Any chance at Princeton? Be brutally honest. Will chance back.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted: 4.36
ACT: 32c (32 math, 34 english, 30 reading, 31 science, 10 writing)
SAT: will not take
SAT 2: math 2, physics, us history (750 in all)
Senior Courseload: AP Literature, AP government, AP calculus BC, AP physics 2, AP chemistry, Programming Fundamentals (at college), Spanish 2 (at college), orchestra, debate
AP Scores: euro (4), ush (5), stat (4), calc (5), physics (3)
Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholar

Extra Curriculars
Orchestra: concertmaster in school chamber orchestra for 3 years, couple of national awards, and a couple of state awards
Debate/Forensics: co-captain, varsity
Scholars Bowl: varsity
NHS
Math Club: Co-President and Co-Founder
Business Professionals of America: Just started senior year

Also has an engineering internship with a PhD if that helps…

Do I any chance? Please tell me what I can work on…

2

Here are the brutally honest statistics: https://admission.princeton.edu/applyingforadmission/admission-statistics

Have fun!

3

Damn dude. You need to calm down. You look like you got the goods for sure. I would think any school would want you for a full ride, but that’s just my opinion. In fact, I may not even be that good of a source of critique because I’m from Alaska and lets just say education here is a bit less of a priority then down in the states (as is implied in our constant budget cuts). All in all Ivy League seems like it would be no problem for you. What major you going for (just curious)?

4

You probably won’t get in, sorry.

Chance back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1777072-what-are-my-chances-for-johns-hopkins-cornell-yale-berkeley-rice.html

5

Could you please elaborate? Thanks for the honesty though

6

Thank you so much! That’s nice to hear. I am planning on studying electrical engineering

7

Your ACT is low for Princeton and your ECs aren’t spectacular.

8

I’m planning on retaking the act so hopefully that’ll change. Thank you though.

9

Maybe think about SAT? Just as a backup. I know Ivy Leagues like both.

10

@YogSothoth I have to say, I love the way that they organize their data. Very unique and informative.

11

Dude why are you going for the Ivy Leagues if you’re going STEM? Search around a little bit, you’ll find that technical schools will be much more worth it in the long run as they are generally cheaper with academics of equivalent quality of more expensive private school. Take a look at South Dakota School of Mines. I’m going there for sure for chemical and they’re small (2000 students), cheap (19k per year), great academics and reputation (that 98% placement doesn’t appear out of nowhere). Overall SDSMT is a great bargain for any engineering degree; I say let other people have their fancy debt monsters; that ain’t for me!

12

Reach. You will have to have some spectacular essays and recommendations because your Ecs aren’t exactly competitive compared to those who apply to Princeton.
What are your majors? How much can you pay? Do you have any safeties?
Your numbers are OK, but ACT is a bit low. However I don’t think that would be a reason for your rejection if you get one in the future.

13

Yes I do have backups (there’s no way I’m not getting into kansas state university lol) I’m also applying to uc berkeley, yale, ucla, ut austin. I hope I can get into at least 1 of my non backup schools. What can I do to improve my extracurriculars?

14

And my major is engineering

15

Hi!! I think you have as good a chance as any! I do agree that you should consider taking the SAT though! Your ACT is really good, but I personally found SAT to be a lot easier, so just a thought! I don’t think there is anything you can do to improve your extracurriculars, other than in your apps, express how important these activities are for you. Adding more extracurriculars could come off as you just wanting to pad your resume. Also, you should get the PHD to write you a letter of recommendation and you should also consider sending in your research, or at least an abstract, as a supplement to your app!

Hope this helps! Good luck!!

16

Also send in a music supplement.

17

Echoing the SAT crowd…many kids do much better on one than the other simply because of the structure of it. Not easier or harder, just more suitable for their way of testing/showing knowledge! So you may show a 32 ACT, but may test at 2300 SAT. Princeton is not too interested in the 32, but the 2300 might put you in the running. You never know til you try.

If sticking to ACT, work on Everything but English. Your highest score seems like the one colleges give the least care about…

18

berkeley, yale, ucla, ut austin…

You need to add some match schools unless you want to go to Kansa State.

All the schools you have listed are a high reach.

What about Case Western or Colorado School of Mines? There are a lot of schools you can consider as realistic matches.

Also, what does National Merit Scholar mean?

Figure out how much your parents can afford to pay.

19

Really? Even UT Austin? I thought they had a pretty high acceptance rate and a relatively low ACT average.

But yes…I will look into those schools as well. Thank you for the reply.

My parents can afford to pay the tuition for most of these schools. However, schools like Princeton and UCLA have excellent scholarship and financial aid opportunities.

The National Merit Scholar is an award given to those who have a semi-high score on the PSAT (I had a 209)

20

Yes, I am signed up to take the SAT in June, so hopefully I can get a high score. I have been putting a lot of effort into preparing so I hope I can get a decent score. Thank you for the help.