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PrincetonUniversity |
IntroductionMany Princeton students find their sophomore year to be one of the most challenging of their undergraduate career. If the first year is a time for exploration and discovery, the sophomore year is a time for reflection, consolidation, and decision-making. It is a pivotal moment because it is the year in which you choose an area of concentration or major, after which your undergraduate program will take on a new kind of focus. For many students, the best way to continue to sort out academic options and career goals is simply to talk about them, not only to advisers and faculty members, but also to friends and family. Many of your specific questions can be answered by consulting the Undergraduate Announcement or the brochures and information sheets you can pick up in departmental offices. We hope this handbook, designed specially for sophomores, will provide you with general advice and give you some insights into the departments and programs available to you. Your Sophomore Adviser The advising system for sophomores differs significantly for A.B. students and B.S.E. students. At the end of their first year, A.B. candidates will have had a chance to choose an academic adviser from among the five faculty members who serve as academic advisers specifically designated for the sophomores in their residential college. (These advisers are separate and distinct from the ten faculty members who advise the first-year students in the college.) In addition, each faculty adviser for sophomores is assisted by two peer advisers, normally seniors, who can provide advice from the student perspective. The residential college dean and director of studies continue to be sources of information and guidance for all students in the college. If you are a sophomore engineer, your academic adviser is the depart-mental representative (or an academic adviser chosen by him or her) in your proposed field of engineering. Thus, engineering students begin their affiliation with a department and the departmental advising system a year earlier than A.B. students. This does not preclude the possibility of switching departments or programs within engineering. With proper advice, you can change your departmental focus once your sophomore year begins. However, this change should be discussed with the associate dean for undergraduate affairs and the appropriate departmental representatives and/or assigned advisers. Your relationship with your adviser can be a rewarding aspect of your underclass years. Although students and faculty lead busy lives, you should make time to confer with your adviser occasionally throughout the termnot only during course registration time.
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