We believe Princeton is an excellent place for TCS research and are very happy you are considering it. You can find out more about the activities and research interests of the theory group from the theory group web page and the faculty's home pages.
For any administrative questions on the graduate program, please see this page. You can also contact our Graduate Coordinator, Melissa Lawson, at gradinfo@cs.princeton.edu or by calling 609-258-5387.
Below are the answers to some frequently asked questions:
Should I email individual professors about my application?
What factors are considered in making admittance decisions?
Do all Ph.D students get financial support?
Do you have a summer internship program for undergraduates?
Do you have a masters program?
If you have other questions not answered by the above links or Ms. Lawson, you can email theory@lists.cs.princeton.edu (please include the string "[phd]" in your subject line).
Should I email individual professors about my application?
No. Students are admitted to the graduate program, and not to research groups of individual faculty If you are interested in theory and/or working with a particular professor in Princeton, please mention this in your application.
Also, it is impossible for individual professors to evaluate your chances of admittance in advance: it is only determined by the whole department after careful scrutiny of your complete application.
What factors are considered in making admittance decisions?
Princeton's theoretical computer science graduate program is very competitive and, unfortunately, we get many more applications from excellent candidates than we're able to admit. The important factors are reference letters and grades (particularly at advanced theory or math courses). If you have any publications, please do include a link to electronic versions in your applications. Generally, we do not place much weight on standardized exams such as the GRE and TOEFL, although there is some university minimum requirement that should be achieved.
Do all Ph.D students get financial support?
Yes. All admitted Ph.D students get financial support for the duration of their study and our stipends are similar or better than other comparable institutions. For more information on stipends and other administrative issues, see this page.
Do you have a summer internship program for undergraduates?
No. At the moment we do not have such a program.
Do you have a masters program?
Yes. There is a fully funded masters program, supported through TAships. Please see the DCS grad admissions page for more information.