I am a current sophomore at High Technology High School in NJ. I want to go to Princeton, so I would like to know my chances at this rate for it and other top colleges. My focus is business and finance, which I guess you could call a “hook.” Keep in mind that about 10% of my grade every year at my school gets accepted to Princeton, though my grade is considerably less competitive than usual so that number will be less, but maybe easier for me. About 20% gets accepted to a top university, including all the Ivies plus MIT, Stanford, etc.
Numbers so far:
GPA (freshman and sophomore year): 3.91
PSAT (haven’t taken SAT yet): 232
AP Macro: 5
AP Micro: 5
both self-studied
Current courses:
pretty much standard, all honors (school doesn’t offer any APs at sophomore level)
math course: PreCalc
Some achievements/ECs:
AIME qualifier
Euro Challenge Semifinalist
JHU CTY Grand Award
contributor on Seeking Alpha and Investing.com (both popular finance analysis sites) and appeared on CNBC
Ping Pong Club Treasurer
President of Finance Club
Columbia Science Honors Program
National Latin Exam Gold Medal
Winner of New Jersey History Bowl
bunch of research competitions
I play tennis
Future Plans:
History Bowl Nationals in April
I will go to either a Columbia or Stanford business summer course
I plan to intern at Goldman Sachs or another prestigious financial firm the summer before my senior year (connections)
I will also take a lot of APs junior and senior year.
I may or may not make my high school tennis team
So, keeping in mind my hook and school history, what are my chances?
There is no hook. Hook is recruited athlete, URM, or institutional need admit. Your interest isn’t a hook. Your GC at your school will have the best idea of your chances since they know the amount and type of students that get accepted. No teens here will know better than your GC. But I get that you are likely posting just for fun.
Also, define a “particular national achievement.” I have several national-level awards, though I am not sure that they are strong enough to fit your description. I have a chance of making USAMO next year, would that count?
Yes, that’s the one, but “chance of making USAMO” doesn’t really mean anything unless you make it.
Good luck.
And again, Ivy league chance is like a gamble, so we can tell you if it’s worth applying or not. It’s too early, but assuming you will keep up your GPA and have more math credential like AIME qualification you got now, you will be competitive enough.
i am going to go out on a limb and assume you’re South Asian or East Asian. If that’s the case, you’re extremely stereotypical…and affirmative action is going to put you on the bench
Don’t do the Goldman internship. The adcoms will think you got it through connections and will possibly hurt you. Also your ECs are kind of all over the place. Try to find a focus. Your scores are good though. With USAMO you have a very good chance >70%.
Don’t worry about this yet. Your list is extremely superficial right now and has been created based on only prestige and nothing else. Find a passion and find a college that will help you cultivate and develop that passion. Don’t go window shopping. That being said, nothing really stands out about what you presented. Sorry, but it’s true. Follow things that you enjoy. Don’t just do something because you think it looks good. Colleges see straight thought that and you will get rejected.
Affirmative action was meant to stop discrimination, but instead it’s produced an even worse form of it that makes admissions not a meritocracy, in my opinion.
Anyhow, your sophomore resume and mine seem to be strikingly similar, as are our ethnic and socioeconomic background. So, just curious, did you get into some of the other Ivies such as Columbia and UPenn?
No, you don’t have a hook, but you are certainly in the running right now for the top schools, and if you keep up the excellent work, yes, you will have a better than average chance of getting accepted to HPYSCM. If you can get a peek at your school Naviance numbers, you can extrapolate where you might be with grades and gpa and what it looks like for kids like you from your school in getting into Princeton. The problem is that all of the top students in the PRinceton area tend to apply there, and Princeton is going to want diversity in geographics and not be a local school. I have friends who live in the area, and it’s incredulous to me the high calibre kids getting turned down.
I was sorry that my son’s close friend with near perfect SATs and grades, great ECs did not get into MIT or Columbia, and another again, way up there, was deferred from MIT. There really wasn’t a thing more either could have done to be a more academically perfect admit.
@cptofthehouse Naviance tells me that I am about in line with the GPA and SAT (converted from PSAT) for Pton, though when I actually take the SAT I do need to do a bit better than my PSAT. In terms of acceptance numbers, about 7-10 from my school are accepted every year, and I am confident I am in the top 5 in my grade. The concern is, my grade is generally less accomplished than most at my school, so the number could be below 7-10.