Chance me? [Nervous soon-to-be-senior looking for advice]

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

Princeton is my dream school and I honestly have no clue what my chances are, considering no one from my school has gone there/been accepted for a solid 7 (ish) years…

S T A T S :
ACT - 36 composite (35 reading) & 8/8/8 essay
SAT - 1590 (790 reading/writing) & 6/6/6 essay
PSAT - 1520 (not sure if colleges even see your psat score though?)
APs - Mandarin, APUSH, Stats, Bio, Chem, Lang&Comp, Psych, Calc - all 5s
GPA - weighted 4.90 / unweighted 4.0

A W A R D S :
(Is this the same thing as stats? I don’t really know lol…)
Freshman year - Le Grand Concours (French contest) 10th in the nation
Sophomore year - NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award Ohio Runner-Up
Junior year - NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award National Runner-Up; Scholastics Art Contest Regional Gold & Silver Key recipient; National AP Scholar (lol)

E X T R A C U R R I C U L A R S :
Science Olympiad - all 4 years, event leader, multiple state-level medals, team ranked 3rd overall (consumes literally half of my life, I love it)
Volleyball - 3 years, co-captain of freshman & JV teams, Varsity team was GMC (conference) champion
ILC - local organization dedicated to helping students interested in tech; on the leadership council, helped organize TechOlympics (largest tech expo for high schoolers in the nation)
TEDx - organizing a TEDx event at my school w/ a friend
NHS - 2 years, but don’t do much
French Honor Society - 2 years, but again, don’t do much
Art - just something I do in my free time, I go to a studio once a week, trying to put together a portfolio for an art supplement, I’ve won some Scholastics awards (but just at the regional level)

O T H E R :
I’ve had internships in tech-y areas all 3 summers so far. Freshman year - Singtel (in China, Singaporean telecommunications company - wasn’t very legit though); sophomore year - interned with the school district IT dept.; junior year - a Fortune 500 company but its like 400-something on the list haha (shouldn’t disclose the name on here probably?)

A general concern of mine is, will my underwhelming essay scores on my ACT and SAT affect my chances? I got a 5 on AP Language and Composition, but I guess I goofed pretty hard on the ACT & SAT ones and I don’t want to retake just for the essay score…Also, what’s considered a solid set of extracurriculars? I feel like I don’t actually do much - SciOly and volleyball are basically my entire life :smiley:

Any feedback/opinions appreciated!!

2

Your stats are amazing!!! I wouldn’t stress about the numbers at all. I think the main thing is going to be the Common App essay to make sure you really stick out from the thousands of other applicants.

3

Your essays scores will be fine. Your stats and ECs are on par for Princeton, and your art skills are something that you should definitely mention in your application!

Stand out in your essays and you’ll stand a good chance among the other applicants. Best of luck!

4

How good are you at volleyball? Are you looking to study CS?

5

@Dolemite I’m on the varsity team at school and we were undefeated last season! But I’m probably mediocre at best…my club team placed 3rd at a regional tournament but that’s about it. Also yeah, most likely CS major.

6

You may be able to help your cause at MIT with the Volleyball. I would visit their Recruiting site and fill out their Recruiting Questionnaire: http://mitathletics.com/information/Recruiting/index

With your academic record, being female in CS, and Volleyball it may give you the edge you need for MIT. Nonetheless good luck with Princeton and the other schools on your list.

7

Stat’s puts you well above the median (probably 75th percentile and higher) for Princeton (or any school). But applicants with perfect academic stat’s get rejected all the time. I wouldn’t stress about the essay scores. I think schools take them for what they are, a speed writing test subjectively judged. Your grades in courses that involve writing and your application essays will be what really matters.

Your awards and EC’s are fine. AO’s understand how much time sports like volleyball require, especially when you play on a club team on top of the school team. It doesn’t look like you are recruitable, but earning 2 varsity letters on a strong team is not typical of the stereotypical STEM bookworm. Schools want to see quality of participation in EC’s, not quantity. Ideally the quality comes out in your essays and LoR’s. This is where you should focus your attention.

Princeton does recommend, but not require 2 SAT II scores. If you are applying for a BS in Engineering they recommend Math 1 or 2 and Physics or Chemistry.

8

I seriously question @Dolemite’s suggestion that your volleyball would help you at MIT. MIT coaches are famous for their impotence with admissions help.

9

@sherpa - Come on, now, college coaches have a very limited role in admissions all depending on the school culture. Some have more influence than others and to blame the MIT coaches is simply unfair. MIT doesn’t have the kind of sports culture the way, say, Stanford does.

10

@TiggerDad - I’m not blaming the MIT coaches for anything. More accurately, I sympathize with them for their plight. My kids were both academically strong recruited athletes, attending Princeton and Duke with coaches’ support, but the MIT coach would have been powerless with admissions.

That’s just the way it is. My purpose was simply to warn others that @Dolemite’s advice wasn’t reality based.

11

I am by no means an expert on MIT admissions but from this past year my small amount of experience showed me that having an athletic hook was the edge for a few students that were offered admission. Obviously unlike many schools the student has to have the same academic credentials as the non-athletes before that hook comes into play.

The OP expressed an interest in MIT in another thread and I believe it would behoove her to fill out the recruiting questionnaire. MIT is the largest Div III athletics program in the country and 20% of the student are athletes.

12

The MIT coaches will readily admit that they are relatively powerless to help even the most academically strong recruits through admissions. Of the elite colleges, the weakest in terms of athletic recruiting are Caltech, MIT, and Yale.

Of course any prospective student athlete should reach out to coaches and fill out the online recruiting forms. But they should do so with realistic expectations.

13

Like I said she may be able to help her cause at MIT with volleyball. It’s not the guarantee that it can be when you are a recruited athlete at a division 1 school but it would be the weirdest coincidence ever that MIT admits so many students that are athletically inclined without it being considered. Sports are a noted EC at MIT.

Personally I’m impressed with your NCWIT national runner up award. My wife recently attended the NCWIT Summit in Arizona. Congrats on that accomplishment.

14

You have good stats. Apply SCEA. Write great essays, and convey to Princeton that SciOly / volleyball is your life in some memorable / distinctive way.

Gender? Race? Income?

15

OH whoops forgot SAT IIs (I thought I was missing something lol): Chem, Bio, Math 2 - 800s
Also I’m a female Asian, upper-middle level income
ALSO thanks for all the responses!! ^ . ^ really appreciate it!