chance me. please. (is it a lost cause?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am trying to decide whether Princeton SCEA is worth a shot. Until now I had no doubts in applying to UChicago EA but after visiting the campus and hearing about Princeton's policy of having every professor teach classes/ thus access to a stellar faculty, I have been slowly warming up to Princeton(plus Princeton shares the #1 graduate economics ranking with UChicago). I have no hooks and given the applicant pool, I still feel that applying to any of the HYP regular or early is waste of time. Please be brutally candid so I can have a better idea of whether I should be investing time and money in early action to Princeton.</p>

<p>Asian Male/ Suburban New Jersey resident
Income bracket: 50 ~ 60k
Competitive public high school; sends several kids to ivies every year</p>

<p>4.31 W GPA (school doesn't do unweighted)
Top 10th percentile (not sure about rank; i don't think school does ranks)
APs:
Environmental Science (5)
Biology (5)
Calculus BC (5; school taught only AB so i self-studied)
Lang & Comp (5)
Statistics (4)
US History (4)
European history (3)</p>

<p>SAT I composite: 2360
CR: 780 M: 790 W: 790</p>

<p>SAT II
Biology: 780
math IIC: 780
US History: 710</p>

<p>ECs:
- Math Team (Co-Captain); competes in the SCML monthly
- Yearbook Staff (Editor for Peoples)
- Medical Club (Co-founder/Co-President); brings in guest speakers from the health professions + volunteering opportunities + trips
Marching Band (Section leader/Drill Captain for two years)
- School newspaper (9,10,11,12)
- Vocal ensemble (9,10,11,12)
- Principal Players: Pit band (musical productions; participated since 7th grade)
- Varsity GOlf (10, 11); JV Golf (9)
- School Orchestra, Wind ensemble, Brass quintet
- Passaic Youth Orchestra (since 7th grade; Principal trumpet/violin)
(all in all, lot of the clubs at our school are very generic and not very career-oriented/vocational; this worried me a bit and kind of pushed me to co-founding the medical club)</p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
- All-State Orchestra/ Symphonic Band
- Regional Orchestra/ Symphonic Band/ Jazz
- Concerto Competition at Passaic Youth Orchestra: Runner-up
- Qualifier for All-Eastern Honors Band/Orchestra (Band director missed the deadline...)
- Academic Honor Roll (9,10,11)
- National Honor Society (11)
- Spanish National Honor Society (11)
- Tri-M Music Honor Society (11)</p>

<p>Summers:
- New York Summer Music Festival (NYSMF; 9)
- Intro to Physics @ Passaic Community College (10; final grade of A)
- Red Cross Summer Youth Council
- Research Assistantship @ NYU (Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy)</p>

<p>Community Service:
- Good Neighbor String Ensemble (9,10,11)
- Faith Sunday School (10,11)
- Red Cross Youth Council (10)
- Trumpet lessons (11; 10 hours required for tri-m)</p>

<p>Work experience:
- Tutoring (SAT I; math)
- Office Assistant for American Cancer Society event
- Research Assistantship @ NYU (Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy)</p>

<p>I am thinking of majoring economics or math, with a minor in music
EDIT: I am also intending to go premed and go to medical school afterwards</p>

2

<p>It would be the smartest idea to apply to Chicago EA and forget about Princeton SCEA.</p>

<p>The reason is simple: this will maximize your chance of admission at both schools.</p>

<p>Chicago’s EA acceptance rate was 22% last year; its RD acceptance rate is 8-9%. Nobody really knows what Princeton’s SCEA admit rate is going to look like, but more than likely, it’s not going to be over 10%. HYPS rarely gives EA students an advantage over RD students, or at least not too significant of one.</p>

<p>So if you apply to Princeton SCEA and Chicago RD, the chances of being accepted to each school is <10% and <10% respectively. If you apply to Chicago EA and Princeton RD, your chances of being accepted to each school are ~20% and <10%, respectively. Which is the better deal? Chicago EA and Princeton RD, clearly, since Chicago has a higher admit rate for EA students. Your admission to Princeton, on the other hand, likely will not hinge on whether you applied SCEA or RD.</p>

<p>You have the stats to get into both schools, but in this day of ambiguous and nearly random admission, its best to mathematically maximize your chances.</p>

3

<p>phuriku, thank you for your words. Only recently have I learned that early action for HYP doesn’t help applicants out much with the exception of legacies, athletes, and other special cases…
At this point I am most likely to keep Chicago for EA, and maybe look for another school to put in ED. Any suggestions? the intended major being economics/math, and I am still on the fence about going premed.</p>