Academics

Somewhat contrary to what I said above, if you absolutely hate doing work, don't come here. Don't do that to yourself. On the other hand, if you like learning, and you want to be intellectually stimulated by interaction with one of the brightest student bodies in the nation and a legion of brilliant professors...come to Princeton. I guarantee, you won't regret it. Oh, and don't cheat. We have an honor code.

Rigor is really dependent on your degree program (AB - arts/sciences; BSE - engineering), as well as your department. As an AB student, most of my workload is reading-related, but you of course will have times in the semester when there is lots of written work due, and perhaps some traditional exams as well. Each week you'll also have discussion sections (what we call precepts) that allow you to discuss what you've been learning on your own or during lectures. Some don't take them too seriously, and you'll often find yourself less than enthused too, but they can be interesting if you have a good preceptor and classmates. Overall, I've really grown intellectually here, and have learned to love learning all over again.

It's an Ivy league, I'm not sure how well I can explain how hard it is.
My Dad was at the top of his class in high school, and was struggling to be mediocre at Princeton.

I worked very hard in high school, but to be honest I never really had to sit down and study so much as complete an assignment. The work here is very difficult, and the tests are even more so. I've had to learn a entire new system of learning.

This is a hard school. You're going to work a lot harder than you had to before - probably even harder than you had anticipated. Look for help - lots of people are offering it (if you're struggling in your writing seminar, visit the writing center; if science is causing you some problems, try McGraw.)

high level of rigor

Stretches you to whichever way you want your potentials to be stretched.