Chance for Princeton!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>K, so, I was born in Hong Kong, but I'm applying as a Canadian Citizen. </p>

<p>Intended major: electrical engineering, physics, or mathematics
Class Rank: 1/60 (small school, eh?)
School Subject Awards: First in grade (basically valedictorian), Book Awards (top final grades in class for AP Calculus, Chemistry 12, Math 12), and a bunch of other merit awards for individual subjects.
Completed APs: AP Calc BC (5), AP Chinese (5)
Senior course load at high school: AP Physics, Physics 12, AP English Lang, English 12, AP Comp Science, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, and TA for AP Calculus (I do get marked for TAing)
Course load at University of British Columbia: Math 200 (Multivariable Calc), Math 221 (Linear Algebra), Econ 101 (microecon), Econ 102 (macroecon)</p>

<p>My high school years contained a variety of science, social, and arts classes. I've tried band, drama, art, history, etc. Now I am more focused on math, sciences, and economics. I've sent in my first term grades and midyear report so far.</p>

<p>First term: Midyear:
AP Physics - 98 - 98
Physics 12 - 99 - 98
AP Eng Lang - 91 - 94
Eng 12 - 93 - 95
AP Comp Sci - 95 - 96
AP Chem - 96 - 95
AP Psych - 88 - 94
AP Calc TAing - 93 - 97</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT - 2180/2400
ACT - 34/36
SAT II Math II - 800
SAT II Chem - 780
SAT II Mandarin - 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Royal Canadian Sea Cadet- I have 120 cadets under my leadership. This is a JROTC for teenagers age 13-19. In particular, I am the instructor for Sailing, Marksmanship, Naval traditions, Seamanship, Outdoor Survival Training, and Leadership. It is something I am absolutely proud of, so I really emphasized this experience on my application as something that changed my outlook on life.
Marching Band - Lead trumpeter and bugler, led my team to win gold medal for the Lower Mainland Band Competition 2006.
Duke of Edinburgh Awards - an international award that you attain if you meet requirements in community service, athletics, skills, outdoor survival. I have achieved all Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels.
International Outreach - A volunteer journey to Ecuador and built a school in a rural village. I also used this experience in my essays.
Summer Expeditions- Me and several buddies from UBC Biology went on a research trip to the Galapagos Islands. We collected images and data on the fauna, flora, and geography. (Sidenote: We snorkeled in the ocean and saw some hammerhead sharks XD).</p>

<p>Canadian Math Competitions - I have been doing math competitions since I was young. My first math contest (Kumon Math Challenge) earned me 2nd Place in Canada when I was grade 6. I am currently in the Math Circle, which is a group of the top math students from the BC province. We regularly meet to do practice contest questions and are preparing for upcoming contests. My performance on these contests will determine whether I get onto the Canadian Math Olympiad Team.</p>

<p>Teacher's Recommendations: Strong ones from English Teacher, Math Teacher, and Physics Teacher.</p>

<p>Supplementary Material: I have always been an electronics enthusiast, and I build my own miniature motor cars, helicopters, and other gadgets. For supplement, I handed in a copy of my experiment on comparing AntiTorque functions of tandem and single-rotor helicopters (one is handbuilt and the other bought). To make myself seem a bit unique, I also described a traditional recreation with my family: Chinese Opera. I do sing, and I also provide violin accompaniment when my parents perform.</p>

<p>Interview: the interviewer was a parent whose kid goes to my private school, so he understands the kind of school environment I grew up in. Overall, I made myself seem very independent ("i cook my own food"), well rounded, and earnest ("I've visited Princeton and I mentioned several professors whom I wanted to study with). In particular I mentioned that I idolized Dr.Robert Bussard, a famous physicist who graduated from Princeton and developed a Polywell Fusion Reactor. Overall, my main reason for choosing Princeton is that it really develops a wellrounded education that emcompasses plenty of humanities and engineering courses. As I see it, the world is a conflict between politics, economics, and sciences, and thus I believe an engineer should be politically and economically acute.</p>

<p>Yeh, that's a brief summary of it. I wrote my essays in a very personal style.</p>

2

<p>Were you serious about cooking your own food making you independent?</p>

<p>You're in the running along with 70% of those who applied, though your SAT score is on the low end for the unhooked. If you're not an athlete, legacy or URM, chances are about 3%.</p>

3

<p>If I had read this entire thing without seeing your scores I would have thought you had an excellent shot. However, though a 34/2180 are extremely good, they aren't as high as they seem they should be given your academic record. This in turn puts your academics, GPA etc, into question--perhaps those high grades which seem so impressive at first really aren't that difficult to attain. That's the purpose of the ACT/SAT, to put your academic record into perspective; it's like a great equalizer. I'd put your chances at above the overall admit rate for Princeton this year, but still what you'd think of as 'low'. 3% is way too low of an estimate, you will be much more competitive. To just give a ballpark figure, maybe a 15% shot (which is actually a pretty good shot, given the school).</p>

4

<p>Let me clarify, I didn't give the OP a 3% chance, I gave the overall chance for an unhooked candidate before the 17 year olds applying themselves found the thread and started writing great chance!</p>

5

<p>I'll let it slide, hmom. This time...</p>

6

<p>Thanks, your 155 was definitely more on target. 5 times the chance of the average unhooked applicant as he's a val with scores in range if on the low end.</p>

7

<p>I thought 34 would be pretty high end O.o, but I know 2180 is a low end. And I admit, being first within only 60 people doesn't seem as impressive especially since it is a private school.</p>