Chance a Princeton Deferee who is lost.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>*Sadly, I was deferred from Princeton yesterday and I am kind of in need for some positive words of encouragement, because I'm feeling a little low today. *</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (1600 CR+M)
[</em>] ACT: Never Took
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 790 Phys
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/220ish
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Lit (5), Physics B (5), Chem (5), Euro (5), US (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Lang, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Psych, H Engineering, H French
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Unfortunately None
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Writer for online newspaper which gets ~700k unique views/day (contributing editor), </p>

<p>Varsity Golf (State Championship+ Sportsmanship Award+ 2nd Team All Conference), </p>

<p>Varsity Tennis (Captain),</p>

<p>Business Club (Founder and President),</p>

<p>French Club (VP),</p>

<p>Musicals (Supporting Lead),</p>

<p>Math NHS (Pres),</p>

<p>NHS (Induction Speaker)</p>

<p>Vocal Performance (Selective Group+ Baritone Section Leader)</p>

<p>[li] Job/Work Experience: [/li]Laboratory Internship over 11th Grade Summer-> Analyzed blood samples in lab</p>

<p>Finance Internship at Fortune 500 Company over 12th Grade Summer
Both Paid!</p>

<p>[li] Volunteer/Community service:[/li]~100 Hours</p>

<p>[<em>] Summer Activities:
See Internships and Golf and Tennis
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation:
One from AP Lit, who says I was one of the strongest students and best people he has ever worked with. One from AP Physics who thought I was one of the most passionate students
[<em>] Counselor Rec:
"Perhaps the Best person I have ever met"
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Subcontinental Asia
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Major: Physics
[</em>] Income Bracket: >250,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None =D[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>*Chance me for: Stanford, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Cornell, Brown, Williams, UVA (submitted), UC Berkeley (submitted), Carnegie Mellon, Rice, Swarthmore, Northwestern, Northeastern, Vanderbilt *</p>

<p>Already admitted to UMass Commonwealth Honors College.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your stats are strong, they are all reaches because they are reaches for everybody. That being said I think you will get into at least one. Make sure your essays are very strong for the LACs on your list…</p>

3

<p>Dartmouth, Brown, Penn, UVA, CMU, NU, NE, and Vandy aren’t places to go to for a physics major; neither is Williams compared to other LAC’s like Reed, Carleton or Harvey Mudd.</p>

4

<p>One of the physics professors at a very strong physics school told me: “At the undergraduate level, where you go as a physicist doesn’t particularly matter. You will learn the entirely same thing anywhere.” I am trying to apply to schools where I will have the strongest peer group.</p>

5

<p>Good chances at UCB and UVA
Decent chances at CMU, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Rice and NW</p>

6

<p>I would be quite surprised if you didn’t get accepted to one of those top schools.</p>

<p>Common App question
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1432793-what-midterm-report-common-app.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1432793-what-midterm-report-common-app.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>BumpidyBump!</p>

8

<p>There is no justice if someone w/ your stats gets deferred. Goes to show that all Ivy’s are a crapshoot.</p>

9

<p>Dude your stats are awesome. Howd you get an internship at that company? And also I think its basically random sometimes or perhaps essays. My “friend” got into Princeton but I’m not sure if he exaggerated his stats but he did place top 3 for science Olympiad.Don’t worry man you got it! Chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1431373-chance-top-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1431373-chance-top-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>@Kobe: It actually was really lucky. My uncle works there and found out about an intern program for college students there. He got me an application; I filled it out hoping that it would somehow work out, and it did. It was a great experience, though I did feel a little bit overwhelmed working with people from Harvard, Tufts, Wharton etc.</p>

<p>I feel like my problem was the dearth of awards in academics and that extracurricularly I’m fairly spread out, rather than singularly focused on physics. </p>

<p>Thanks rebel11, but I realize now that not everybody who could get in gets in. It’s a crapshoot, but hopefully the deferral turns into an acceptance in the regular pool!</p>

11

<p>My son was accepted @ Penn ED. I was amazed to see His friend with stats like yours deferred @ Harvard. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when they make these decisions.</p>

12

<p>Congratulations to your son! I know a couple friends who also were accepted there ED and they all entirely deserved it. The only sad part is realizing that I did all I could do in my mind and it still wasn’t good enough. </p>

<p>Mais, c’est la vie. There are a lot of great schools that will hopefully accept me in the regular pool. The only thing to do know is keep my head up.</p>

13

<p>“One of the physics professors at a very strong physics school told me: ‘At the undergraduate level, where you go as a physicist doesn’t particularly matter. You will learn the entirely same thing anywhere.’”</p>

<p>He’s speaking only for himself. Where did he go BTW? He must be a popular teacher too! LOL</p>

<p>“I am trying to apply to schools where I will have the strongest peer group.” Add MIT, Columbia, UChicago & Harvey Mudd and ditch your backwater physics places.</p>

<p>You lack of EC’s is a problem at Ivies, Stanford and NU.</p>

14

<p>Rhg3d: What EC’s am I “lacking”? </p>

<p>Varsity sports are a large time commitment in season (15 Hours a Week!), as is the musical. I have to write an article at least biweekly for the online newspaper (3+ hours), organize a club meeting at least twice a week, and tutor for Math NHS, while still maintaing social relationships.</p>

<p>I understand saying that my EC’s aren’t particularly focused or conducive to a Physics major, but to say that I do not participate is a little callous. I still only have 24 hours in a day!</p>

<p>I respect your opinions on Physics. Did you major in it? I unfortunately can’t change my list now though.</p>

15

<p>One thing this process has proven to me RE: Top schools is you MUST apply to many of them. You will get into at least 1 but don’t make the mistake of applying to too few schools.</p>

16

<p>OP</p>

<p>I had better numbers and ECs and awards than what you have.
I applied to 1 safety and 15 top 20 national universities and 3 top 10 LACs.
6 acceptances, 6 waitlists and 6 rejections</p>

<p>This was what I learned two years ago when I applied to top colleges.
Top colleges are all reach schools and you will never know why you get accepted or why you get rejected.</p>

<p>Apply to many top colleges and hope for the best.
You will get into some great colleges.</p>

17

<p>20more: Thanks for the great advice! I know I’m not the best candidate, and that I don’t “deserve” any great school. I hope not to sound conceited or anything, and if I come off that way I apologize. </p>

<p>Everything is a reach, and it’s a crapshoot. Whatever happens, happens.</p>

18

<p>would definitely encourage you to take a really close look at Penn. You will get in to several with your stats, but Penn is the way to go. Great city, great college experience- and of course all the while getting an outstanding education. Getting deferred is like getting a second chance to re-think your decisions. No reason for you to stay down for long- you have an amazing record.</p>

19

<p>bumpbumpbump.</p>

20

<p>Very well rounded candidate with many very good points, but nothing outstanding except for SAT score. Also, if you want to major in physics, why no Physics C senior year? Are you good enough at golf/tennis to play on a Div III team? </p>

<p>Any ways here are my guesses:</p>

<p>Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Brown = reaches; Dartmouth, Cornell, NW = 50/50; Williams, Rice, Vanderbilt = low matches (50 to 66% or so); UVA, UCB, CMU = matches; NE = safety. </p>

<p>Of all these schools, I think Cornell is the best for undergrad physics and also a school you stand a good chance of getting admitted to. I would definitely follow-up with Cornell to highlight your interest. Another good choice is UCB which has a terrific physics department and a place you will likely get into if you are willing to pay the $50K OOS fee. My son is going to major on physics at UVA and likes the department a lot. Although not known as a hot bed for physics majors, UVA has a very rigorous BS program and its grads go onto top grad schools and jobs. For LACs, Williams has a well known physics department and loves all-around candidates with good athletic backgrounds like yourself. </p>

<p>A few other ideas: Case Western, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Illinois, Maryland, Chicago.</p>