Getting Connected
Believe it or not, there is life outside the Orange Bubble. Here’s your guide to communicating with it once within the Princeton gates.
Internet & E-mail
Most students here are clinically obsessed with their e-mail. They check it dozens of times per day, from their rooms, from clusters, from friends' rooms, from public terminals, from laptops, from friends' laptops. There is nothing in the world quite as comforting as a busy inbox, but just remember to regularly clean out your junk mail. Overrun your allotted space and OIT will lock your account until you fix it. But don't worry -- you'll get lots and lots of warnings from them before that happens, and they'll walk you through fixing it.
If you brought your own computer, you will need to connect it to Dormnet, the University network that allows you fast access to the Internet. Prior to using your account for the first time you must activate it at the Account Activation page, using the netID and initial password that was mailed to you during the summer.
Once you're online, OIT provides instructions for setting up your e-mail on your computer (all students use "IMAP"). While you're working on that, check out WebMail, which will be your very best friend when using clusters or friends' computers.
If you have access to the Internet from home, you should get acquainted with the Princeton home page before you come here. It's an excellent way to find out about campus events, organizations, classes and more. And once you're here, check out TigerApps, which is the Undergraduate Student Government's portal for Princeton students.
Mailboxes are located on the 100 level of Frist Campus Center. To get your mailbox number and combination, go to the Mail Services website.
You will get plenty of mail, although most of it will probably be from credit card companies. Sometimes your parents will send you a care package, an object of great pride and jealousy (don't worry, the food here is not that bad; it's just that it's nice to feel that someone cares about you). You will be notified via e-mail about larger packages, which you will have to pick up at the Frist Campus Center.
When sending mail to other boxes on campus, just write "Campus Mail" and the recipient information on the envelope and drop it in a bin located in the college mailroom or at Frist (no stamp necessary!). To send letters and boxes to the outside world, for which you WILL need stamps, use the blue U.S. mailboxes on Nassau Street or on campus (in Frist, behind Stanhope Hall, right by New South, in front of 1915 Hall and at the Dinky station). If you need to buy stamps, stop by the machine on the first floor of Frist. There is also a post office in Palmer Square, next to the Nassau Inn, and a UPS Store on Witherspoon Street. If you want to mail large packages, it's worth trying the Student Shipping and Packing Agency, which can provide some of these services at a discount.
At the end of the year you might want to fill out a form at the post office to have your mail forwarded to your summer address. If you don't, mailroom workers will forward personal mail to your home address, but will toss out magazines and bulk mail.
Telephones
The University supplies local and incoming long-distance phone service to your room; you just need to provide the phone.
University and local calls are free. For local calls (Princeton and the surrounding area), dial 9 before the number; for on-campus calls, press 8 followed by the four-digit extension. To make long-distance calls, you have to dial 9, then 1 and the number, and when you hear another dial tone, punch in your personal authorization code (PAC number). You get your PAC number by signing up online for telephone service; it is different from your roommate's number (so you can be billed separately) and works in all rooms. Your monthly statement won't show you all the long-distance calls you made with your PAC. To obtain details about each call, billing information or account balances, go to the student datamall Web page. To log in, use your netID as your username and your e-mail password. Be sure to keep on top of your telephone bill. Letting a bill over $10 run past due for 45 days will get your PAC disconnected, and then you have to pay $25 to get it reactivated.
Every student also has a voice mailbox that allows you to leave and receive messages. EVM, the Enabled Voice Mail service, sends the voice messages to your e-mail and allows you to set up other notification options. You can also access your voice mailbox from any touch-tone phone on or off campus by dialing 258-6423 (8-6423 or VOICE, if you are on campus), then your number, your mailbox number and your password. If you hear beeps on your phone when you pick up the receiver, that means you or your roommate(s) have a voicemail message.
The University's website lets you search for the telephone and fax numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses of all undergraduates and graduate students, faculty, administrators, student agencies, department offices and other facilities on campus online.
