Chance Me Please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

I am a high school Freshman, looking to be princeton class of 2027. I am a white male and my grandfather went to Princeton so I have some legacy.

I currently go to a prestigious boarding school, top 15 in the nation.

I am in the scholar program at my school, something only around 5 kids get per grade, it identifies me as someone super academically curious and smart. I have a 3.83 unweighted GPA, and if I work really hard I can definitely have a 4.0.

I currently play three JV sports, and by senior year I will be playing at least two varsities, maybe three.

I am one of the tops of my class, and I might be the top white person in my class, if that does anything for college.

Sophomore year course load:
AP Stats
AP Calc BC
Biochemistry Advanced
Physics Advances
AP Latin 4
English (they don’t have honors english until junior year)

I will be doing an independent study in math senior year, because I will take linear algebra and multivariable calc in junior year so i’ll be out of math classes.

I am a very good oil painter and guitar player.

I am going to be on student council next year and onward, and I think I could be president senior year.

I work a summer job and I will start interning in the next summer or two. For community service, I did a mission trip with my church to Appalachia rebuilding houses over the summer, where I learned a lot about empathy and teamwork.

Because I’m in the scholar program, I get a funded trip in the summer before Junior year, so I can use that to pursue any kind of charity work I want especially pertaining to medicine. I want to major in chemistry and go on to be a surgeon.

I don’t know what I will get on my SAT, but i got 98th percentile on the SSAT to get into high school on my first try.

Please give me any sort of my idea about my chances/ tips on how to improve them, because I have wanted to go to Princeton for my whole life and it is my single biggest goal.

2

Mostly I think that you should continue to keep ahead in your classes, participate in the ECs that you want to participate in, and relax.

To be a surgeon you need to go to medical school. To go to medical school you need to first get a bachelor’s degree at a university that has a good premed program. However, there are literally many hundreds of universities that have very good premed programs. Nearly all public flagship universities have very strong premed programs at least partly because every state has some people who from time to time want to see a doctor. You definitely do not need to attend Princeton for undergrad in order to get into medical school.

Remember that school is like a marathon, not a sprint. You have a long way to go. You are doing very well so far.

Also keep in mind that while Princeton is a great university, there are a lot of other universities that are also excellent. Princeton is not going to teach an undergrad anything that you could not have learned at more than 100 other universities and colleges. Keep an open mind and think about what you want in a university.

I would be very cautious about jumping ahead in math. In math everything that you learn depends upon what you learned in the past. What you are learning now will be used a lot in stuff that you will learn in the future. You should make sure that you know each subject well before you jump to the next one. I was a math major (at a school that is sort of on the “Princeton” level for math) and have some experience with the subject.

And forget about “prestige”. No one cares about it once they are at least two years out of high school.

3

Princeton has an acceptance rate hovering around 5%. It’s is not the same school your grandpa went to. It’s become so hyper-competitive that it’s not even a competition anymore. At some point, the applicants look so identical, it becomes just a subjective lottery. Unfortunately, kids still treat it as a competition and put unhealthy and unreasonable expectations on themselves under the delusion that it might give them a competitive edge. At best, they get completely burned out, at worst, they end up in the hospital. Seriously it’s not worth it.

A college is just a tool to gain marketable job skills and you will graduate with an accredited bachelors degree, no more, no less. It’s no more a “dream” than owning a Chevy. Once you’re in the workforce, your experience and job accomplishments will do all the talking.

What you need to do at your age is get the best grades you can and set healthy expectations for yourself. There’s at least 1,000 universities to choose from. Focus on your potential career interests instead.

4

I would work on the humility, first of all. Princeton is a reach for everyone nowadays. Many, many high school students of the College Confidential caliber, are done with calculus by the middle of high school.

It’s also weird that you mentioned your whiteness twice in one post.

And, what makes you say that you can get a 4.0 uwgpa when you currently have a 3.83? Or that you’re sure you can be president of the student body?

You have gotten good advice so far: focus on being a good human being, and keep your mind open to the thousands of other colleges that exist in this world.

5

Going to Princeton can’t be your goal. What if, like the other 94% of the applicants, you don’t get offered a place. Have you failed life?

All you can do is try to put yourself in the best possible position and the only way to do that is 1) Be a good person and do things for others for the sake of helping others not getting into Princeton. 2) Get the best grades possible in all subjects because that makes you at minimum a competitive candidate for all colleges. 3) Spend time doing something you love because you love it not because you think Princeton may love it. Princeton is a place not a person. It doesn’t share your interests. 4) Be super helpful at school with peers and teachers because they will then say kind things about you when asked. There are literally thousands that apply to these types of schools that will have the same test scores and GPAs hard facts. You’re simply not going to beat somebody out due to higher numbers…

Finally, log out of CC and go have a great high school experience!