The Politics Junior Paper (JP) is a 20-30 page project that juniors in the Politics Department must submit near the end of April. It is largely open-ended, giving students the opportunity to pursue research on topics that fascinate them. Students work closely with an advisor and can run experiments, analyze data, or do something entirely novel.

I’m currently working alongside the (truly) wonderful Professor Stephens-Dougan in the Politics Department to look into what role race plays in shaping voter perception of electoral candidates. My junior paper will be a springboard for my senior thesis, which will dive into the realm of identity politics more comprehensively. 

I imagine several students, both current and prospective, are wondering what starting the process of writing your own paper looks like and what type of support systems are in place. 

Below, I’ve written a few reflections on what starting this process has looked like for me, where I am now, and what I have learned along the way:

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Like most research projects, mine began as a simple idea.

After completing several readings for a related class, I became deeply curious about how identity and politics intersect in different ways. I knew I wanted to take what I had learned in the classroom and turn it into something tangible.

The rest of the experience has been a blur — during sophomore and junior fall, I took a mix of required lectures and preceptorials that taught me how to conduct research and data analysis. By the end of my junior fall, I was expected to formally articulate my research question, methodology, independent variable, dependent variable, and hypothesis in a “prospectus,” which helped me solicit feedback and accordingly adjust my research design. 

Then, shortly after receiving feedback, I worked with my advisor, former preceptors, and some PhD students — all of whom have been of the utmost help for my project — to go over my research design. 

Concurrently, I was also applying for funding from different sources at Princeton, which required submitting an itemized breakdown of how I planned to utilize such funds; And, since I was working with human subjects, I was also going through training with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) and requesting approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) so I could launch my study. 

Since then, I’ve been able to conduct my experiment. And now, I am in the final stages of refining my draft before I submit the final copy.

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In undertaking this experience, I have truly witnessed how research can be deeply rewarding — especially when the topic at hand is something you are deeply passionately about. 

But admittedly, there are days where I fear I have fallen short of what I had hoped to achieve. Sometimes I wonder if what I am doing is interesting enough, if it's different. 

However, if there is anything I have learned, it is how to take a step back and remember the bigger picture: research at Princeton is a once in a lifetime opportunity, where I am able to work with some of the greatest minds on this campus to make a contribution, no matter how small, to the wealth of human knowledge.

During my time at Princeton, I’ve taken many engaging classes, but one that truly stands out is Congressional Politics (POL 324). Taught by Professors Lee and Oldham, this course was especially compelling as it simulated the workings of the Senate. The first six weeks included traditional lectures and discussions, but the second half shifted to a full-fledged role-play simulation. Each student took on the role of a senator, joined a committee, and had a detailed set of responsibilities. We conducted committee meetings during precepts and engaged with our peers and constituents through Slack, which served as our version of Twitter. This experience was unlike anything I had encountered before. Prior to this course, my understanding of Congress was quite limited, but by the end, I felt significantly more informed and engaged with the legislative process than I ever could have anticipated.

In this class, my role was to be senator of Hawaii which meant I was responsible for representing my constituents and securing policy objectives that best met their interests; I was also on the education committee and directly oversaw bills under this jurisdiction. In the six weeks I played as senator, I frequently “tweeted,” proposed several bills, and voted for numerous amendments, all while working alongside other fellow senators. I also spoke on the “floor” of the Senate (a classroom in Robertson) and truly embodied what it meant to be a part of Congress. In fact, one night, I vividly remember leaping out of bed in response to a Slack notification, scrambling to write an “amendment” before our “session” (class) the next day. To this day, that notification sound still haunts me!

I do not think any class will ever compare. Pol 324 was truly one of the most defining classes that I have taken at Princeton. Indeed, other than being able to truly immerse myself in the inner mechanisms of Congress, I was also pushed out of my comfort zone. I learned how to articulate my thoughts, work alongside others, and also venture into uncomfortable spaces. Moreover, since part of this experience required learning how to navigate complicated and sensitive situations, as actual Congress members do in the real world, I learned how to approach these moments and not shy away from making my beliefs known (even in a fictitious setting). Due to the experimental and candid nature of the class, it felt comforting to get close with my classmates and my professors. Indeed, as we all navigated this new experience, it was amazing seeing the patience we employed to one another and the common fascination we shared in witnessing how concepts discussed in class played out in the simulation.

As a Politics major—and even more specifically, as a Politics major who is also a Peer Academic Adviser (PAA)—there is one question that I find myself answering quite frequently. Whether I am at the Academic Expo hosted during orientation, one of the various PAA-led academic advising fairs, or even in casual conversation with my non-Politics major friends, I am guaranteed to be asked the following question: “So what’s the difference between Politics and SPIA?”

Every year, many students generally interested in political science find themselves choosing between the Politics Department and the School of Public and International Affairs, otherwise referred to as SPIA. Although both departments have their own respective benefits and display a considerable amount of overlap, the distinctions that do exist between the two ultimately lead dozens of students to choose one over the other every year.

The most common response given to curious students is that Politics is a more “theoretical” major, whereas SPIA is more “practical.” To this day, I am often guilty of responding in the same way—at least initially. In my view, this is a vast oversimplification, but it begins to hint at the difference between the ways that each major approaches the political realm. Courses and research in the Politics Department tend to focus on the “why” questions behind politics, often inquiring into the reasoning behind state and non-state actors’ political actions. In a sense, the field of Politics seeks to explain why political life is the way that it is. For example, in a course that I took about authoritarian regimes, we sought to understand the constraints and enticements guiding the decisions taken by authoritarian leaders. Although SPIA students are also required to take some courses within the Politics Department, a bulk of the work associated with the major focuses on applying interdisciplinary knowledge to policy suggestions. Here, the focus is less on the why, and more primarily directed towards the question of what to do differently. Thus, dividing the two majors based on theory and practicality is a bit of a misnomer—policies are built on theories, and theories have practical applications. But the work that is carried out ultimately does emphasize distinct themes.

Other things to consider between the two majors are differences in requirements, flexibility, and department sizes. As briefly mentioned above, SPIA takes a largely interdisciplinary approach. This means students are required to take courses in a variety of fields—politics, economics, psychology or sociology, statistics, and more. This also means, however, that there are more structured prerequisites and core classes for SPIA majors. Politics majors are really only required to take classes within the Politics Department, and there is only one truly required research course taken junior fall. Independent work also looks differently for the two majors, with Politics having one shorter research prospectus in the fall and one longer research paper in the spring. SPIA majors take a research seminar in one semester, and join a policy task force during the other—each has an associated research paper. Both write a senior thesis. Perhaps the last main difference between the two departments is in their sizes. In the Class of 2026, almost twice as many sophomores declared SPIA as their major compared to those who declared Politics.

Politics became the obvious choice for me after taking a political theory class my freshman spring, as well as after considering how much department size mattered to me. I also realized that, despite the obvious importance and value of more directly influencing and writing policy, I had no interest in actually doing so from either an academic or career standpoint. 

Both majors are great choices for students interested in political science. It just so happens that, for me, Politics was the best choice, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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My sophomore classmates and I celebrated Declaration Day this past April. After we declared our majors, we gathered on Cannon Green, and took pictures in front of our department banners. Needless to say, it was a beautiful way to finish the Spring 2024 semester. 

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Declaring African American Studies was filled with several plot twists. I initially came to Princeton as a prospective English major. Yes, I was that voracious reader who spent hours immersed in fictional worlds. As I got older, I would write as a form of activism at my predominantly White high school. It only made sense that if I wanted to pursue writing full-time, an English degree was the way to go.

That all changed when I took my first African American Studies/Philosophy class, “Race, Racism, and Racial Justice,” with Professor Lidal Dror my first year. We would discuss whether race is a social or biological concept. We would read about long standing racial justice issues like reparations, affirmative action, and racial profiling, all of which further informed my activism. I walked away from every lecture eager to continue these difficult, yet necessary conversations with my classmates. 

One must take five African American Studies classes to complete the certificate. But I knew five classes wasn’t enough to satisfy my thirst for Black knowledge. I wanted to go all the way – Junior Paper, Senior Thesis, Senior Colloquium – because the field became my special interest.

Additionally, the Undergraduate Board of Advisors (which I am now a part of) inspired me. Despite majoring in the same field, they were committed to different paths. One student merged their interests in race and computer science through her independent work. Another student aspired to be a photographer. And still another student wanted to work at a museum. At that moment, I realized that I would not have to choose between my academic and creative work. The African American Studies department would hold space for me to merge the two together, so I can produce the best independent work possible.

As much as I loved the department, I made a brief detour to Anthropology in Fall of my sophomore year. I thought my parents – who thought African American Studies would leave me unemployed – would find it more acceptable. Although I did well in my Anthropology class, the readings did not excite me compared to my African American Studies readings. I was not looking forward to doing fieldwork, either, which is required for the Anthropology Senior Thesis. 

More than anything, I missed studying my special interest. Returning to the African American Studies department feels like returning home. No matter how many times I switched my major, the professors and students have always welcomed me back with open arms. And just like the books I read as a child, our readings gave me a new purpose as a writer: to tap into Black joy, love, healing in my work. My department is just the beginning.

Last semester (Fall 2023), I had the privilege of studying abroad at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. My experience exceeded my expectations in so many ways, and it’s hard to understate my gratitude for Princeton’s support in making this long-time dream a reality. Attending a United World College, an international boarding school, in Freiburg, Germany for Grade 11 and 12 gave me a taste of how enriching being abroad and making friends from across the globe can be, so I kept an eye out for opportunities to study abroad when applying to college. 

During my first year at Princeton, I researched the study abroad options available to students in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, the concentrations I was most interested in. ETH Zürich drew my attention because I was interested in returning to the region to travel (which COVID had prevented during high school), experiencing the immersive laboratory courses, and practicing my German. I met with students who had studied abroad at ETH, exchange students from ETH at Princeton, and a study abroad adviser at the Office of International Programs, all of whom were eager to share their insight and answer my questions. The application process was straightforward and easy to navigate, and around this time last year, I found out I would be at ETH in the fall!

After a busy summer of cancer research followed by a lovely month at home, I seemed to suddenly find myself in Switzerland. I arrived on a Sunday, and I wasn’t quite prepared for how disoriented I felt. On my way from the airport to the apartment, I was quickly reminded of the fact that most stores, including grocery stores, are closed on Sundays. I received my key to the apartment and then sat on the bed and stared at the wall, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Had I made the right choice to leave the comforts and convenience of Princeton?

With some luck, I managed to get to campus and find my classroom for my first pre-semester German class the following morning, and slowly, with the help of other exchange students and ETH students, I learned how to navigate the public transit system, save money on groceries, and sort my recycling in a country where even paper and cardboard go into separate bins.

Academically, ETH was quite different from Princeton. I took two German classes, one ethics lecture (which counted toward Princeton’s Ethical Thought and Moral Values distribution requirement and my minor in Global Health and Health Policy), three biology lectures, and two biology labs. The lectures met once a week for about 90 minutes, which was our only chance to interact with the professors. Grades for lectures were based entirely on the final exam, which took place between late January and early February. Not having homework or midterms freed up a lot of time in the evening and on the weekend. I enjoyed cooking and reading for pleasure, things which I was rarely able to do during previous semesters at Princeton. Each lab course took place during one of four 3.5-week blocks. The labs met Tuesday afternoon, and all day Wednesday to Friday. I took two labs, meaning that for half the semester, I only had my Monday and Tuesday morning lectures. This schedule, combined with not having assessments during the semester, gave me the opportunity to travel to over 20 different cities in 10 countries. I was able to visit my high school friends and teachers, meet a friend from Princeton in Paris, host friends from Princeton and my hometown, and explore new cities with one of the other Princeton students studying abroad at ETH. Looking back, these trips were definitely what I remember most from the semester. 

The semester also brought its share of challenges. The lack of office hours and precepts made it harder to access professors and made me feel more anonymous than I did in the large classes I have taken at Princeton. Without the motivation of problem sets and exams, I found myself pushing off reviewing for my finals until the few weeks before my exams, which also happened to overlap with the start of Princeton’s spring semester. I was able to take my abroad course finals on campus at Princeton, but this meant doubling up on studying while the new semester was underway. Socially, it could be difficult to make friends and feel integrated into the school as an exchange student, although I was lucky enough to become friends with a few of my classmates and a student I met on a social run. One thing I particularly struggled with was the short days and almost constantly gray skies in November. I was in my second lab course during this time, which meant I barely saw any daylight, then proceeded to spend my evenings alone in my room without much to do. All in all though, I enjoyed experiencing a very different educational system and observing which parts of it I appreciated. I’ve noticed upon coming back to Princeton that I’m prioritizing work-life balance more than before, making the time to exercise, cook in my co-op, 2D, and attend fun events with friends on the weekend like basketball games and movies sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government, Davis International Center, and various clubs on campus.

Whether you’re a prospective student curious about studying abroad or a current student wondering whether it’s right for you, I highly encourage you to consider it! I have learned so much about life beyond my own experiences, become much more independent and adventurous (not to mention adept at planning trips), and returned to Princeton with excitement and a fresh set of eyes. What has surprised me most has been how many people I recognize walking from place to place and how easy it is to grab a meal with someone to catch up, both of which make me grateful for Princeton’s small student population and campus-centered student life. I would be more than happy to share more about my experience or answer any questions at the email listed in my bio! 

A hallmark of the Princeton experience is the senior thesis, a culmination of the past four years of your academic work and interests. All students, with the exception of BSE Computer Science majors, have to write a thesis before they graduate, though many BSE Computer Science students also choose to write one. As the weather begins to warm and more and more students make their way outside to bask in the sun, more and more seniors will make their way into the depths of Firestone Library, eagerly anticipating the day that they enter PTL (Post Thesis Life).

All departments also have their individual deadlines for the thesis, and at the time of writing, there are some students who have a month left till they have to submit, and others, such as me, who have nearly two months left. My thesis is due on April 24th, both a blessing and a curse because it means I have enough time to finish it, but also that I will be working on my thesis up to the last day of classes. 

Though everyone has a different process, I have found that the best way to approach my thesis is to work on a little bit of it every day. Initially I told myself that I would write a bulk of it in one day (say 5 pages), which became daunting, but not so much if I just spaced out those pages over the course of a week. I am also helped by the fact that my thesis is not that long, at least in comparison to some of my friends. As an East Asian Studies major, my thesis has the minimum length of 60 pages, and my adviser specifically requested that mine not exceed 80 pages. I have found this length to be quite manageable, while at the same time I have become a lot more intentional about all of the words I am writing, as I know I will not be able to keep all of them. 

Currently, I have a thesis draft due on the Friday of midterms week, March 8th, and am mostly done with all of my writing for that draft. Afterwards, there are no more ‘checkpoints’ offered by the department I have to work towards, which means that I will be largely left on my own and will be responsible for keeping myself on track. The good thing is that I will not be alone, as my friends will also all be working towards their final thesis submission. I expect many days in the basement of Firestone Library together, but all working towards the sweet day where we will exit the library, having passed one of the most important milestones of the Princeton experience. 

As an AB senior, you are required to enroll in at least six classes and a minimum of two classes per semester. This means you can either take four classes in the fall and two in the spring, or three classes each. I took three classes my senior fall, so I now have to take three classes in the spring on top of my thesis. 

The general expectation is that your spring semester classes are an opportunity to take fun classes you never had time to fit into your schedule, or to finish up last minute distribution or major requirements. I have friends enrolled in breakdancing classes who have never danced before and others who are using the last semester to fulfill all of the remaining requirements for a minor they decided they wanted to pursue their junior year. 

For me, I have found that it is a mixture of both. As a result of studying abroad in the spring of my junior year, I still had to fulfill a language requirement for my major, East Asian Studies, which is why one of the classes I am taking is KOR 407: Readings in Modern Korea II. I also wanted to make sure that I took the opportunity to take classes I wouldn’t be able to take once I left Princeton, which led to my songwriting class ATL 496: How to Write a Song. In that class, the professor assigned us random songwriting groups every week, and we all have to come up with a 2-3 minute song. I, along with half of the class, have no songwriting experience, but the class is becoming a safe space for me to experiment and try new things.  

Finally, I wanted to finish my last semester at Princeton by taking a final class within my department. I had not taken an East Asian Studies class since my junior fall, and had never had the opportunity to take a class on Korea specifically. Therefore, I settled on my final class: HUM 234: East Asian Humanities II. The class splits readings each week between Korean and Chinese authors, with guest lecturers covering readings on Japan. 

Thus far, I feel that I have found a perfect blend of a fun and academically fulfilling semester, where I can spend a couple of hours a week writing a song with my peers and then immediately pivot to reading novels from my home country. 

Though there may be pressure at Princeton—whether the pressure is to be having fun senior year or to be constantly doing academic work—I feel like I have found the perfect balance, and am excited to finish my Princeton career strong. 

The search for my final summer at Princeton is finally starting and I couldn’t be more conflicted. While my finance, consulting, and engineering friends already secured their internships, I find myself with a big question mark over my head. Princeton, because of its vast array of opportunities, makes it so hard to decide what’s the best way to spend my last summer. The biggest challenge is not finding something to do but deciding on one thing. Do I continue to research with the lab I’m currently doing my independent work with? Or do I apply for another international internship and spend my summer in a new country? Perhaps, I should stay within the US and intern at a non-profit organization through Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). When people say there are endless opportunities at Princeton, they aren’t lying. As I navigate my choices, I realize I'm preparing for what comes after the orange bubble. It's about equipping myself with skills, experiences, and memories that will shape my career and how I will remember my time here. I decided to do a bit of a rundown on the people at Princeton I reached out to help guide my search. 

Professors 

Seminars are one of my favorite class formats at Princeton and I’m currently taking a seminar called “The Psychology of Adversity.” Prof. Rebecca Carey is teaching the course and she is also my advisor for my junior paper. One thing I love about being a part of her seminar and lab is moving from the seminar room to our lab room. I love talking with her about our discussion topics from class and also hearing her insight about doing research. Soon, I’ll be meeting with her to discuss general questions regarding her journey applying to graduate school and her experience throughout. I love to sit with anyone who has the time to talk to me about their experiences because it allows me to gather different perspectives and within that, figure out which route I’d like to take. 

Alumni 

The Princeton Psychology Society recently had a Career Expo where students were able to meet various professionals in the field of psychology. The goal of the event was to have an informal discussion surrounding various career paths and create connections with alumni who were invited to speak. I was excited to talk with an alumnus who was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), self-employed in private practice. Her path to landing as an LCSW was very interesting and it taught me that there is no linear way to achieving my end goal. While I might be trying to find the best way to become a practicing psychologist, her experience shows that I don’t have to be too worried about making all the right decisions. 

Career Center 

The Career Center is such a useful resource for anything related to career planning. I’ve used the resources multiple times whether it be for finding a winter break internship (aka Princeternship, read about mine here), guidance regarding graduate school and this time around – to find a summer internship. I remember my first time stepping into the office, I was a sophomore already worried about graduate school. Now, I’m still worried about graduate school but I’m more focused on what this summer means for my applications. Taking my degree into consideration, the staff at the Career Center advised me to continue with research as that’s a typical route for those applying to graduate school. They also offered other suggestions such as working with children in a camp setting or finding open positions on Handshake (an internal Princeton platform for exploring internal resources and external opportunities). 

At the beginning of the year, in most seminars or precepts, professors will have students introduce themselves with their name, year, and major. It felt so weird to say “Hi, my name is Melissa, a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in Latino Studies”. Time at Princeton truly flies by and I couldn’t believe that I was already halfway through my time here. Junior year definitely comes with its own sets of challenges, it is the year all A.B. majors begin their junior independent work. For psychology majors, it is recommended that students find their own advisor that aligns with their research interests. So I began the search for an advisor and lab.

I instantly fell in love with the Adversity and Relationships in Context (ARC) Lab. The research topics were fascinating and thought-provoking and I immediately knew I wanted to be part of it. Even during my interview which is usually meant to be nerve-wracking, the lab manager and graduate student interviewing me opened up with a silly question: pancakes, waffles or french toast? (I obviously answered french toast.) This immediately told me everything I needed to know about the environment of this lab and made me very comfortable for the rest of the interview. When I received the email inviting me to be part of the ARC lab, I couldn’t have been happier. I was both excited and nervous about starting the work that so many upperclassmen talk about. 

We are now halfway through the semester and I’ve just completed my midpoint presentation for my junior paper. Psychology majors have two junior papers, one in the fall and one in the spring. The fall paper I’m working on is a literature review where I look through various articles on my research topic and it's meant to be around 10-20 pages in length. To check on the progress of our research, the psychology department conducts a presentation with a group of four to six psychology majors and a faculty member. While not intended to be a stressful check-in, I couldn’t help but be nervous leading up to the presentation. I had done an extensive review of the literature but I also remained undecided of what I really wanted to focus my research on. My friends who are also majoring in psychology were so helpful during this process. They were able to listen in and help me brainstorm ideas while also providing some insight into explaining my topic to an audience that may have never heard of it before. 

Alongside the support from my friends, being part of a lab is one of the best things about working on my junior paper. While I love the cozy and familiar nature of working with everyone in the ARC lab, I also value the experience and knowledge they’re able to use to help orient my research. Before my official presentation, my lab had all juniors present as a practice round to get some constructive feedback. I think this was one of the most useful aspects of my lab experience because they were able to provide me with specific advice about my research and gave me useful pointers that I can use as I continue to work on my first junior paper. After we had those practice presentations, my lab hosted a lab social! We made pizzas, decorated cookies and some people even painted mini pumpkins. 

Even though balancing my coursework, extracurriculars, and independent research can be difficult, I'm grateful for my support systems. They remind me to take breaks and enjoy life in between. I would love to say that independent work is simple or easy but instead, I’d rather say it presents a challenge that forms my academic career at Princeton. Everyone here is working on such innovative research, we’re learning how to be independent and creative while also having guidance from some of the leading researchers in our fields. I just know that these experiences will be markers of my future success in the field of psychology and also form an integral part of who I am.

I recently celebrated one of the most exciting days for a Princeton student this past April: Declaration Day! This day is when rising juniors “declare” their concentration (Princeton’s version of majors!). Everyone wears their traditional class year sweaters and gathers on Cannon Green to take pictures in front of their department banners. As you can tell from the featured photo, I declared… Anthropology! I’m super excited about my decision, but it certainly isn’t one I came to super easily. Let me tell you about my journey:

Going into my freshman year, I originally thought that I was going to concentrate in Sociology. Truth be told, I wasn’t even really sure what sociology really was, but after perusing the department’s website, it seemed to align with a lot of the fields I was interested in exploring: education, media, non-profit work, etc.

Long story short, I didn’t love it. Sociology just didn’t seem like the right fit for me, perhaps because it wasn’t as people-centric as I’d hoped for. The faculty were really helpful and the courses were interesting, though, so I could definitely see myself taking more classes in the department just for fun.

Following this, I was unsure of what to explore next until a friend of mine suggested that I take a psychology class with her. She was definitely going to be a PSY concentrator, and it was always a field that I was interested in learning more about. So I agreed! I started taking classes like PSY254: Developmental Psychology, PSY309: Psychology of Language, and PSY251: Quantitative Methods. It was the last of these three, a statistics class that was a prerequisite for declaring the concentration, that made me realize why psychology wasn’t a good fit for me either. The field required working with programming languages like R and lots of data visualization and analysis. I’m personally not a huge fan of math or statistics, so I found doing this quantitative work wasn’t as interesting or rewarding for me as qualitative work I experienced in other classes. Having explored two majors now with no luck, I didn’t know where my studies were going to take me.

Enter: Anthropology. As with sociology, I hadn’t really heard of what anthropology was before coming to Princeton. But I had taken two ANT courses during my freshman and sophomore years: ANT311: Food, Culture, and Society and ANT201: Introduction to Anthropology. The former, I absolutely loved! It was taught by Professor Hanna Garth and involved a lot of hands-on activities, such as the one day when we had class outside and did a series of taste testing! Unlike psychology, anthropology also afforded me the opportunity to do a lot more personal, people-centric work. For projects, I got to interview students on campus and family members, as well as conduct human observations for research. All of this felt much more fulfilling and made me excited to learn.

As Declaration Day approached, I was still weighing the pros and cons of each of these three concentrations. Something that I did to help me to make my ultimate decision (which I suggest every student do!) was attend the various open houses for each major. During the spring semester, this is something that every academic department does to help students (not just sophomores!) learn more about each concentration. After going to the ANT, PSY, and SOC open houses, I knew what I wanted to do. Call it a gut feeling or a good vibe, but I really felt like the ANT open house solidified for me that this was the concentration for me. So, on April 14, 2023, I declared Anthropology and haven’t looked back since!

All this to say, you by no means have to come into Princeton knowing exactly what you want to study. In fact, college is the perfect time for students to do the exact opposite: explore! Test out multiple different concentrations and certificates, take classes that genuinely interest you, and find what you’re truly passionate about. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up majoring in something you’d never even heard of!

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