Chance me for the Ivy League (Princeton SCEA)?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I know the ivies are a crapshoot for everyone, but I just wanted an honest assessment of how competitive of an applicant I am in general, and whether to get my hopes up. I also want to know if it’s worth really applying to multiple (as in, do I have a good chance of getting into more than one?)

Princeton SCEA.

Race: White (I’m half Indian but not going to put that down)
Gender: Female
Financial Need: Applying for financial aid, but it’s not a dealbreaker
State: New York

**School gives no class rank or GPA, and, as everyone in my class of 100 is very private/competitive I have no way of estimating my rank. They will only send a transcript to schools.

AP’s:

AP Latin (5)

AP USH (5)

Will take the following senior year:

AP Gov

AP Econ

AP Calc AB

AP Lang

Post-AP Latin

My schedule is checked as ‘most rigorous’ by my college counselor.

Total UW GPA: 4.0

Extracurricular Activities:

  1. [9-12, President 12] Computer help club at school. Helped fix computers, had them set up emails, and re-filled the printers.
  2. [10-12] Math/Science tutor in the Math/Science learning center.
  3. I play piano and take lessons at home. Don't play in any orchestras, though, and I haven't won any awards in high school.
  4. [11-12] I'm in Model UN.

Special Talents:

I’m a really good singer. I’m in chorus, inner-chorus, and advanced chorus. They’re all classes in my school and each is more difficult than the last to get into (chorus is open to everyone). I was in the singing group for juniors only, and I’m in the one for seniors only (each only 15 people). I’m president of the senior only singing group. All of this is school level.

I probably spend about 6 hours a week on all my singing stuff combined.

Summer Activities:

I volunteered at the local library stocking shelves and making decorations and stuff. Looking to set up some sort of program where I can get free books to poor kids in Inida, but I don’t know whether that will go through before next year.

SAT/Subject Tests:

SAT: 790 CR, 740 M, 760 W (10 Essay, 77 MC). Total: 2290.

This is not a super scored value, and I only sat the test once.

Literature SAT II: 770

Math SAT II, Level I: 770

USH SAT II: 770

My sophomore and junior PSATs were 204 and 206, respectively, if this matters. Enough to get commendation, but not enough for Semi-Finalist (225 cutoff for NE boarding schools applies).

Extra Information/Hooks:

I go to a high rigor college preparatory high school

2

You will be a very competitive applicant, but it’s Princeton, so it’s still a Reach.

3

@prezbucky thanks! I know I only really have 5 ECs (and I’m only committed to like 2) so that’s what I was concerned about.

Glad I’m a really competitive applicant! I’ll probably be applying to the ivies I want and then maybe 1 safety.

4

Write great essays, show how your passion and personality will make Princeton a better place, and cross your fingers. :slight_smile:

Also, if you are able, make sure you apply to a few more reaches (like Yale, Cornell and Georgetown – different levels of reach), a couple of matches, and one safety. The safety school needs to be a school you would not mind attending, one you can afford, and one to which you are nearly certain you would be admitted.

5

I would say that you are competitive, but that just gets you a spot in the lottery. Your GPA and test scores are fine. Your curriculum seems a bit light on the STEM side, and has only 5 courses. I’m a bit surprised it meets the “most rigorous” threshold.

As for your ECs, nothing really stands out strongly. I’m a bit surprised that your first 2 ECs were STEM related given that your curriculum is light in that area. I think that your biggest problem will be differentiating yourself from other qualified applicants. Marginal applicants (those who are qualified but don’t stand out) generally don’t get in via SCEA.

Think hard about what you can do to stand out. Your essays and recommendations will be extremely critical for you.

6

@renaissancedad I’m hoping to do a PPE degree or as close as possible - philosophy, politics, and economics.

My first two ECs are STEM just because I happened to join those. I wasn’t really discerning when picking my activities. Will my activities be in line with a typical Ivy acceptance? Will they hurt me in any way?

It’s ‘most rigorous’ because of the number of APs - 2 junior year, 4 senior year - even though I dropped science senior year.

7

Hm, I’d agree. While clearly your GPA and scores give you a shot, there’s not much about your EC’s or passions that make you pop out–a combination of music and STEM is pretty typical. Are you going to be submitting a music supplement?

8

As I said earlier, I think your curriculum and ECs are both a little on the light side, especially for Princeton SCEA. I’m not terribly optimistic. I think you will most likely get deferred, and that you have a shot at RD, but no more so than the general acceptance rate. I hope I’m wrong. Strong essays and figuring out how to portray yourself differently could help. It could come down to luck regarding institutional needs - maybe they need to add some qualified applicants who are good singers. I’m afraid I don’t have any better advice to offer at this point.

9

You’re a strong candidate, but why in particular do you want to major in Philosophy, Politics and Economics? Probably focus on the Model UN as that is somewhat related, but you’ll need a compelling reason as to why all your activities are STEM based and all of a sudden you want to major in Philosophy? There’s a huge gap there which you have to address in your essays.

Chances:
Reach, Princeton is a total lottery, no way anyone can guarantee that you’ll be accepted.

10

@delineated I don’t think I’ll be submitting one. Want to focus on singing as an EC, especially as all my singing stuff is at the school level (and, tbh, I am just given the title of President because the person actually elected was had a big leadership position and wasn’t allowed to take both. she’ll be doing most of the work).

11

@rdeng2614, my ECs are scattered and unfocused, but my courses speak to a love for history/economics, I think.

12

ALSO: Would Rice be OK as my only safety? I figured I’ll apply to Rice and then a bunch of Ivies and hopefully get into get into one or more so it won’t come to actually attending Rice.

Can people let me know my chances for lower ivies like Brown or UPenn?

(@rdeng2614, @renaissancedad, @delineated, @prezbucky)

13

Rice is not a safety for anybody. Also, applying to multiple Ivies just to get into 1 is not a good strategy, unless you have a compelling reason to go to each one that you are applying to.

14

@rdeng2614 Why wouldn’t it be a safety? At some point you have to say 'if my chances of being accepted are > X% it’s, for all intents and purposes, a safety.

15

Honestly, I don’t know about your Princeton chances, ec’s are pretty normal stuff (nothing orients towards your degree other than model un, which also you should go into more depth in, did you go to any big conventions/ win awards etc), sat/gpa are great, but overall I dunno. Essays/LOR will be the dealbreaker, and as someone stated before I don’t think you can consider Rice a safety.

16

OP, Rice isn’t a safety primarily because they have about a 15% acceptance rate and their average SAT is over 2200.

Obviously, average GPA is also high.

Rice’s admissions peers are schools like Cornell, Brown (higher scores than Brown, but higher admit % also), WashU and Vanderbilt – really hard to get into.

A safety is a school you are certain to get into; Rice isn’t a safety for anyone.

A safety for a student like you will typically be less selective private schools and state flagships other than Berkeley, Michigan, UVA, etc.

Finally – while I don’t think you should indiscriminately apply to every Ivy + Stanford + Chicago + MIT… if you want to go to that level of school, you do help your odds by applying to more than one. That’s why I suggested maybe adding another HYPSM-type school, then a less selective Ivy, and then maybe a Georgetown. All three are elite, but not equally selective. This gives you a greater chance of being admitted to an elite school.

Do make sure that all of your applications, however, are for schools you truly like and which would be a good fit.

17

@James1998iq - I just started MUN this year, so I went to Cornell MUN with my team. Didn’t win anything, though.

18

@ImNotSure8, I’m sorry to sound like a negative nellie, but I would be careful not to over-estimate your chances. @prezbucky called you “very competitive” and @rdeng2614 called you a “strong candidate”, but I’m not sure what the basis for those statements is. As far as I can tell you are competitive, but no more. Your GPA and test scores are fine, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Your curricular strength may be ok but seems light on the sciences to me, and your ECs are on the weak-ish side. I don’t see anything which demonstrates exceptional passion, talent or commitment. Essays and recs will be critical. But I would put your chances at no more than the statistical average at any of the elite schools that you mention - not just Princeton (6-7%) but also the “lower Ivies” like Penn (9.9%), Brown (8.7%) and Rice (14%). You may get lucky and get in to one of those schools, but you really need to figure out a way to make yourself stand out in order to improve your chances significantly.

19

@ImNotSure8, I’m sorry to sound like a negative nellie, but I would be careful not to over-estimate your chances. @prezbucky called you “very competitive” and @rdeng2614 called you a “strong candidate”, but I’m not sure what the basis for those statements is. As far as I can tell you are competitive, but no more. Your GPA and test scores are fine, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Your curricular strength may be ok but seems light on the sciences to me, and your ECs are on the weak-ish side. I don’t see anything which demonstrates exceptional passion, talent or commitment. Essays and recs will be critical. But I would put your chances at no more than the statistical average at any of the elite schools that you mention - not just Princeton (6-7%) but also the “lower Ivies” like Penn (9.9%), Brown (8.7%) and Rice (14%). You may get lucky and get in to one of those schools, but you really need to figure out a way to make yourself stand out in order to improve your chances significantly.

20

@renaissancedad,

My assessment was based on the numbers: above-average GPA and SAT, even at Princeton. Now it’s up to the OP to send in killer essays and (hopefully) good counselor recs.

“Very competitive” was vague on purpose: simply meant to show that I think the OP has (at least) a standard chance at admittance. So: Still a Reach, just like it is for everyone.

As for Penn, admission to CAS is easier than it is to Wharton. Wharton brings down the overall rate.