For introductory math, science and language courses, there are many resources available, ranging from office hours with your instructor to study halls and review sessions, to individual peer tutoring.
You’ll find that the various formats offer different benefits: going to a review session might give you insight into the kinds of questions to expect on a midterm exam, whereas working with a study group will allow you to focus on both concepts and problem solving strategies.
Office Hours
Your first and best source of help is your professor or your assistant instructor (known as your “AI”). Princeton professors have a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching, and you will find that they are available and accessible. Go to office hours early in the semester! Your instructors know the course better than anyone, and they are in the best position to provide assistance. Don’t hesitate to contact your instructor or adviser for feedback or help. Deans and assistant deans are also available in the residential colleges to provide academic guidance with questions regarding a particular course.
Review Sessions
Review sessions for introductory courses in chemistry, math and physics are sponsored by departments and the McGraw Center, and it's a good idea to attend as many of these as possible. These sessions provide students with an additional resource for learning course material. In addition, course heads may organize review sessions (weekly or before exams). Sessions may be announced in class or on the course Canvas site.
Group Study Halls
Visit the McGraw Center website and the Group and Individual Tutoring webpage for information about tutoring. Group study halls are open Sunday through Wednesday evenings for students in introductory level chemistry, physics, economics, mathematics and statistics. Located on the third floor of the Frist Campus Center, it’s a great place to join peers in your course and work together as a group, going over problem sets and concepts with the help of McGraw’s trained and experienced undergraduate tutors.
These highly interactive tutoring sessions are designed to help students enhance their problem solving skills and strategies so that they can apply them independently and flexibly to tackle the types of challenging problems on Princeton exams. Students develop these skills by working on problem sets together and talking through the concepts underlying them.
Individual Peer Tutoring
Free one-on-one peer tutoring is available for many Princeton courses — most commonly for introductory courses in the natural sciences, math, economics and foreign languages. Individual tutoring may be especially helpful if you feel you need help with specific parts of a course, or if your previous experience did not include preparation in an essential topic that you need for a class. Individual peer tutoring is not intended to substitute for attending office hours, study halls or review sessions. Students are expected to communicate with their professors, instructors, preceptors or an academic adviser regarding difficulties they may be experiencing before seeking tutoring for a course.