Welcome to the Program of Freshman Seminars in the Residential Colleges!
Open only to members of the first-year class, the FRS program is designed to give students an early opportunity to experience the excitement of working closely with an instructor and a small group of fellow students on a topic of special interest. Those topics span an extraordinary range and are taught by some of the University's most esteemed instructors. Because of that, many students subsequently identify their Freshman Seminar as one of their most enjoyable and meaningful academic experiences at Princeton — one that enabled them to discover new intellectual passions and form enduring relationships with faculty members and fellow students.
Using our application portal, list and submit your course choices before the period ends. You may revisit the application portal in order to change your preferences as many times as necessary until the deadline. Please note: Freshman Seminar applications are NOT processed on a first-come first-served basis. All applications are processed after the deadline.
This year’s Freshman Seminar offerings are listed under the tabs to the left. To find out more about each course, please be sure to click the link to the Registrar's page.
Here are some of the key features of this program to keep in mind as you explore the rich mix of offerings for the coming year:
- The seminars count as regular, graded courses, and most fulfill a distribution requirement, as indicated by the letters in the right-hand corner of the course description.
- Unless specifically indicated in the description, freshman seminars do not assume prior knowledge or advanced placement in the subject. Emphasis is on discussion, papers, and in-class presentations rather than on quizzes and exams.
- Freshman seminars are not to be confused with freshman writing seminars. Freshman seminars are focused on the subject matter: the readings, papers, presentations, and class discussions are all centered on the specific content of the course. Writing seminars are focused on the process of writing: the topic serves as a springboard for writing exercises and essays; reading is held to a minimum; and most of class time is devoted to writing instruction. For these reasons you should not hesitate to take a freshman seminar in the term you will be taking your writing seminar, as long as your schedule permits.
- Students interested in joining a Freshman Seminar are required to complete a brief application.
Please direct questions to Sha Sanyal at [email protected] or (609) 258-1402.