You're likely familiar with Princeton's senior thesis, where each student works closely with a faculty advisor to conduct original research, and you might have even heard of the "JP" or an "independent study," which are earlier opportunities for research. But there are also so many ways to get involved in research during the summer months, which offers you the chance to explore a research field at a time when you're not juggling your coursework. This summer, for instance, I got to work on an amazing molecular dynamics project with Professor Bourg through an internship with Princeton's High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI).

Each summer HMEI offers paid internships for Princeton students, many involving international travel! Some of the ones this year included studying rock dissolution in the French Alps, studying dinosaur extinction in the Andes mountains, and conducting X-ray diffraction experiments at Princeton. When Covid-19 travel restrictions led to my HMEI internship being transferred to an online format, I was initially disappointed (sadly no French Alps this year). But I found the new project, which studied organic contaminants via molecular dynamics simulations, to be incredibly fascinating and its findings applicable to the real world. I even decided to continue it this fall as an independent study with Professor Bourg, which will allow me to see the project through more of its phases.

The best part of research at Princeton, in my opinion, is getting to work closely with your professors. You see how they approach challenges and problem-solve in the quest to uncover new information and develop solutions, and they get to know your strengths, weaknesses and working style as well. For me, getting to know Professor Bourg was particularly rewarding because he is one of my professors this fall! When I walked into his class on my first day of Introduction to Environmental Engineering I was a little overwhelmed by seeing live people in the classroom! But Professor Bourg immediately recognized me and welcomed me to the class, which made me feel much less nervous and more comfortable.

My summer research brought me into a community on campus this fall, which has opened the door to meeting even more environmental researchers on campus. Each week at lab meetings I'll get to hear what the other graduate and undergraduate students in Professor Bourg's lab group are working on, and they can tell me about projects they've worked on with other professors in other departments. I'm really looking forward to continuing my project this fall and meeting more of the brilliant and welcoming people here at Princeton.

Image

By now, many members of the Great Class of 2025 are excitedly planning out their first-year fall.  Although planning for a new chapter in your life is certainly exciting, there is a lot of information out there about Princeton University and trying to memorize it all is impossible.  Tiger Bloggers, Patrice and Grady,  hope that this post will put some of your anxieties to rest, by letting you know what you do and don’t need to know, from current Princeton students.

Before arriving... by Patrice McGivney

Do: Think about what you’ll bring to campus.

Consider what you will want on hand in your college dorm room, what you have room to take with you and what you can purchase once you get here.  There’s lots of sample dorm room packing lists all across the Internet, and a post by fellow blogger Naomi Hess, so I won’t repeat anything here. If you live very far from Princeton, be sure to consider differences in climate and environment. This post I made earlier will hopefully help you out! 

Don’t: Plan out all four years.

It might be tempting to plan out your next four years in advance, but to get the most out of the college experience, you’ll want to be open to new ideas.  Many students discover a concentration they never would have considered in high school, take up a new sport or hobby, or find an unexpected employment opportunity during their time here.  You’ll also have plenty of faculty, staff and peer advisers to help you plan once you get here.  

Do: Spend time with friends and family.

Especially if you’re moving far away, your time might be limited with good friends from high school and your family once you’re a college student.  Make the most of your summer, whatever that looks like for you, and take plenty of pictures to hang up in your dorm room to remind you of your loved ones.  

Don’t: Be scared!

The transition to college is a big one, and it can be nerve-racking.  But Princeton is a wonderful and welcoming community, and you’ll do amazing things here!  

When you’re here... by Grady Trexler

Do: Try all the different dining halls.

There are six dining halls at Princeton: four residential, a graduate dining hall and the Center for Jewish Life. For the first few weeks of the semester, I just ate at Wilcox, which was closest to my dorm, but I quickly learned to try other options. Each dining hall has a different vibe, and some nights, I’m just in the mood for a Whitman dinner.

Don’t: Ask other students if they’re also first-years.

This was more embarrassing than I expected it to be — you meet someone new, you think they look just as confused as you are, so you ask them the dreaded, “Are you a first year, too?” only for them to tell you that they are a senior. Mortifying for everyone involved. Try “What's your class year?” instead.

Do: Form study groups for your more difficult classes.

This was something I didn’t do a lot in high school, preferring to get my work done alone, but I quickly felt out of my depth in some of my harder classes. The earlier you can form a study group with your peers, the better.

Don’t: Walk to the library without your computer.

A companion piece of advice — don’t get all the way to the library and realize your laptop is back at your dorm (or, for that matter, your notebook, your pens, etc.)

Don’t: Get locked out of your room.

At Princeton, you carry a “prox” everywhere you go — a student ID card which accesses buildings (including your dorm) and holds your meal swipes. Don’t leave this inside your dorm room or you, like me, may find yourself locked out of your room on a 30 degree Fahrenheit night in February, having to trek down to Public Safety to get a temporary card.

Well, there you have it — our nine do’s and don’ts for your first semester. Are we experts? Not at all. But here are just a few things we’ve learned!

It’s around that time of year when we all start thinking about the summer. The snow was nice at first, but let’s be real-- it’s time for the winter wonderland to go. But it’s not just the warm weather that we all have on our minds (although you will catch me daydreaming about sipping my Iced Guava Passionfruit Drink from Starbucks in 80 degree weather on my way to class): it’s also our summer plans. What are we going to do for June, July and August?

From internships and independent research to community service and summer classes, there are always a ton of options open to Princeton students. But you may be wondering what’s changed with the global pandemic. Obviously international travel may not be possible (at least for now), but not to worry, because Princeton has turned their Global Seminars into e-Global Seminars for 2021. Typically, 12 to 15 students and faculty travel to a country where courses are taught for 6 weeks. Each seminar has uniquely shifted to include remote visits to museums, walking tours, interviews with scholars and more. Princeton's International Internship Program is also offering remote options, some even with the possibility of an in-country experience.

Programs certainly look different this year across the board, whether Princeton-affiliated or not. This summer, I’ll be returning to Facebook as a Content Design Intern. The internship program is fully remote, which means lots of poolside time at home (can’t complain there!). While I would have loved the opportunity to be in the office, there is still so much to be gained from virtual internship experiences. I had the opportunity to do a virtual internship with the same department at Facebook last summer, and I connected with amazing people, learned a ton about collaboration, leadership, and creativity, and discovered that I LOVE content strategy, which Facebook now calls Content Design

Before I know it, I’ll actually be sipping my Iced Guava Passionfruit fave from Starbucks, which means summer will be here. In the meantime, I’ll definitely be paying a virtual visit or two to the Center for Career Development. Whether your summer plans are locked down or not, Princeton is always there to support you along the way, from brainstorming to interview prep to creating an approach for your upcoming internship. 

If you have any questions about summer planning resources on campus (or just simply want to chat about seasonal Starbucks drinks), feel free to reach out!    

Like many of my peers, I was forced to change my plans for the summer as the world shifted online due to COVID-19. While my sophomore summer didn’t turn out exactly how I expected, I feel fortunate to have had a variety of fulfilling and enriching experiences, all from my childhood bedroom in Maryland.

Originally, I was supposed to intern in Congress through the American Association of People with Disabilities Internship Program. I had really been looking forward to living in Washington, D.C. and working on Capitol Hill. The in-person component of my internship was postponed until next year. However, the program still offered all interns a certificate in disability advocacy through American University online. I learned about the impact of important public policy issues like education, employment and healthcare on people with disabilities. I got to meet an amazing group of young adults who share my passion in disability advocacy, and hopefully we’ll all be together in D.C. next summer.

At first, I didn’t think I would find a formal internship, as I expected most to already be filled. I spent a lot of time searching for internship listings related to my interest in women’s rights and social justice. Luckily, my search was successful. After an application and interview process, I received a fantastic internship offer to work virtually as a Communications and Engagement Intern for Global Fund for Women, an international gender justice organization. In this position, I managed a virtual film screening tour, compiled relevant news articles, conducted media outreach, and much more. I gained valuable communications skills and learned what it’s like to work for a nonprofit organization. I look forward to expanding my knowledge about gender justice by taking classes in the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

I also worked as a research assistant for a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs. I helped gather information for her research project about mayoral elections. I enjoyed this first foray into political research, and it was good preparation for my upcoming independent work.

As if I wasn’t already busy enough, my final summer commitment was continuing to edit articles for The Daily Princetonian in my position as Associate News Editor. We don’t usually publish much over the summer, but there was so much important news for us to cover. I am glad we continued our mission of keeping the campus connected and informed.

This summer ended up being quite busy, but I enjoyed every commitment I had and I gained many valuable skills and knowledge that will help me in the future. I did somehow manage to find some free time to catch up on my long reading list, binge watch shows on Netflix and talk to my awesome friends. I am grateful I was able to do so much even during a pandemic summer.

This summer, I was a content strategy intern at Facebook. You may be wondering, “what exactly is content strategy?” Think about it this way, when you create a post on Facebook, there’s text that says: “What’s on your mind?” You may not realize it, but there’s a lot that goes into every single word that appears on the screen. As a content strategist, you have to think about making the text simple, straightforward and human.

Imagine if that text to create a post said: “Tell people about your life,” “Type here,” or “What do you want to tell people today on Facebook?” The first one sounds way too personal and a bit invasive. The second is not human, sounding more like a computer telling you to post. The third is not simple nor straightforward, since it has a lot of unnecessary text included, such as “on Facebook.”

My job was to go through the same process that I described above. Billions of people see the text that is on the screen each day, so we have to make sure that it conveys what we want to say. But thinking about the content isn’t all that we do, because there’s also the strategy part of it. I led a project this summer on the Marketplace Motors and Real Estate teams, which meant I had to dive into research and data to create a project proposal, map out a detailed user flow, collaborate with design to get mocks, draft all of the content and then work with engineers to get the product built.

Content strategy is a pretty new field, which makes it all the more exciting. Before this internship, I had no clue what content strategy was, and I was unsure about what I wanted to do with an English degree. I stumbled upon the job listing and recognized that I had a lot of the skills that they were looking for from my editorial background, so I decided to just go for it. Now, after my 12-week internship has come to a close, I feel like I have found the job for me.

I’ll admit, I was definitely nervous going into this internship because a) it was remote and b) I had never had formal experience in content strategy. But I had the most incredible experience, from collaboration to leadership opportunities, side projects, virtual coffee chats and everything in between.

Whether you’re applying to college, about to start your first year or a current undergrad, the best advice that I can give you after this experience is to keep an open mind and take risks. After my editorial internship this summer, I knew that my favorite part about the internship was the strategy: thinking carefully about writing for a diverse audience, planning content in editorial meetings, etc. I didn’t know that there was a job out there where I could really tap into the “why” behind the content, where I could collaborate with cross-functional partners, where I could explore my own passions and take on opportunities outside of my team. Princeton definitely prepared me for success in this way, because here we are constantly encouraged to try new courses, activities and to take on new challenges. If it weren’t for this mindset that Princeton instilled in me, I may never have left the magazine editorial work I was doing. I opened my mind to content strategy and sought out the challenge, and I’m so happy that I did.

Around this time last year, I was on the verge of beginning my first internship in Boston. I was excited, but I was also trepidatious. I wouldn’t know anyone in Boston. I’d never been to the city, and I’d also never lived on my own for such a long time. I figured that after work, I’d spend most of my time exploring the city on my own, catching up on TV shows, and missing my friends.

Princeton had other ideas in store for me. I wasn’t the only one interning in Boston that summer. Almost immediately, I was being added to group chats and invited to meetups. I met almost every Princetonian interning in Boston that summer, and formed some long-lasting bonds.

I played softball with alums in the Ivy League summer tournament – I can’t remember if we beat Harvard, but let’s just say yes. I went to a hole-in-wall ramen place in Cambridge where the servings are deceptively massive and anyone who finishes their bowl gets a round of applause from the entire restaurant. I went to a Dick’s Last Resort, a restaurant chain where the waiters are purposefully rude to you for comedic purposes, for the first time with a group of new friends and we laughed at the insults the staff scribbled on our hats. We rented bikes along the Charles River on sunny afternoons and spent evenings watching movies at the downtown AMC.

I expected the summer to be mostly just me, but it turned out to be so much more. From the school years to the summers, it’s so wonderfully easy to not only meet new people but keep in touch with them too. Coming up on one year since I first flew into Boston, the memories I made last summer are still fresh in my mind, and as special as all the rest.

If you told me when I started at Princeton that just one year later I’d be an editorial contributor for a magazine, I’d say: That’s crazy! Given that I thought I was going to concentrate in molecular biology on the pre-med track, I definitely wouldn’t believe you. And yet, here I am, a soon-to-be English major, pursuing certificates in Creative Writing and Spanish. While it seems like I did a complete 180 degree turn, it’s actually pretty common for Princeton students to switch their concentration. We don’t have to declare a major until our sophomore spring, so we have lots of time to figure out what we truly enjoy learning. And for me, I realized that my passion was English.

Fast forward to the internship craze. Many students are either searching for or securing internships (or study abroad opportunities, which are also great!). I had no clue where to start. What do I do with an English degree? I decided to visit Princeton’s Center for Career Development, where my eyes were opened to the many career possibilities, most of which I never even considered or knew existed. Our career center works magic – Peer Career Advisors share their professional experiences, staff in various areas of expertise offer advising, the center hosts workshops and events throughout the year such as: resume building, LinkedIn support, panels, career fairs, drop-in hours, etc. There are plenty of networking tools to search for internships and connect with others in the industry as well. 

I left the center with a clear idea of a few outlets to pursue in my internship search and the tools to do so. Many cover letters later, I secured an editorial internship at New York Family Magazine, funded by Princeton's Program in Journalism! Over the summer, I wrote articles for the print and digital magazine, composed the monthly calendars for each NYC borough, attended press events and met an amazing team of people. Some of my favorite press events were seeing Bloomingdale's Pre-Screening of The Lion King (2019), checking out Dylan's Candy Bar's Holiday Candy Collection preview and learning about Nike's new Adventure Club for kids at the NYC Nike offices. I also pitched an idea that now runs as a column in every print magazine: New York Family’s Parent’s Book Club. I got to read books straight off the press (often advanced copies), interview authors and think of discussion questions that parents can use in their book club meetings. My creative writing professor at Princeton, Idra Novey, was our first book club feature with her novel “Those Who Knew.”

Image

Toward the end of the summer, I didn’t want to leave. Of course, I was super excited to return to Princeton for my second year, but I was going to miss writing for the magazine and seeing the team every day. Easy solution: freelance writing! I still write for New York Family as an editorial contributor, which means I basically do the same things I did during my internship, but away from the office. It’s certainly a challenge to balance my work for the magazine with my academics and extracurricular activities on campus, but it’s definitely worth it.

I am now much more confident to declare English this spring after having this experience. Princeton really encourages you to explore various areas of study, pursue your passion and consider a wide range of career opportunities. Check out my latest articles on newyorkfamily.com!

The senior thesis. What is it? Where did it come from? Why do I have to do it?

You might be asking yourself these questions. Maybe you’re waiting to hear back from the Office of Admission and you just read about the thesis online. Maybe you’ve already been admitted, and the thesis is making you question whether or not you want to matriculate. If you only remember one thing from this post, I hope it is this: don’t let the thought of a thesis scare you!

Almost every student at Princeton has to write a senior thesis in order to graduate. It’s basically just a long(er) research paper on a topic of your choice. Since most students have to write one, pretty much everyone will be familiar with the process at some point during their Princeton career. This means that you are never struggling through it alone.

When I was a prospective student, I remember being a little intimidated by the senior thesis. I had never written something so long in my life! I had no idea where to even begin. However, as the semesters started flying by, my interests began solidifying themselves, and it became apparent to me what I wanted to focus on at Princeton: a combination of policy, the criminal-legal system and race/discrimination.

Once you know what you are interested in, choosing a thesis topic becomes much easier. I knew I wanted to go to law school after Princeton and I’ve always been interested in criminal justice reform. So, I made sure to choose a topic that encompassed all of that! I applied for funding from the Woodrow Wilson School⁠—the department I’m majoring in⁠—and planned a trip to Norway. While there, I spent two days at a men’s maximum-security facility in order to learn about their prison system. I conducted interviews, took pictures and observed the individuals who have been incarcerated along with the staff (read this post to learn more about my thesis!). Honestly, it didn’t even feel like work⁠—since it’s a topic I’m genuinely interested in, I really enjoyed the research.

I think that’s the key to conquering your senior thesis: make sure you choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in, and the research won’t feel so much like work. Keeping this in mind, don’t let the senior thesis scare you. As a senior, I feel so much support from my classmates, since I know they’re going through the same process. I’m excited to see the final product of all my hard work and I’m so glad I didn’t let it scare me away from committing to Princeton!

After winter break here at Princeton people everywhere are trying to figure out their plans for the summer.

I spent the summer after my first year interning for a nonprofit in Boston for ten weeks, and I loved it. My internship was part of a program called Princeton Internships in Civic Service, or PICS for short. PICS offers internships at a variety of nonprofits across the nation; when I came across Boston SCORES, I knew it was perfect for me. SCORES is a nonprofit that works with students from elementary to high school, integrating poetry, spoken word and soccer into its after-school curriculum. This quite literally checked all the boxes for me: I love soccer, and two of the things I was most passionate about in high school were working with kids and leading my slam poetry club.

I greatly enjoyed my summer in Boston. I stayed with a wonderful and kind host family, and worked with amazing kids every day (and also played so much soccer with them!). I was also able to apply the knowledge I learned in one of my computer sciences classes, “Computer Science: An interdisciplinary Approach (COS 126)” to create a program that streamlined a time-intensive task.

Although I missed my friends, I wasn’t lonely! Princeton organized events that brought all local Boston interns together, and the regional alumni association was constantly involved and active. I was also given an alumni mentor who met with me throughout the summer. Through PICS, I met new friends, ate ramen at niche Cambridge restaurants and biked along the Charles River. One friend and I even road-tripped to back to New Jersey on a whim to watch the Fourth of July fireworks on top of the Prudential Center.

There are countless other summer opportunities at Princeton as well: my best friends went outside the country, taking Global Seminars in Berlin; teaching high schoolers in Vietnam; and immersing themselves in Argentine culture in Buenos Aires. One of my friends spent the summer with lemurs in Madagascar as well through the Princeton Environmental Institute. Princeton also offers opportunities with startups in New York, Tel-Aviv and Shanghai. They also offer opportunities to conduct research with professors on-campus.

Whatever you choose to do, you can be sure that you’ll find the summer as rewarding and enjoyable an experience as I did, and there will be people there for you every step of the way.   

At the beginning of my first-year fall at Princeton, I told myself I was going to study abroad in France. How? I had no idea. Shoot! I was just aiming for the moon and hoping to land among the stars. I knew that Princeton offered summer abroad programs. I did not know how I, a low-income, first generation college student, was actually going to finesse my way into France. I had never been to Europe, but my “Take Me to Paris” wall decal and Eiffel Tower throw blanket may have suggested otherwise. We know how this story ends, because, well, I am writing this blog post. This is not your average I-went-to-France-and-took-a-picture-with-the-Eiffel-Tower story. Let me tell you about how a low-income student made it to France. The experience was priceless, but let's be real, the ticket was not. Let’s talk about the money.

After taking my last intro-level French course, I was eligible to apply for a Princeton in France study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence. This program offered four weeks of language immersion. Around the same time, I also applied for an internship in Paris – shocker – through the International Internship Programs (IIPs). This is open to all students without a particular class prerequisite.

Now, the money. I applied for funding for my trip to Aix-en-Provence through the Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE), the funding source used on campus for students to apply for grant aid for thesis research, independent research, summer opportunities or even those specific to different breaks. Built into the cost of the abroad program was housing, food and the class. The flight ticket was not included in that cost, but through SAFE, students can apply for grants that may cover some, most or all of these expenses, depending on the grant. (It doesn't hurt to apply to multiple and hope for the best.) Different grants have different post-trip requirements such as saving receipts, sending letters to donors or writing a reflection piece. For the internship, IIP offers its own financial aid for eligible students, so I didn’t need to apply through SAFE.

Applying for funding in Europe for IIP was challenging because of currency rates. Make sure to check out conversion charts if you're going abroad! I did not want to play myself by doing a one-to-one conversion. Applying was not a long process, but it did ask for a breakdown of all expenses. This includes how much you expect to pay for housing, travel and transportation. Although I was not accepted into the IIP, a few weeks later, I was accepted into the Aix-en-Provence program with immaculate funding for the trip. It covered the cost of the class and some of my transportation. 

My trip to France helped me begin my journey towards managing my finances and being aware of my spending habits.  I explored a new country while exploring myself, my beliefs, values and morals. I also learned so much about being financially conscience and taking chances. Applying for financial assistance for my trip to France gave me the perspective to understand the expenses needed for a trip abroad and how to best allocate my funds. If you have any questions about my experience, please feel free to reach out to me or check out the Aix-en-Provence program.