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Video Closed Captions

JARED CROOKS: It was my first
time attending High Table.

And not knowing what to expect,
I thought it was

really fascinating because you
had a chance to mingle and

talk with people from
all over the campus.

My name is Jared
Aldwin Crooks.

I was an undergraduate
here last year.

In fact, I graduated in 2011
in the astrophysics

department.

And now I'm back in as
a graduate student.

We had this fascinating talk by
Professor Gmachl who talked

about her work through
electrical engineering.

And even though I'm doing policy
here at the Woodrow

Wilson School, I went because
High Table really gives you

that chance to just spread
your knowledge out and

collaborate with others and
make collaborations.

CLAIRE GMACHL: I'm
Claire Gmachl.

I'm a professor of electrical
engineering here at Princeton

University.

I really enjoyed the invitation
to the Princeton

graduate school High Table.

What impressed me most was the
breadth of students that came.

There were not just engineering
students or

science students, but students
across disciplines that came

and asked interesting
questions.

DAVID REDMAN: The graduate
school at Princeton University

is comprised of four major
academic divisions: the

humanities, the social
sciences, the natural

sciences, and the School of

Engineering and Applied Science.

We have, in addition, two other
professional schools,

Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International

Affairs and the School
of Architecture.

JENNIFER HUYNH: My name
is Jennifer Huynh.

I'm a PhD student in
the Department of

Sociology at Princeton.

The environment here is very
collegial rather than

competitive.

Students have access to multiple
departments to take

courses in.

So, even though I'm a student
in the sociology department,

I've taken courses in political
science, economics,

the Woodrow Wilson School
of Public Policy.

So, there's this wonderful
cross-fertilization of ideas.

Professors and faculty are very
open to discussing with

you your academic interests.

NICOLE SHELTON: I think just in
terms of general research,

I always tell my students
to think big.

This is an opportunity for you
to explore whatever it is that

you want to do.

And Princeton is a great place
for you to do that.

And so, I encourage them
to shoot for the stars.

ROBERT KASTER: What to tell
you about Princeton?

It is for people in my field,
for people in the humanities,

the best working environment
I have ever experienced in

higher education.

It is supportive.

It is well-endowed
with resources.

And it attracts people who love
what they're doing, who

in terms of the faculty
love to teach.

No one comes to Princeton to
teach in the humanities who

does not enjoy having contact
with students.

And that, I think, is the single
strongest aspect of

having your education
at Princeton.

ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER: One of
the things I love about

Princeton is the combination of
a university that has been

here for hundreds of years
with state-of-the-art

technology and education.

We have lots of traditions
that we're very proud of.

One of them, for instance, for
graduate students is High

Table at the graduate college
where faculty members like me

go and present and then
talk to students at

dinner, at High Table.

So, it's that combination of the
old and the new that gives

this place its special
character.

One of the most wonderful
traditions is really the

hooding ceremony.

It is possible for the dean to
hood every single student the

day before graduation.

So, there's a marvelous ceremony
with all the friends

and family in the audience where
each student in academic

gowns comes up to the stage,
their name is called out.

And as dean, I would put that
hood over that student's head

knowing that student and knowing
something about where

he or she had come from and
where they're going.

CLAIRE GMACHL: I think it's a
wonderful graduate school.

I was so impressed by the depth
of the questions and the

breadth of the questions
that the students

asked at the High Table.

I think it's a wonderful
reflection

of our student body.

JARED CROOKS: If a school
doesn't have the mentors that

you need, then come to
Princeton because

we have them all.

That's all I have to
say on that one.