Graduate Program: Graduate Student Life

Housing. Approximately 70% of Princeton's enrolled graduate students live on campus, in several housing complexes of different styles maintained by the University. Housing is available for single students, students with spouses or partners, and students with families. On-campus housing is guaranteed to all entering students for their first year, provided they request it by the admission reply deadline, April 15. Detailed information on the various types of University housing is provided by the Graduate Housing Department. For those students who live off campus, free parking is provided on campus. In addition, a regular campus shuttle service stops at both the Engineering Quadrangle and graduate housing units.

Most single graduate students spend their first year of residence in the Graduate College, a classically elegant complex of living and dining facilities that houses approximately 430 students. The Graduate College provides a unique opportunity for students to meet and exchange ideas with fellow scholars, who represent all the departments and programs of the University as well as over 50 countries. Few, if any, other Universities offer such an experience to their graduate students.

Department of Chemical Engineering. The 70 or so graduate students in Princeton's Department of Chemical Engineering form a closely-knit group; friendships and contacts formed in graduate school at Princeton can last a lifetime. The department offers a graduate student lounge (the Lapidus Lounge) for informal socializing, as well as a number of student-run scheduled events throughout the year. These include monthly TGIFs (the "Critical Point"); Bierabend, put on in early fall to introduce new students to the "real" inner workings of the department and foibles of the faculty; and intramural athletic teams in a diversity of sports.

Each entering "class" of chemical engineering graduate students is represented by two students, chosen by their peers; together, these representatives form the Graduate Student Committee (GSC). The GSC meets monthly with the Director of Graduate Studies, interviews junior faculty candidates, and meets with our department's external Advisory Council. GSC representatives act as the principal conduit for their classmates' ideas, concerns, and opinions about all aspects (academic, social, pre-professional) of graduate student life in the department. In addition, elected graduate students act as representatives on the department's Facilities, Seminar, and Safety Committees, and in the University's Graduate Student Government. Service as a graduate student representative on one of these committees is an opportunity to have a hand in departmental and University governance.

Every October, the fourth-year graduate students coordinate a major event for chemical engineering graduate students: the Graduate Student Symposium (GSS). In this student-run event, upper-year students present their work to an industrial audience either as talks or as poster presentations. The GSS provides a forum for industrial visitors to learn about and critique the research underway in the department; for students to make contacts for their post-Princeton careers; and for graduate students to learn about each others' work.

School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). As vital as graduate students are across the University, they are absolutely central to the SEAS. In 2001, the SEAS established the Office of Graduate Affairs (OGA) and position of Assistant Dean for Graduate Affairs. The SEAS OGA provides a resource for addressing issues that cut across the six SEAS departments, and even the broader university. The OGA sponsors monthly pizza-and-beer socials for SEAS graduate students, and has also established the Graduate Engineering Council (GEC). The GEC, which is composed of representatives from each of the SEAS departments, meets regularly with the Assistant Dean to work on issues broadly relevant to graduate students. The OGA also supports the student-run Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE), which sponsors a number of activities ranging from seminars to socials.

Graduate Student Government. At the University level, chemical engineering graduate students are represented in the Graduate Student Government (GSG), whose "mission is to advocate the interests of graduate students at Princeton, to provide a forum for free and open discussion of matters affecting graduate students, and to provide financial and organizational support for social events" within the University community. Chemical engineering students have been exceptionally active members of the GSG in recent years, holding at various times the positions of Chair, Social Chair, Parliamentary Secretary, Recording Secretary, and Corresponding Secretary.

Cultural and athletic activities. The Princeton campus is home to a broad range of cultural activities. The University's Art Museum, which is free and open to the public, houses a truly exceptional permanent collection, as well as hosting and mounting traveling exhibits. The campus is also home to the McCarter Theatre, the premier repertory theater in central New Jersey, which also hosts a diversity of musical and dramatic touring ensembles. In addition, there are a number of performances each week on campus by student organizations too numerous to list; further information can be found here.

In addition to fielding varsity and club teams in a number of sports, Princeton also has extensive facilities for recreational and intramural athletics. Among the University's superb athletic facilities are tennis and squash courts, two gymnasiums, a fitness center, two swimming pools, a golf course, skating rink, athletic fields, and a lake.