INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Remember, you must apply in order to be admitted! If you have the interests, motivation, and talent to benefit from the program that we offer, you should certainly apply. An application and related information can be obtained from the Princeton University Admission Office.
What is distinctive about engineering at Princeton?
We believe that there are several outstanding characteristics of Princeton's engineering program.
- The faculty and students are among the best in the country. Not only would you be taught by faculty members who are among the most accomplished in their fields, but you would also learn through interaction with fellow students as talented as you.
- The scale of Engineering within Princeton University is very important. Our school comprises about one-sixth of the entire University, and Princeton's exceptional strengths in the liberal arts play a large role in the B.S.E. curriculum. Yet the School of Engineering and Applied Science also embraces six departments to create a community of students and faculty with shared interests.
- Third, the program of study emphasizes engineering's scientific principles, because with a solid command of fundamental principles, practice and application become natural extensions of engineering thought, enabling graduates to adapt to a wide variety of professional situations.
How many courses are required for the B.S.E. degree?
Thirty-six courses are required for the B.S.E. degree. Among these are SEAS general requirements, departmental core and elective courses, departmental independent work, at least seven social science and humanities courses, the University writing requirement, and free electives. Independent work in the School of Engineering and Applied Science carries course numbers and is counted among the 36.
Who will teach my courses?
All Princeton courses are taught by professorial-rank faculty. Graduate students play a supporting role by assisting in labs and grading, and sometimes by leading precepts in the larger lecture courses.
How large are classes?
Compared with classes at many other research universities, Princeton's classes are quite small. The departmental courses that you take in your junior and senior years will probably have about 10-20 students - sometimes fewer, rarely more. Independent work is, of course, done individually or as part of a team of 2-4 students. In your sophomore year, the foundation courses in your engineering department will have about 30 to 60 students. The largest required courses that you will encounter will probably occur in your first year. The general chemistry lecture may have about 200 students meeting three times a week. Your weekly general physics lecture may have about 150, but this course is taught primarily in smaller classes of about 15-20 students three times a week.
What is a typical first-year schedule?
A typical first-year engineering schedule includes four courses in the fall and five in the spring. In the fall, engineering students usually take physics, math, chemistry, and either a writing seminar or elective. In the spring, they continue physics and math and add computer programming and two electives (or one elective and a writing seminar). Students are assigned to take the University writing requirement during either the fall or spring of freshman year.
What about advanced placement credit?
Princeton students may receive advanced placement in a variety of subjects. The ones of direct relevance to the B.S.E. curriculum are calculus, chemistry, computer science, and physics. Advanced placement credit in these areas may be used to satisfy the SEAS general requirements.
What is independent work?
"Independent work" is our name for an undergraduate research project. In independent work, the student defines the question to be investigated and the data required to address the problem, devises the approach to solving the problem, and presents the results in a professional manner. Independent work is normally done in the junior or senior year. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Operations Research and Financial Engineering require a full-year senior thesis project, while in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Computer Science (B.S.E.), independent work is done in semester-long projects (senior thesis options also exist in several of these departments).
Will I have room for electives?
An engineering program includes technical electives, humanities and social science electives, and free electives. Although there are a number of school-wide requirements and core departmental courses, there is also a lot of room for choice and breadth. Most engineering students have room for at least three and usually more free electives, not counting the required seven social science and humanities electives and whatever technical electives are part of the student's program.
What are Freshman Seminars?
Freshman Seminars are small classes in which a group of students and a professor work together on a topic of special interest to them. Each year, over 60 Freshman Seminars will be offered. Enrollment in the seminars is by application. Freshman Seminars are regular University classes and count as one of the 36 required for the B.S.E. degree. Most fulfill University distribution requirements. A number of engineering students take Freshman Seminars each year, and we encourage their participation in the program.
Will I be able to participate in extracurricular activities?
Most engineering students participate in extracurricular activities to a significant degree. They can be found on the rosters of Princeton's intercollegiate and intramural teams, playing in the University orchestra, on the mastheads of campus publications, and taking part in community service activities.
What do B.S.E. students do after graduation?
There is no single career path for a Princeton B.S.E. graduate. Many go to work in business or industry upon graduation, some intending to return to graduate study eventually. Others go directly on to graduate study with the goal of pursuing careers in research or education. Some become teachers, doctors, lawyers, or astronauts. The B.S.E. degree from Princeton provides both a solid technical education along with the breadth of serious study in the liberal arts, so the wide variety of post-graduate plans among our students comes as no surprise.
What kind of computers are used at Princeton?
Students, faculty, and staff use primarily Windows XP computers however, a variety of computing environments, including Unix and MAC ; can be found in student clusters throughout the campus. In computing courses, students primarily use UNIX workstations. The University's campus-wide network permits access from many locations, including the dormitories, Frist Campus Center, Friend Center, and the E-Quad, to academic software, on-line information, and the Internet.
Must I buy my own computer?
Princeton undergraduates are not required to buy their own computers, and no courses require students to own computers. Many computer facilities within the School of Engineering and Applied Science are open to students to meet their computing needs. The Student Computer Initiative provides Princeton students the opportunity to purchase various attractively priced, highly configured computers. More information
What is Princeton looking for in an applicant?
There is no single "ideal type" of Princeton engineering applicant. We are especially interested in students who have done well in the most challenging program of courses that was available at their high school, have particular strengths in math and science, and who have a sense of intellectual curiosity about technology and its role in the modern world.
What SAT II (subject tests) do you require?
Princeton strongly recommends that applicants submit the results of three SAT II subject tests. Applicants who intend to pursue a B.S.E. degree should include among these either the Level I or Level II mathematics test and either the physics or chemistry test.
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AT A GLANCE
Admission Information
About 750 undergraduate engineering students are enrolled at any one time, out of approximately 4500 total undergraduates at Princeton.
The Engineering complex is on Olden Street, at the eastern end of the campus. The Computer Science Department has its own building while the other departments are all located in the Engineering Quadrangle. Click here for an interactive map.
Other facilities include The Friend Center for Engineering Education, designed by the firm of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, as well as The Princeton Materials Institute in Bowen Hall.
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