Advising and Mentoring

We want students to thrive at Princeton.

The University has a wide range of resources to support you along your academic journey and to help you succeed in our community.

The mission of the Office of the Dean of the College is to create the best possible undergraduate academic experience for all of our students. Our message is simple: Study what you love, take advantage of the opportunities around you to challenge yourself intellectually and find help when you need it among our extensive resources for academic support.

Our world-class professors mentor and inspire students as teachers in their classrooms and as advisers on junior and senior independent work. Many faculty teach freshman seminars, in which small groups of students discuss reading materials drawn from faculty research that often represents cutting edge ideas across fields. All faculty are eager to see students during their weekly office hours. Our undergraduates often say that working one-on-one with a professor on their senior thesis is one of their most rewarding academic experiences at Princeton.

All first-year students are assigned a faculty adviser, who will introduce you to academic life at Princeton, support your exploration of the curriculum, assist with the selection of courses, and eventually help you decide on a concentration. Departmental faculty representatives advise students on the selection of required courses in their chosen disciplines.

First-year students also find advising support in their residential college community, which will continue to support you throughout your four years at Princeton. The residential college dean and director of studies help students shape their academic plans, and peer academic advisers in all disciplines offer their perspectives on how to make the most of the educational experiences Princeton offers. Directors of student life and resident college advisers work closely with students to help shape their residential and academic choices. You will always have someone to turn to when you need advice.

Many academic support services are available free for students, including the Writing Center, which offers one-on-one tutorials, and the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, which provides study halls and peer tutoring in select courses and organizes study skill and time management workshops.

Our superb academic program, provided by our world-class faculty and supported by our dedicated, talented and encouraging staff, make Princeton’s intellectual and educational environment for undergraduate students unparalleled anywhere in the world.