Chance me for Princeton (in detail)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hi. It's always been my dream to get accepted into an awesome college, but lately I've been doubting whether or not I'll make it in. I'm Indian, so I'm not sure if that i good for my chances.
I AM APPLYING EARLY ACTION. I expect my application to look very close to the following:</p>

<p>Academics:
Valedictorian (both highschool and middle school) of class of 340
GPA-4.0 unweighted, 5.0 weighted
SAT score- 2330
I pretty much took the hardest clases at the earliest grades possible. I think academics is my most appealing aspect of the application. I have 9 AP classes over my high school career. I received 5s on most of my ap exams</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
Karate- I am a black belt and have been actively participating in practices and public demonstrations for 11 years. I spend 2 hours a week practicing karate.
Tennis- I have made my way up to the first spot on the junior varsity team and have been practicing privately with a coach and my father for 5 years. I spend two hours a week during off season and fifteen hours a week during the spring season practicing tennis. I will definately play varsity next year as a senior.
St. Claire’s Hospital Volunteer-I have volunteered at the local hospital for about 1.5 years and have earned over 200 hours of community service working as a courier and handling the front desk. I volunteer for two hours a week during the school year and eight hours a week during the summer.
Key Club- I have actively participated in many community service projects through this club for 3 years such as a cancer walk, bell ringing, can shaking, food drive donations, and many more. I volunteer about an hour a week. I am also president of the club.
Nursery Remodeling-I helped remodel a nursery at a local church as my first volunteer project.
Camp Counselor-I was a counselor at my local park during the summer after ninth grade. I worked and volunteered.
Morristown Neighborhood House-I worked at a charity for low income families. I took care of children for 6 hours a day, 3 days a week during the summer and tutored and helped in academics during the school year.
Relay for Life- I attended a charity cancer walk for 2 years.
Tutoring-I have tutored a total of 3 children ranging from 10 years old to 16 years old in math and science for about a year. I currently tutor a high school sophomore in statistics once a week. I love to help other with the knowledge I have acquired throughout my academic career. I tutor about 5 hours a week.
Thomas Jefferson Goes to Washington-I have helped a local community organization that is trying to raise money to help the 8th grade class tradition of going to Washington D.C. I volunteer about an hour a week.
JSA-I am part of the newly formed debate team. I hold the position of Historian which means I document the club’s activities and put together a presentation at the end of the year.
Creative Writing Club-I am part of this club as well.
HOBY Alumni
HOBY Junior Staff (HOBY is basically a leadership organization)
Spanish Honor Society
Math Honor Society
Social Studies Honor Society
Science Honor Society
National Honor Society
Total Volunteer Hours: 350+</p>

<p>Awards:
Baush and Laumb Science Award
Math, Business, Computers Award
Excelsior Award
High Honor Roll every quarter
National Merit (221 PSAT)
Cornell Book Award
Nominated for Governor's School (rejected)</p>

<p>Basically my focus throughout high school has been on volunteering but I also have athletics and a great academic transcript. Will I get into Princeton?</p>

2

<p>You are pretty darn solid. As for your weighted GPA, I don’t understand how you can have a 5.0 GPA unless every single class you took in high school was an AP class…</p>

3

<p>Bumpbump…</p>

4

<p>Academically, you are fine (obviously)</p>

<p>Honestly, it will depend on your essays, recs and how well your extracurriculars are perceived (you have lots of volunteering and you do A LOT although you don’t explicitly have many “leadership” positions… it just depends on how it reads out in the common app) </p>

<p>I’d say you have a better chance than most, but anything can happen.</p>

5

<p>anyone else have some advice?</p>

6

<p>I think your stats are definitely in the top 25% of applicants, however, I don’t see a WOW factor, which I, too, lack. Being an Indian from NJ isn’t going to help either. I still think, regardless of these facts, that you have almost as good of a chance as a candidate to Princeton could have. It is completely out of your hands; you have done everything you could have done.</p>

7

<p>^^I agree with everything you have said. It’s just a shame that one can do so much right yet still get rejected from these top schools. I view my WOW factor as the fact that I started the TJ Goes to Washington fundraiser which raised money to send the 8th grade class on its trip after it was cancelled due to budget cuts. However, there are many other applicants who have started projects AND are amazing athletes AND have a lot of leadership. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed!</p>

8

<p>What’s the Governor’s school? Is it a summer program or a full-time school?</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>It’s funny how this year’s governor’s school has over 30 SCEA applicants… including myself… lol. </p>

<p>What did you indicate as your main academic interests on the application?</p>

10

<p>@saugus Governors school is a summer program that very few students are chosen to attend. I was nominatedfreon my school but was ultimately rejected by the program.
@decillion I chose math and psychology as my interests. Math is my primary interest but I also find psychology interesting.</p>

11

<p>Potential Weaknesses/Areas of Concern:
Indian, NJ, Male, Math, Gov School Reject, No strong math ECs, Scattered Clubs</p>

<p>You might end up getting deferred… :&lt;/p>

12

<p>anyone else have any input?</p>

13

<p>anybody else?</p>

14

<p>I agree with all the opinions expressed thus far.</p>

<p>You obviously are a very strong candidate in academic terms. You are a person involved in the community. However, I also think that some of your activities seem a little bit scattered and detract from the overall “WOW-ness” of your application.</p>

<p>Frankly speaking, I am of the opinion that in your case essays and recommendations will be crucial. ;)</p>