Chance a dreamer for Princeton?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I, like thousands of many other teens in North America, am a junior who hopes to receive an early action acceptance from Princeton this December. However, (without the slightest intent of being smug) I think I'm a bit different in that I am a little more pragmatic than most hopefuls. I know HYP is near impossible and I know the chances of being rejected are outlandishly high. With that being said however, I just wanted some of your opinions on my chances but most importantly on what I could improve on in the 8 months that I have left.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>IB Student</p>

<p>SAT: 2310
CR: 780
Math: 760
Writing: 770</p>

<p>Grade Average: 97% (too lazy to convert to GPA..)</p>

<p>SAT II's:
Math II: 760
US History: 730
Literature: 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Volunteer/Job Experience:</p>

<p>1) Debate (hook?)
- Debated internationally (High School North American championships)
- Debated nationally x2 (Canadian National High School championships)
- Top 8 debater in province (equivalent to state championships)
- Best debater in region
- Numerous other top 8 finishes at various university debate tournaments
- Coached my high school's junior (grade 9/10) debate team
- Initiated and coached a debate club at an elementary school
- Was a judge at numerous high school debate tournaments</p>

<p>2) Basketball
- Played 3 years for high school (1 Finals, 2 Semi-Finals, and 1 MVP award)
- Coached junior (grade 9) basketball team (undefeated season haha)
- Organized and participated in Hoops 4 Heart 2 years (basketball tournament for charity)
- Paid employee and referee at Rep. Basketball Club (AAU equivalent)</p>

<p>3) Music
- School Orchestra 2 years (2nd place finish at Concert Band Nationals)
- Church orchestra 4 years
- Played cello for 8 years (performed at various local recitals)</p>

<p>4) Miscellaneous
- Founded and President of World Vision Club at school (fund raised money from local elementary schools)
- Speaker at international student conference (TEDx)
- Summer volunteering at an Native American reserve
- 1 week Internship at corporate law firm
- Assistant teacher at Kumon 3 years (paid position)
- Most Outstanding Achievement Award 3 years (most prestigious individual award available at school)</p>

<p>I've also been accepted to Yale Summer Session and will be studying Poly Sci and Economics at Yale this summer.</p>

<p>As you can see, I don't have the myriad of diverse EC's that a lot of other applicants have. However, I'm hoping that they will recognize the concentration in the couple things I do have. I'm also hoping to do a polysci-economics dual major and I think my application "hooks" with that.</p>

2

<p>some have also told me that I stand out as an asian applicant because I’ve done “un-asian” things. Is there any validity to this statement?</p>

3

<p>I suppose the basketball angle is un-asian, but not sure about the other ECs. Does the World Vision Club do more than just raise money though? The name definitely stands out, but it doesn’t seem to differ from the majority of community service clubs. Your involvement and commitment to debate is impressive… and I can see the connection/theme with your intended majors. Unless you’re a serious basketball player though, I would not recommend emphasizing it too greatly.</p>

<p>I think that if you’re able to convey your personality and favorite interests/passions in your essays, you certainly have a shot.</p>

<p>Also, good luck at that summer program! A friend of mine did that and said it was ridiculously intense. On the plus side though, he did get into Yale early.</p>

4

<p>thanks a lot for the reply. Ya the “un-Asian” aspect thing just seemed to be an arbitrary comment I got from a couple of people.</p>

<p>With the world vision club, we had planned to participate in the town christmas parade with a float and raise lots of money in a creative way…but some key people let us down and it ended up falling apart.</p>

<p>Any other opinions? Anything I could work on?</p>

5

<p>My point wasn’t that your club has to do something big… but maybe you could explain the purpose of it? Because the only info you gave was about the fundraiser. I’m assuming from the name that the club is about working together for an envisioned, brighter future. So make sure to convey that in the activities section of the CA. But make sure to summarize what you guys do in each meeting. If it’s a club that meets regularly, then it’s hard to believe that you spent every single meeting discussing one fundraiser. </p>

<p>The purpose of doing this is to show that the club isn’t just an application booster. Because from the little that we know, that’s what it seems to be: something that sounds nice, but has no substance (with the given information).</p>