that I was used to!

[mewtwo]

Hey all,

I''m from India and I'm joining the EE dept this fall. I've been allotted a room in the new graduate college.

I'm a bit worried about the weather in Princeton because I have don't have any experience living in a "cold" place. The last time I had to experience slightly cold weather was when I spent a summer in Sweden. This was an unmitigated disaster weather-wise because I assumed a Swedish summer would be somewhat similar to an Indian summer. In fact, it was far colder than the winters that I was used to!

From what I've heard, adequate preparation makes the winters manageable (but still not terribly fun) for people used to warm climates. I'm sure that there are plenty of lists online listing every detail of just how to prepare, so I'll defer all advice to those (as I'll probably forget something).

On a completely unrelated note, does anyone happen to know when we find out roommate information in the case that we were assigned multi-person rooms? I'm curious to know who I'll be living with for a year =).

[Dreams]

I'm a bit worried about the weather in Princeton because I have don't have any experience living in a "cold" place. The last time I had to experience slightly cold weather was when I spent a summer in Sweden. This was an unmitigated disaster weather-wise because I assumed a Swedish summer would be somewhat similar to an Indian summer. In fact, it was far colder than the winters that I was used to!

Winter here will be cold - very cold. The last two years brought really severe ice storms that cause a lot of downed trees and power outages to campus. It was bad enough to cancel classes for one day in early 2010. The good thing though is that, if you don't have a coat, boots, and other accessories say, from Sweden, you can get them here before winter hits. There are Saturday shoppers that will take you to the neighboring plazas, as well as another shuttle that takes you to a shopping center slightly to the south of campus.

Edited June 26, 2011 by FSIA

[BachRocksMySocks]

Winter here will be cold - very cold. The last two years brought really severe ice storms that cause a lot of downed trees and power outages to campus. It was bad enough to cancel classes for one day in early 2010. The good thing though is that, if you don't have a coat, boots, and other accessories say, from Sweden, you can get them here before winter hits. There are Saturday shoppers that will take you to the neighboring plazas, as well as another shuttle that takes you to a shopping center slightly to the south of campus.

Winters in New Jersey are not bad. I am from Delaware just three hours from Princeton, and the climate there is generally moderate, particularly due to proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Even though Princeton is not by the shore, most hot weather and cold weather is mitigated by proximity to the ocean.

The last two years have been difficult in the Mid-Atlantic and North East, particularly due to a few particular weather events that much of America experienced. However, weather that D.C-Philly-NJ-NYC area experienced was really nothing compared to what some areas in the United States experience like certain areas of upstate New York or the Mid West and West. There, snowfalls of several feet are common several times a year.

After living in Chicago for 8 years, where it can be -15 or -20 degrees below zero for weeks at a time, where one or two yearly snow falls several feet, and lots of smaller storms and ice in between can traps cars for weeks in shells of ice, I think Princeton's winters will be somewhat picturesque.

[Dreams]

Winters in New Jersey are not bad. I am from Delaware just three hours from Princeton, and the climate there is generally moderate, particularly due to proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Even though Princeton is not by the shore, most hot weather and cold weather is mitigated by proximity to the ocean.

The last two years have been difficult in the Mid-Atlantic and North East, particularly due to a few particular weather events that much of America experienced. However, weather that D.C-Philly-NJ-NYC area experienced was really nothing compared to what some areas in the United States experience like certain areas of upstate New York or the Mid West and West. There, snowfalls of several feet are common several times a year.

After living in Chicago for 8 years, where it can be -15 or -20 degrees below zero for weeks at a time, where one or two yearly snow falls several feet, and lots of smaller storms and ice in between can traps cars for weeks in shells of ice, I think Princeton's winters will be somewhat picturesque.

This is not some competition on where the coldest place is. I responded to a poster who noted not being used to a place with cold winters. So what does it matter is it is NJ, DE, IL, or otherwise? The point is, if someone is not accustomed to cold winters, they will need to be prepared in Princeton. I have lived in places that get as cold as -50 C -- weather that has felled buildings, so I also know what REAL winters are.

Again, to the person who asked, you will need good winter gear while you are here in Princeton. And since you will be in NGC, a sled is a must

Edited June 30, 2011 by FSIA