Frequently Asked Questions

During the first two weeks of the semester, you may drop a class with the approval of your adviser. Individual courses may be dropped through the ninth week of the semester (there is a $45 late drop penalty). No course — including an extra or elective course — may be dropped after the deadline. Academic deadlines are available on the registrar’s website.

If a course is eligible for Pass/D/Fail grading, you may log in to TigerHub to select the grading option between the seventh and ninth weeks of the semester. Please remember that courses taken with the P/D/F grading option do fulfill distribution requirements and count toward graduation; however, they do not count as prerequisites or departmental courses.

Graduate courses are open to undergraduates with the permission of the instructor, departmental representative and residential college dean or assistant dean. The form is available from your college office or on this website. You should only consider enrolling in a graduate course if you have exhausted the curricular possibilities in a given area, or if there are no undergraduate course offerings that would allow you to study a given topic.

All outside courses must be preapproved for credit by having the course reviewed and approved by the appropriate department where the course would be taught, were it offered at Princeton. Use the form for first-year students and sophomores, or for juniors, and submit to the appropriate departmental representative or program director. All courses must also be approved by your dean or assistant dean, or by the Office of International Programs if taken abroad. The deadline for submission for approval is Dean’s Date preceding the term in which the course is offered. See the summer coursework pre-approval page for additional details.

Talk with your residential assistant dean and your language instructor as soon as possible. Any level switches in language courses must be approved by the course head or language coordinator. Level switches after the second week of class are extremely rare.

Princeton University cannot request Advanced Placement (AP) score reports on behalf of students. The College Board reports your AP scores to Princeton only if you make that request directly to the College Board. The scores are sent to us electronically and we download them to your record. We only accept score reports sent directly to Princeton from the College Board. Please make sure that you request a cumulative report of your test scores for all AP tests taken during high school. Unless you specify this in your request to the College Board, we may only receive a partial report of scores for exams taken during the current year. To request a score report, you should go to the AP Grade Reporting website.

IB scores must also be sent to Princeton electronically at the request of the student. To request an IB score report, visit their website.

If you have A level certificates, you should bring those to the assistant dean in your residential college.

Two weeks prior to the start of each term, information regarding required and recommended course books will be available through Timber, the software for submitting course book reading lists to Labyrinth Books. You can access the purchasing tool log on to Canvas.

If you are an incoming first-year student, the best time to buy your course books will be after you have completed advising and registration during orientation in September; we do not recommend that you buy any course books before coming to campus. There will be ample time to do this once you are here, and when you know your final schedule of courses!

All regularly enrolled, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students (as well as full time international exchange students and post-graduation students in the Program in Teacher Preparation receive a 30% discount off the list price of new and used books for use in Princeton University courses. Both required and recommended titles on the course reading lists are included in the discount program. Labyrinth also offers a rental program for more expensive textbooks, and with their generous buy-back option the final savings typically come to 55% off all new books and 62.5% off all used books if you want to sell your books back at the end of the semester. All of these programs offer personalized service that is tailored to the needs of Princeton students.

The student book purchasing site will be ready August 23, 2022 where you will be able to order your course books online, through Timber and can charge your purchases to your student account, PAW points, or a credit card; or pay with a personal check or cash at the store. Labyrinth staff will package all online course book orders in advance and have them ready for express pickup at the store at 122 Nassau Street. You will need to show your student ID and pick up your order in person.

If you have additional questions about your course book orders, you can email Labyrinth at: studentorders@labyrinthbooks.com. You can also visit the course books Facebook page, and find out further information about course book buy backs.

Labyrinth Books is an independent, family-owned bookstore that serves both the University and the local Princeton community. Labyrinth carries a broad range of subject areas including literature, the arts, social and natural sciences, and books for children. In addition to new releases, the store has a vast inventory of deeply discounted remainder titles and used books. Collaborations with other cultural, political, and academic institutions or groups derive from a commitment to keeping a culture of reading alive, and to reaching across intellectual as well as social divides. The store offers a popular events series, the majority of which include members of the Princeton University community. Details can be found at https://labyrinthbooks.com/events.

If you're interested in becoming a Peer Academic Adviser (PAA), please review the information below concerning eligibility and requirements to see if the position is right for you. Students eligible and eager to serve as a PAA should contact the assistant deans in their residential college. Invitations to apply are also sent out after mid-terms of the spring semester. Note that only students affiliated with a residential college can serve as PAAs for that college. If your next housing assignment means you will be affiliated with a different residential college in the coming academic year, please contact the assistant dean for that college.

You will have a meeting with your faculty adviser each semester to discuss your academic plans and enroll in courses. You may also want to see your adviser to discuss your academic progress during the term, especially if you have concerns about your classes or performance.

Go to TigerHub; look under Advising.

During the term, all papers and other written work are due at the time set by the instructor. If there are reasons you’re unable to meet a deadline (such as illness or a family emergency), you should discuss the delay with your course instructor and arrange for a new due date. Extensions during term time are granted by instructors directly. 

At the end of the term, any postponement of written work due on Dean’s Date must be approved by your dean or assistant dean as well as the professor in charge of the course. If, despite your best efforts, you cannot finish your Dean’s Date work on time, make an appointment to see your dean or assistant dean to discuss an official extension — before the deadline has passed. You will need to receive written authorization prior to the Dean’s Date deadline, since deadlines cannot be altered after the fact. Normally, only short-term extensions are granted and there must be compelling circumstances beyond your control.

If you feel too ill to take an exam, you must report to University Health Services prior to the scheduled exam time and call the deputy registrar at 609-258-7242. The deputy registrar will consult with the health services staff in order to determine if you are able to take an exam at the scheduled time. If an exam is approved for postponement, the deputy registrar will arrange for you to take the same exam within a 24-hour period of the scheduled time. If you need to postpone a final exam for more than 24 hours due to illness, you may apply to your dean or assistant dean for authorization for a long-term postponement. In such cases, the deputy registrar will administer a make-up exam at the beginning of the following term.

The University’s policy is that a student who has two exams on the same day may postpone one exam to the following day. In order to arrange for such rescheduling, you must apply to the Office of the Registrar in the week before final exams begin. For more information, see the registrar's webpage on final examination policies.

If you have a conflict involving a take-home exam, please see your dean or assistant dean.

To get the most from your courses, you should seek out and engage opportunities for learning beyond those afforded by class time and in assigned texts. You might want to go to a professor’s office hours to pursue a topic more deeply than class discussion or readings have allowed, or because you are encountering difficulty with assignments or quizzes. You should definitely visit office hours if you are struggling in a course, as the professor is the best source of advice on how to improve your performance. If you are not sure what kinds of questions to bring to office hours, a learning consultant at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning can help you to frame course-specific questions to ensure that your meeting will be productive. Most professors post their office hours on Blackboard and on the course syllabus. If hours are not posted, ask your instructor when he or she is available. 

Before requesting a peer tutor, students are expected to seek help from the course instructor and to attend any review sessions and study halls that are offered for that course. Individual peer tutoring is not intended to replace conversations with instructors or any other course-based support. Sometimes a professor will recommend peer tutoring, or a student may continue to have difficulty after making initial use of these resources and wish to request individual tutoring through the residential colleges. Tutoring is only available for introductory course, not for upper-level departmental courses.

It’s important to prepare for your tutoring sessions by attempting some sample problems and identifying particular concepts where you are having difficulty. One of the best ways to use tutoring sessions is to go over sample exams from previous years. You should discuss with your tutor the times and frequency of meetings, and agree on your goals for the sessions. If at any point you feel the tutoring is not productive, please make an appointment to meet with your dean or assistant dean, who can assist you in finding a new tutor or other form of support.

Any student can benefit from a free one-on-one conference with an experienced fellow writer at the Writing Center. Every writer needs a reader! The Writing Center fellows are trained to consult on writing projects in any discipline. You’re welcome to bring writing in any form — ideas, notes, an outline or an early draft. Writing Center fellows can offer advice about the writing process, from getting started to revising, and they can work with you on the essential elements of academic writing, such as thesis, organization, use of sources and clarity of ideas and sentences. To make an appointment or to look up drop-in hours, visit the Writing Center’s website.

All academic support resources for Princeton undergraduates are available free of charge.

B.S.E. students join their departments at the end of their first year by selecting courses for the next fall with their chosen department and declaring their selection on the registrar’s website in May. A.B. students declare their concentration in mid-April of their sophomore year by selecting their next fall’s courses with their chosen department’s designated adviser or departmental representative and then confirming their selection on the registrar’s website. Detailed information regarding the major declaration process will be e-mailed to you as your selection time approaches.

In rare instances, A.B. students who have completed the prerequisites for a department may choose to begin their majors in the spring of sophomore year and usually engage in independent work that semester as well. Students who choose to concentrate early may do so — for instance, in order to facilitate studying abroad in junior year — by completing one junior paper ahead of time. If you decide to major early, you should get the approval of the departmental representative and then contact your residential college dean or assistant dean for final approval. More details can be found in the Undergraduate Announcement under “Special Features of the Undergraduate Program.”

Unlike majors — which are a mandatory aspect of the B.S.E. and A.B. degrees and are selected at standard times — certificates are optional and each certificate program sets its own deadlines for admission. For this reason, you must read the information on each certificate in the Undergraduate Announcement or on each program’s website. Some programs, such as Finance or Global Health and Health Policy, require students to apply at the end of their sophomore year. Other certificates offer more flexible deadlines. Almost all require some form of independent work in senior year as well as coursework, so it is almost always necessary to apply for a certificate before the beginning of senior year. 

You will begin to choose departmental courses when you declare your concentration — in the spring of first year for B.S.E. students, or the spring of sophomore year for A.B. students. At that time, you will have an opportunity to attend open houses sponsored by many departments and to consult with the faculty in the department who are designated advisers for students majoring in the department. This person is often, but not always, the departmental representative, who will approve your course selections before you enter them into TigerHub.

First of all, consult your department’s materials for specific instructions on how to find an adviser; departments do it very differently. Some departments collect information on students' interests and assign them to advisers, while some expect students to approach faculty on their own. If you are in a department where it is your responsibility to find an adviser, don’t be shy! Do your best to get to know faculty outside the classroom by taking advantage of office hours and attending departmental events. Faculty should welcome conversations about advising independent work. You should have some ideas for possible topics to discuss, and also ask how the faculty member likes to structure their work with advisees. The earlier you start the process the better chance you have of connecting with the ideal adviser, one who is interested in your topic and encourages you, but challenges you as well. It is entirely normal to have to approach several people before you find someone who can advise you, so persevere!

Since independent work requirements vary widely across the University’s academic departments, you should consult the departmental independent work guides to familiarize yourself with the specific goals and expectations of the departments that are of interest to you.

A number of departments and programs across campus have funding available to support independent work projects. The key to taking full advantage of the available funding opportunities is to start planning early. If you’re applying for funding to do thesis research in the summer, the deadline is in late-March of your junior year. Successful applicants need to have strong faculty endorsement at that time.

For a typical semester of study abroad, you will designate courses that will be the equivalent of four Princeton courses. The actual number of courses you take will vary, depending on the foreign institution or program you attend. The Office of International Programs will need to approve your program of study prior to your enrollment, including up to two distribution requirements that can be met through courses taken abroad. Courses for departmental requirements must also be approved by your departmental representative. For more information about using study abroad credits, see the OIP webpage.

Many think you “should” major in science, and that you will be a less competitive candidate for health professional school if you major in the humanities or social sciences. This is not the case. Health professional schools are interested in students who have challenged themselves in the sciences and who have gained a broad view of the human condition through the study of literature, history, language and the social and behavioral sciences. As long as you demonstrate both the ability in science and that broad understanding through a strong academic record, you will be a successful applicant to health professional school no matter which major you choose. You should choose a concentration based on these questions: What discipline is most interesting to you? Most challenging? Which field will best draw on your talents and abilities? Where do you want to do your independent work? 

The Center for Career Development offers a number of services for current students and recent alumni, including information sessions, workshops and alumni panels, assistance with obtaining law-related internships and connecting with Princeton alumni who are in the legal profession, as well as individual appointments with a pre-law counselor to discuss the law school application process.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) provides a variety of mental health care services to all students at Princeton. They are particularly sensitive to the stresses of undergraduate life and the many academic and social pressures that you may encounter in your years at Princeton. You may contact CPS directly for an appointment by calling 609-258-3285.

Any counseling that you seek out for yourself will remain completely confidential. If you discuss your situation with your dean, assistant dean or director of student life, they too are bound by the rules of student privacy to maintain your confidentiality at the highest level. No information about visits to CPS may be released to deans, parents or professors without your explicit permission.

The University’s policy is to meet students’ full demonstrated need each year. Award amounts may vary from year to year, based on changes in your family's financial circumstances and Princeton's cost of attendance. If your family situation worsens during the year (for example, a family member loses employment) you may request a review of your award based upon new information covering the most recent calendar year.

Under Princeton's financial aid policy, student loans are not required in initial aid awards. But loans are available upon request, and students most commonly use them to replace their campus job if they can’t work, to purchase a personal computer or to help with the cost of an approved summer school course. A financial aid counselor must determine your eligibility for need-based loans; you can make an appointment by calling 609-258-3330.