Recommendations to Die For

Every year, the University sends out “The Thesis: Quintessentially Princeton” to incoming freshman and rising seniors. This booklet is meant to give students a taste of the thesis-writing process, and it contains the perspectives of several ’02 Princeton graduates and their thesis advisers. As you seniors trudge through the final weeks and days of your writing process, here’s the best and worst of what you can hope your advisor to say about his/her experience with you:

“Advising Matt was a stimulating experience, from our first conversation to his outstanding oral presentation. My only regret is that I have no way of making Matt’s thesis required reading for every member of the United States Congress.” – Professor Peter Singer about Matt Frazier ’02.

“Some senior theses are much more enjoyable to supervise than others. The ones that are most frustrating typically begin with something like, ‘Hello professor, I was told to come see you. I don’t know what you teach, but could you give me an idea to work on for my thesis?’ Then the student toys with one idea after another until sometime in January, panics, and works frantically to catch up. Those are usually the students, too, who have somehow failed during their first three years at Princeton to learn how to use the library.” – Professor Robert Wuthnow

If you’ve got a renowned ethicist recommending your thesis to Congress, you should be golden. If you fear you may be in the category of advisees Wuthnow speaks of, get thee to a library!