<p>I am currently finishing my first year of high school and have two questions for those who were accepted into Princeton.</p>
<p>When I was in 7th grade, I began to look around college websites. (weird, yes, but I have always been a little obsessive) For some reason I was oddly drawn to the Princeton website. The campus is beautiful, everyone (students and teachers) seems beyond smart, it offers a variety of majors, and is in a suburban area. There is one problem, though: it seems nearly impossible to be accepted to Princeton.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if I'll end up going to Princeton when I graduate. I'm not even sure if I'll apply there. However, what I do know is this: I would like to do anything I can to make my college application as competitive as possible.</p>
<p>For those of you who were accepted, here are my two questions:
1-What advice do you have for someone who has all of high school to make their application better?
2-What factor of your application do you believe influenced the admission office's decision to accept you most?</p>
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What advice do you have for someone who has all of high school to make their application better?
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<p>DARE TO BE YOURSELF. Yes, you will have to work hard and prepare to have a decent shot of getting into Princeton, but the best thing you can do for yourself is not to try to do a makeover to fit some theory of what admission officers like, but rather to develop a deep interest in something and then pursue that interest as you develop yourself into a more successful learner. Be yourself, be genuine, and you will stand out.</p>
<p>what i did was party hardy in high school. so, i suggest just take your mind off it</p>
<p>i always wanted to go to princeton since like 7th grade, it was in the back of my mind. i then changed for a few months, but i ended up where i needed to be</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with tokenadult! Don't be afraid to be yourself. Find something that you love and pursue it, not just for college apps but for yourself! I struggled with my application as much as the next person, but in the end I wasn't afraid to put that Pirates of the Carribean was my favorite movie or that I didn't do any sports. Make yourself stand out. Just make sure you can look back on your high school years and smile, because I'm sad to say many of my friends didn't enjoy it as much as they could have because they were so worried about creating the "right" application.</p>
<p>Tokenadult and glinda are absolutely right. I always wanted to go to a highly selective east coast school, but I never worried about building an application. Instead, I participated in activities I really loved (no sports, but lots of academic and performance things) and really worked hard at them. Have fun! If you do things you love, you'll want to throw yourself into it, and that's when the passion and dedication will shine through. And I must say ... learn to write competently. If writing is one of your strengths, write as much as possible and get people to critique your essays. An outstanding essay is always a good asset, and good writing is also an important life skill. </p>
<p>The kids I know who got in were highly motivated, passionate, talented kids, but they were not resume-builders. They maybe didn't always run for office of their club or necessarily continue with an activity that didn't bring them satisfaction. They didn't choose their ecs based on their career plans. They didn't kill themselves working. They gave their best in everything they did, and they spent their time following their passions. For me, that resulted in a high school experience that was fulfilling and fun, as well as a Princeton acceptance. You don't want to spend your time worrying about how to get in - you still might not. But if you focus on getting the most out of your high school years, you'll look back with satisfaction even if you don't end up at Princeton.</p>
<p>Yeah, I feel kind of strongly about this ...</p>
<p>actually, some of the people i know who got into princeton and top colleges ARE resume builders and i had far less stuff in-school than all of them... however, my ECs crushed all of them combined.</p>
<p>I am glad you are deciding to apply to Princeton, though I wonder why the website intrigued you two years ago. As I recall, at that time, Princeton had a primitive collection of links, not a real website as they have now!</p>
<p>My advice would be, work your ass off! I spent up to nine hours a day after school in activities, homework, etc. You have to sacrifice. BUT, find an enjoyable hobby on the side to sustain yourself (which is not a resume builder). Mine was to follow the scores of the New York Mets.</p>
<p>What got me in? Perfect SAT scores, valedictorian, and Intel.</p>