Am I on the Right Track for Princeton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>I'm a sophomore at a magnet high school from which Princeton usually takes around 9 people from every year, and I'm wondering if I'm on the right track for Princeton.</p>

<p>BASIC INFO
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Location: Northeast
Intended Major: Chemical engineering</p>

<p>STATS
UW GPA: 3.97
PSAT: 236
I have not taken any other tests so far but I plan to take the SAT II Math 2 and SAT II Chemistry in addition to the SAT.</p>

<p>COURSES
All honors classes. </p>

<p>My school doesn't allow AP courses sophomore year, but for junior year I will definitely be able to take AP Calc BC, and most likely will be able to take AP Chem and IB French. I'm going to self-study AP Stats.</p>

<p>For senior year, in terms of APs, I hope to take AP Psych (if not, AP Bio), AP Physics C, AP Linear Algebra, and obviously IB French.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS
Math Team: I should be able to qualify for AIME two times by the time I apply. Highly unlikely I'll be able to make USAMO.</p>

<p>Writing: I'm entering Scholastic A&W for the first time this year and hopefully I can get an award of some sort. In general, I consider myself to be a good writer so I'm seeking out other writing competitions.</p>

<p>LitMag: Member since freshman year, officer position this year and next year, in line to be editor-in-chief senior year.</p>

<p>UNICEF Club: Member since freshman year, in line for officer position junior and senior year (but not president).</p>

<p>Chem Team: Member since this year, officer position this year and next two years.</p>

<p>Debate: Difficult to make varsity at my school but my partner and I are one of the best JV teams in the league, and we'll almost definitely make varsity next year.</p>

<p>Math Competition: I founded a national math competition with a few other people in eighth grade, and we got a turn-out of about 100 last year (more people every year), and this year we got a sponsorship from a pretty well-known mathematical foundation. </p>

<p>Research: I do nanotechnology research at my school and got a YSAP grant of $500 for my project this year. I'm going to enter Siemens, Google Science Fair, etc. </p>

<p>Internship: There is a possibility I'll getting an internship in a lab at Princeton this summer.</p>

<p>Volunteering: Given the programs I'm in, by the time I'm applying I will have at least 600 hours of free math and science tutoring. (Lowest possible projection; it'll probably be more in the range of 700-800 hours.)</p>

<p>Magazine: Since freshman year, I've been on the writing staff of a small, online teen magazine.</p>

<p>Book Reviewing: I don't know if this means anything at all, but various large publishers send me books before they're published (I receive around 4-5 a month although this number is rising) in exchange for reviews.</p>

<p>Columbia Science Honors Program: Saturday morning classes (no credit) at Columbia from this year onward. </p>

<p>Summers: If I don't get the internship, I plan to do various science/math summer programs as well as volunteering.</p>

<p>HOOKS
Sibling legacy (don't know if that means anything)</p>

<p>Something unfortunate has occurred in my life that I could write an application essay about. It's on the scale of a family death or debilitating medical illness but is unique/rare and has honestly had a huge impact on my daily living and general outlook on life. </p>

<p>SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
(1) How strong are my ECs? What can I do to make them stronger? (e.g. join and be more active in more clubs, etc.)</p>

<p>(2) If I don't get the internship, what good summer programs are there in the NY/NJ area? I can't do anything residential or above $1000. </p>

<p>(3) If I get what I want, will I have enough APs?</p>

<p>(4) If I continue doing what I'm doing, will I have a decent shot at Princeton?</p>

2

<p>Wow you are definitely on the right track and your EC are awesome. Nanotechnology? You must be a whiz kid :)</p>

3

<p>Wow… You definitely are… Keep up the good work! :D</p>

4

<p>You are definitely on the right track. Focus on the tests and hopefully it will pay off! :)</p>

5

<p>Agree with the above, you’re on the right track.</p>

6

<p>Wow…I think the book reviewing this is extremely interesting - how exactly did you swing that?</p>

<p>And yes, you’re on the right track. As for how many APs to take, talk to your guidance counselors and see how many you’d have to take in order for them to check “Most Rigorous” on your app…that number varies from HS to HS. And your ECs…it’s better to be extremely dedicated in a few than marginally involved in many. You seem well involved now, but once your course load increases it’s going to be difficult, so make sure to focus on the things you think you can really excel in.</p>

<p>And don’t feel compelled to stick with the tragedy story essay…you have a lot of interesting things going on; things that could certainly make for better essays…but you have 2 more years to figure that out.</p>

7

<p>Tragedy story essays are the new “When my team won the state championship…” or “Imagine my surprise when I got off the plane in Costa Rica…” Yeah, avoid that. Because no adcom (or human being for that matter) wants to read someone moan and groan about how tragic it was for someone to have cancer and not talk about anything personally revealing/uplifting about the applicant.</p>

8

<p>You’re definitely going above and beyond right now. If you can keep it up you’re definitely “on track”. Focus on getting very solid grades and test scores academic wise. Your APs should be fine unless you go to a school where top students usually take 7 (And AP Psych is an awesome class btw). As for your ec’s, you’ve got some great stuff there so focus on what you already have. Make sure you show depth and passion in what you do. Don’t go for the laundry list effect with your resume. If you do decide to write about your sad thing, make sure you end upbeat. The essay has to show something about you as a person and demonstrate why a college should accept you rather than pity you (Of course you’re a sophomore so essays aren’t what you need to focus on right now).</p>

9

<p>Yeah I agree with what everyone else says. You seem like a smart kid, and you have strong ECs, but I feel like your essays really need to be introspective and fully passionate. Try to really get inside your writing and live in a notebook or a journal for awhile, though you probably already do that will all of the book reviewing haha. Do you do anything artistic or musical? That might be a nice little piece to add in terms of diversity to show that you can still have fun and secondary and tertiary passions as well as your primary ones. Keep it up.</p>

10

<p>Only real way to make it better would be to expand your horizons and play a sport or instrument.</p>

11

<p>Well your statistics are very competitive. It’s a tricky thing when your school sends 9 kids to Princeton every year. You want to be able to be competitive with your peers, so if that’s where you are then keep it up!</p>

<p>If you can, take AP Psych as an elective and AP Bio as your core science class. It matters more. Even though you already have Physics. Having two science classes? Even more impressive. </p>

<p>I take it you’re a sophomore, and the danger with making assumptions and calculating your standing as a student based on hypotheticals is that they are just that, hypotheticals. I’m sure you will accomplish great things, but don’t set the standard too high and overwhelm yourself. Or worse, set the standard too high and disappoint yourself. What you’re talking about is some time consuming stuff. </p>

<p>Having good EC’s isn’t necessarily about having the most EC’s, it’s about having the most focused EC’s. Even if you did a lot of stuff, adcoms want to see passion in a few diverse things rather than everything. If that makes sense. </p>

<p>Talk to your gc about other internships available. Volunteer if not. </p>

<p>Someone already said this, but your gc is the best person to know whether or not you’re on track with your courses.</p>

12

<p>I feel like your EC’s are too broad. With this, I’d feel like you have a better chance of getting into Harvard than Princeton.</p>

13

<p>wow, your stats are great!</p>

<p>i’d say you’re definitely on your way to princeton; just try to replicate that psat score on the real sat hahah. stick with your ECs, and show your leadership!</p>

<p>anyway, congratulations and good luck!</p>

<p>best,
westfield</p>