Student Life

TigerJunction vs ReCal: How I Plan My Courses for the Next Semester

Posted on November 27, 2023November 27, 2023 by Shannon Yeow

TigerJunction Logo

It’s always a mixed bag of emotions when it comes to course selection. Personally, I find the period between when the next semester’s courses are released and before the course selection date to be especially fun—I can play around with the different ideal schedules (potentially having no-class Fridays and no night classes), look ahead to the rest of the courses that I’ll be taking during my time here, and discover new classes. Whether people end up choosing to take classes to fulfill requirements, classes that interest them, or classes that could teach them important skills, an important aspect in choosing courses for the upcoming semester is course planning. TigerApps is a group of student developers that builds apps to improve the campus life experience for Princeton students. One of the TigerApps created is ReCal, which is the most popular way to aid in course planning and ensure a smooth process for course selection. Recently, TigerJunction ReCal+, an application for course planning inspired by ReCal and designed to be an “improved” version, has made its rounds among students. As course selection season is upon us, I wanted to take the opportunity to show how I plan my courses for the next semester and provide an in-depth comparison between ReCal and TigerJunction ReCal+ to inform how other students plan their courses for the upcoming semesters.

In a Mid-Semester Slump? Here are Five Tips to Bounce Back from Burnout

Posted on November 22, 2023November 21, 2023 by Kate Weseley-Jones

Unfortunately, many of us will experience burnout sometime during our four years here at Princeton. For those of you who may not have heard this term before, the definition is in its name: burnout involves losing that spark of motivation that previously might have kept you pushing forward through your workload. Keep in mind that burnout is distinct from things like anxiety or depression that may also be impacting your academic performance in a similar way. If you think you are struggling with these instead, you can contact Princeton’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) to seek longer-term professional help. They also offer urgent consultations for more immediate situations. Burnout specifically deals much more with the ebbs and flows that can happen as stress builds over the course of a semester. Thankfully, there are many ways to combat and minimize the negative effects of burnout. If you have a few overdue assignments, slept through a few lectures, or just generally feel you are not quite as on top of things as you may have been when the semester began, here are some of my tips for getting out of an academic slump.

Photo of girl sitting on grass, leaning against bench, face covered by open textbook. — *These tips might be of use if you’re having a particularly tiring week!*

My Personal Tips for Success in Writing Seminar

Posted on November 10, 2023November 10, 2023 by Shannon Yeow

Even before stepping foot on campus, I had already heard of the challenges that came with the Writing Seminar, the first-year writing requirement. Students are able to rank by preference several Writing Seminars covering different topics, which have included topics such as WRI 116: Sustainable Futures and WRI 159: Gray Matter. In each of these Writing Seminars, students develop their writing skills through a research focus, writing three research papers throughout the semester. As Writing Seminars are such a widely discussed topic for first-years and there is an abundance of advice from juniors and seniors floating around, I wanted to write a more detailed article specifically about what I did to learn how to write.

*Picture of the flowchart I created for my R2; tip #3, use whiteboards!*

The “Right” Way to Rank Writing Seminars

Posted on November 1, 2023October 24, 2023 by Kate Weseley-Jones

Course selection is coming up! Picking classes that you are really excited about can be one of the best academic moments of the semester. Doing as much research on a course as possible can help to ensure I will enjoy a professor’s teaching style, which in my opinion is just as important as being interested in the subject matter. As those of us who have dabbled in the social sciences know, survey data can be a great method for evaluation, which is why when it comes to picking courses, I tend to weigh student ratings pretty heavily.

Writing Seminar enrollment infographic with steps for ranking top 8 writing seminar choices. — *This helpful diagram from the Writing Program website outlines the steps of the writing seminar enrollment process.*

This strategy for course selection, however, is far from perfect. Now that I am more than halfway through my time at Princeton, I am all too familiar with hoping to read the reviews for a course only to discover that there aren’t any. The first time I had this experience was in the fall of my first year when I was trying to pick a writing seminar.

That’s right, first-years! For those of you who are taking your writing seminar this spring, you will soon discover (if you haven’t already) that there is no way to see the feedback provided on these courses by previous students. On top of the lack of access to course evaluations, there is no add/drop period for writing seminar; once you get your assignment, you will have to stick with it. So where should you start when trying to decide how to rank your top choices?

My BSE Spring Semester Experience in the Engineering Sequence

Posted on October 27, 2023October 25, 2023 by Shannon Yeow

After having written “My BSE Fall Semester Experience in the Engineering Sequence”, I wanted to continue writing about my experience in the spring semester portion of the sequence; if you haven’t read my first post yet, go read it! To reiterate, the Engineering Sequence is a set of five courses intended to fulfill first-year engineering requirements through an introduction to engineering fundamentals in the context of real-world applications. BSE degree requirements include four semesters of math, two semesters of physics, one semester of chemistry, and every first-year student is required to take one semester of writing seminar. The Engineering Sequence begins at the Integral Calculus (Calculus II) and the Physics Mechanics level, meaning that it will cover for the two required semesters of physics and the four semesters of math in five courses throughout three semesters. Read on to learn more about the spring sequence!

EGR 153: Foundations of Engineering: Electricity, Magnetics, and Photonics

screenshot from course page. Link to course description in subheading. — *Course Description of EGR 153 for Spring 2023*

A Look Inside TigerResearch: A Gateway to Princeton Professors’ Research Interests

Posted on October 11, 2023October 9, 2023 by Alexis Wu

Last year, I wrote an article on The Creation of TigerResearch, a platform created by three Princeton undergraduates (Vivek Kolli ‘24, Eric Ahn ‘24, and Alex Zhang ‘24) to help students to easily discover Princeton professors and learn more about their research focuses. Through my interview with Vivek, I was able to see how students at Princeton take their entrepreneurial ideas and bring them to life, creating new solutions that help other students become more engaged with research on campus.

TigerResearch homepage welcome message

This year, as I continue to explore my own research interests, I find myself returning to TigerResearch. I’m interested in learning more about my professors’ research backgrounds, particularly in what their latest and current work is on and how it relates to the discussions and material we cover in class. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to delve deeper into TigerResearch.

Why Research?

Posted on October 9, 2023October 9, 2023 by Rebecca Cho

Hello scientists! During your time here so far, you may have heard of science research at Princeton – either through your STEM classes, through listserv emails, or through conversations with your peers and professors. At Princeton, I became involved in research and I grew to love this activity as a way to engage with my academic interests outside of the classroom. There are so many great benefits from pursuing a research interest, but first let’s talk – why science research?

Frick Chemistry Laboratory - full of natural light and glass and wood features. — *Frick Chemistry Laboratory – an on-campus location of burgeoning science research. (Photo taken by Rebecca Cho.*)

My BSE Fall Semester Experience in the Engineering Sequence

Posted on October 6, 2023October 3, 2023 by Shannon Yeow

College is daunting. It’s normal for incoming first-years to feel uncertain about many things, especially course selection. I remember looking through every course on the course offerings page to determine the classes I would be taking in the fall, and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. I came into Princeton as a prospective COS (Computer Science) BSE student, so my class choices were inevitably influenced by my BSE degree requirements. BSE degree requirements include four semesters of math, two semesters of physics, one semester of chemistry, and every first-year is required to take one semester of writing seminar. Read on to learn about my experiences in the EGR sequence, starting with EGR 151.

EGR 151: Foundations of Engineering: Mechanics, Energy, and Waves

Screenshot depicting course description of EGR 151. Link in caption leads to full version. — *Course Description of EGR 151 for Fall 2023*

Wright Library: An Under-utilized Resource for Students

Posted on October 2, 2023September 29, 2023 by Shane Patrick

When I first walked through the doors of Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) on a sweltering September day a few weeks ago, I was struck by three things: the great size of the library, the small number of students there, and its remarkably-strong air conditioning. As I set my things down and cooled off in a quiet study area, I began to work on an assignment for one of my classes. My gratitude for the engineers who designed the building’s cooling system was quickly superseded by my admiration for those who worked together to produce the largest theological library in America and the second largest in the world after the Vatican Library in Rome.

Image shows the facade of Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library in Princeton, New Jersey.

Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library is the main library at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Productivity Apps: Three Hidden Gems for Getting Organized

Posted on September 27, 2023September 25, 2023 by Alexis Wu

As I was reading through old PCUR posts, I came across PCUR Alumni Taylor Griffith’s 2017 post on Productivity Apps and managing your work. With the continuous development of new organization and productivity apps, it can be challenging to find what works best for you. Though some are fierce Google Calendar or sticky note users, I wanted to share three (free!) apps I’ve found to be incredibly useful.

Image of an annotated course reading with highlighting and notes in the margins

Example of how I annotate readings with CollaNote

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