COS IW/ Thesis FAQs | Computer Science Department at Princeton University

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Please note: this page is in the process of being built.

If you have questions that are not answered here, please email Mikki Hornstein, mhornstein@princeton.edu.

How does independent work and thesis work in the Computer Science department?

Good question! It really depends on what year you are (junior or senior) and what degree you are earning (AB or BSE). Here are links to more information based on these combos:

AB juniors: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ugrad/independent-work/ab-junior-research-workshops
AB seniors: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ugrad/independent-work/ab-senior?
BSE juniors: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ugrad/independent-work/bse-junior?
BSE seniors: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ugrad/independent-work/bse-senior?

I'm a CS sophomore interested in doing independent work. Is this possible?

If you are a BSE sophomore majoring in CS, you may sign up for 398 in the spring of sophomore year and do a one-on-one IW project. Normally, however, this will count simply as a course and will not satisfy your IW requirement. In particular, for AB students, this will just be another course for you, and will not exempt you from any of the IWs that you need to do during your junior and senior years. For BSE students, you will not be able to use IW done sophomore year to satisfy your one-course IW requirement for the BSE program.

Can I do more than one IW in a single semester?

No. Unfortunately it is not possible to accommodate multiple IWs in a single semester.