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Notes for B.S.E. students on studying science, math, and

computing in freshman year

TheB.S.E.FirstYearRequirementsThefreshmanyearprogramofstudyiscommontoallsixB.S.E.concentrations. Itconsistsoftwotermsof

physics(103104,105106,orEGR191Physics104),twotermsofmath(103104,104201,201202,orEGR

192Math202orequivalent),onetermofchemistry(201or207),andonetermofcomputing(COS126).

StudentswithAPcreditinphysics,math,andchemistrycanuseittoplaceoutofsomeofthese

requirements.

B.S.E.studentsnormallytakephysics,math,andchemistryinthefallalongwithanelectivecourseora

writingseminar,whileinthespringtheytakephysics,math,andcomputersciencealongwithtwoelective

coursesortheirwritingseminarandanelective. Studentswhoneedasecondsemesterofchemistry

becausetheyareheadedtoCBEorarepremedwillhavetosacrificeoneoftheirelectivestoChem202or

possiblyput

off

computing

to

sophomore

year.

WhydostudentsinORFEandCOShavetotakephysicsandchemistry? First,itstheBachelorofSciencein

Engineeringdegree. Second,thedisciplineofthinkingsystematicallyaboutcomplexunstructured

problemsisdirectlytransferabletootheranalyticaldisciplines,evenifthesubjectmatterisnta

prerequisite.

WhattoExpectThesecoursesmeetinacombinationoflectures,classes,andlabs. Physicsisusuallytaughtinthree

classesaweek,

along

with

aone

hour

demonstration

lecture

and

athree

hour

lab.

Math

is

typically

taughtinthreeclassesaweek. Chemistryhastwoorthreelecturesaweek,oneclass,andathreehour

lab. Computersciencehastwolecturesandtwoclassesaweek. Eachclassisimportant. Youshould

notplantomissasingleone. Ifyoudo,thenyoumustmakearrangementstogetthenotesforthatday,

althoughthatisapoorsubstituteforattendance.

SomeofyourclasseswillbetaughtbyinstructorswhosefirstlanguageisnotEnglish. Youarenowa

memberofPrincetonsinternationalcommunityofstudentsandscholars,andeveryoneherehasan

accent,evenyou. Althoughthisaddstothechallenge,moststudentsareabletoadjusttounderstanding

accentedEnglishwithinafewweeks.

Expectyour

courses

to

be

very

challenging.

You

should

not

expect

to

understand

everything

intuitively.

Therewillbehomeworkproblemsthatyoucannotsolve. Knowingtheformulaisntthekeytosolvingthe

problem. Problemsmayhavemultiplestagesinwhichyouwillneedtousetheanswerinthefirststage

tosolvethesecond. Becomeaccustomedtoseekinghelp.

CalculusatPrincetonistaughtwithoutusingacalculator. Ifyouvecometorelyonagraphingcalculatorto

docalculus,youwillhavetoadjusttodoingwithoutit.

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Ingeneral,youshouldplanonputtinginabouttwiceasmanyhoursstudying,workingproblems,and

writingprogramsasyoudointheclassroominyourmath,scienceandcomputingcourses. Thatsright,

abouttwiceasmany. Ifyourenot,thensomethingisntright. Soifyourclasshoursinphysics,math,

andchemistryinthefalltermaddupto16,thenyoushouldfindatleast30hoursinyourweektodo

homework,study,attendofficehours,andworkonextraproblems. Thatsthedifferencebetweenhigh

school

and

college.

In

high

school,

you

probably

did

very

little

homework.

In

college

you

do

a

lot.

SolvePhysicsProblems,DontMemorizetheTextbookOneofthebiggestmistakesthatfreshmanengineeringstudentsmakeistryingtostudyphysicsasifitwere

APBiology. Inotherwords,theyhighlightthetextbookandtrytomemorizetermsandconcepts. This

doesnotworkinphysics! Collegephysicsisaboutsolvingproblems. Getridofthehighlighter,whichis

uselessinanyevent(anddegradestheresalevalueofyourbooks,too.) Readthetextonce,andseehow

itrelatestoyourlecturenotes. Thenstartworkingproblems. Whenyouneedtounderstandsomething

aboutaproblem,readtherelevantpassageoftext. Thengobacktotheproblemandworkonitsome

more.

Worklotsofproblems,soyouarecomfortablewiththedisciplineofsolvingthem. Iftheanswersare

printedinthebackofthebook(sometimestheyare,sometimestheyarent),dontlookatthemunderany

circumstances. Manystudentsmakeastabattheproblem,lookattheanswer,convincethemselvesthey

knowhowitwasobtained,andgoon. Remember,theanswersarenotonthebackoftheexamination

booklet,andstudentswhodothisusuallyfindthattheyhavetakenonetoomanyshortcuts.

Thegoalistobecomecomfortablewithunderstandingproblems,settingupaplantosolvethem,and

workingatthemsystematically. Oddsarethattheproblemyouseeontheexamwontlooklikeanything

youveseenbefore,butifyouarecomfortablewiththeapproachtosolvingproblems,youcantakeitapart

andmake

aplan

for

solving

it.

OfficeHoursareCrucialAllinstructorsarerequiredtosetasidetimeeachweektomeetwithstudentsintheircourses. Allstudents

needtogetusedtogoingtoinstructorsofficehours,oneofthemostunderutilizedresourcesat

Princeton. YouhaveaconflictwithyourPhysics103instructorsofficehours? Speakwithhimorher

aboutothertimesheorshemightbeavailable. Almostalwaysanothermeetingtimecanbearranged.

Yourinstructorswillnotthinkthatyouarestupidforcomingtoofficehours. Infact,quitetheopposite:

theywillappreciatethatyoucareenoughaboutmasteringthedifficultmaterialandhavemadetheeffort.

Bringhomework

problems

on

which

you

get

stuck,

or

your

lecture

notes

if

something

didnt

make

sense.

Scared? Gowithanotherstudentintheclass.

Dontbedisappointediftheinstructordoesntgiveyoutheanswer. Morelikely,theywillaskyou

questionsorexplainconceptsuntilyouseethewaytotheansweryourself. Thisishowcollegeteaching

shouldwork.

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Extracurriculars,Athletics,Jobs,BusinessesB.S.E.studentsparticipateinallformsofextracurricularactivity. Forthemostpart,theirinvolvementdoes

notaffecttheirstudies,andthereshouldbeadequatetimetopursueseveralrewardingactivities. As

always,yourstudiescomefirst,andleadershiporsuccessinextracurricularlifedoesnotoffsetfailingor

barelypassinggrades. Soifyoufindyourgradesslipping,itstimetorebalanceyourtimeallocation.

WeareverypleasedthatmanyBSEstudentsparticipateinintercollegiateathletics,andwecelebratetheir

accomplishments. ManyengineeringfacultymembersarepartoftheAthleticAcademicFellowsprogram.

Youmayfind,however,thatbalancingyouracademicobligationswithyourathleticcommitmentsismore

difficultthaninhighschool. AtPrinceton,academicsalwaystakeprecedence. Yourcoachesunderstand

this. Ifyouarehavingdifficultybalancingathleticsandacademics,pleasespeakwithyourcoach,whowill

almostcertainlybemoreaccommodatingthanyoumightimagine. Usuallysomerebalancingofyour

prioritiesandtimemanagementwillenableyoutokeepupwithyourstudiesandcontinueyourathletic

activity.

Manystudentsholdcampusjobs. Inadditiontoprovidinganopportunitytoearnmoney,acampusjobisa

goodway

to

make

friends

and

get

connected.

Usually

its

afun

break

from

your

studies.

You

cant

let

a

campusjobtakeuptoomuchofyourtime,however. Wegenerallyfindthat10hoursperweekisthe

mostthatastudentcandevotetoacampusjobandstillhavetimeforclass,homework,studying,

socializing,otheractivities,dining,andsleeping. AcademicsuccessatPrincetonisnotjustaboutdevoting

thebareminimumtoyouracademicobligationsbuthavingthetimetoreallylearnthematerial.

IfyouareplanningonstartingorrunningabusinesswhilestudyingengineeringatPrinceton,pleasethink

carefully. RunningabusinessandbeingafulltimestudentatPrincetonareusuallyincompatible.

Academicsgenerallyloseoutandgradesplummet,thuspotentiallyendingyourPrincetoncareer

prematurely. Ifyoufindyourselfdevotingmoretimetoabusinessthantoyourstudies,considertakinga

leaveof

absence

and

resuming

your

studies

after

either

(a)

you

have

become

fantastically

wealthy

by

sellingyourbusinesstoGoogleor(b)theideahasrunitsnaturalcourseandyoucanstepawayfromit. If

youwanttobeanotherBillGates,thatsfine,butdontmessupyouracademicrecordalongtheway.

AcademicSupportandTutoringIfinstructorsofficehoursarentsufficient,thenthereareotheravenuesofsupport. Thereviewsessions

andstudyhallsintheMcGrawCenterprovideclarificationandondemandgrouptutoring. See

http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/us/andfollowlinks. Individualtutoringisalsoavailablethroughyour

residentialcollegeofficeforstudentswhoarefindingtheofficehoursandMcGrawprogramsarestillnot

enough.This

isnt

for

turning

aB+

into

an

A

,but

rather

is

intended

for

students

who

are

struggling

to

get

theirgradesupintothepassingrange. Tutoringfromanyothersourceisillegal(see

http://www.princeton.edu/pub/rrr/part2/index.xml#comp24,section2.4.5).

Yourresidentialcollegeofficeandespeciallyyourdirectorofstudiescanbeespeciallyhelpfulindirecting

youtosourcesofhelp. Asalways,weintheUndergraduateAffairsOfficeoftheengineeringschoolare

alwayshappytotalk. Callusat6092584554toseewhenwouldbeagoodtime. Wellalwaysaskyou

first,Haveyouspokenwithyourinstructor?,soyouwillwanttobeabletosayYes,Ihave.