Resources for Prospective Grad Students

Can't make it to our 2024 Visit Days? You can still learn more about the Department of Computer Science at Princeton!

Department Overview

The computer science department has over 50 faculty members and hundreds of graduate students. We are part of the the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and one of 6 engineering departments at Princeton University. 

Faculty in the computer science department work in 13 main research areas and are jointly appointed in many other departments, schools, and centers, including the School of Policy and International Affairs, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the High Meadows Environmental Institute, the Lewis-Sigler Institute, the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute, and more. 

The computer science department is also involved in six interdisciplinary programs extending across fields as diverse as computational biology, technology policy, and machine learning. 

If you are not able to attend the visit days, you can still set up a one-on-one meeting with your prospective faculty adviser. Please contact faculty directly to try and find a time to meet. 

Graduate Program Overview

The graduate program in computer science includes doctoral and master's degree students. With rare exceptions, graduate students pay no tuition and receive stipends. Graduate students and their dependents also receive health insurance through the university. 

In their first years in the program, doctoral students must take a certain number of courses across fields in computer science, including theory, artificial intelligence, and systems, before taking a General Exam and proceeding to the dissertation stage. 

Graduate students also get opportunities to teach Princeton undergraduates. Computer Science is the largest undergraduate major at Princeton and the introductory computer science class is one of the most popular courses on campus. 

You can also watch the welcome talk at the 2024 Visit Day, given by Professor Mike Freedman:

Princeton Overview

Princeton is located in central New Jersey, midway between New York City and Philadelphia. Princeton is also easily accessible to Washington, DC, and other cities along the Northeast corridor by car, train and bus. Philadelphia and Newark international airports are about an hour away.

The Graduate School and University provide many resources that may be of interest to prospective graduate students: 

Admitted students can also visit Princeton outside of the department's designated visit days! Email gradinfo@cs.princeton.edu if you plan to visit Princeton at a different time.