I’ve applied for SCEA to Princeton as an undergrad and I’m getting extremely nervous as admissions are ~2 weeks away. Im thinking my GPA will be what kills me, but here’s a go at it anyway. I’ve included all the information I can think of.
Gender: female
Race: white
Location: Kentucky
Freshman and sophomore year of high school:
I had a 4.0 GPA unweighted and attended a selective engineering-based high school. Students focused on Project Lead the Way curriculum, took classes at a local Area Technical Center, and completed courses on track to graduate with an Associate’s. I took a lot of computer science classes and earned my Microsoft Office and Autodesk Inventor certifications. I was the first female at the academy to earn the “Go-Getter” award, and competed in Student Technology Leadership Program, academic team, and the Technology Student Association. I received national or state awards in all of those. I also created my own community service group and ran it for 2 years with an outreach of 3k+ in my rural community. I also worked with my local Judge Executive to create a marketing video and social media for the county.
Junior and senior year of high school:
I switched tracks my junior year and applied for, and got accepted to, a much more selective high school. It accepts 30 kids of each gender from around the state. Instead of traditional high school, I live on campus and take all college classes at a state university for dual-credit. Because of the workload, Ive had a GPA drop. I now have a roughly 3.6 unweighted and a 4.7 weighted. Im an Ambassador for my school, participated in Science Olympiad and won state awards, and I’m a member of a community service fraternity. Between that and the Ambassadorship, Ive completed maybe 150 service hours since junior year. My fall semester of junior year I interned with the University football team and made their highlight tapes. I was also elected pledge class secretary, and later Vice President of Service for my fraternity. From junior year to ongoing, Ive participated in astrophysics research with one of my professors. I have one research paper co-authored right now with more in progress, and have presented my research at the Kentucky Academy of Science. I have future plans to go to Posters at the Capitol and the Celebration of Student Scholarship to present also. By time I graduate I should have 60 college credits (and a higher GPA; Im anticipating a 3.75 this semester and a 3.8 next). I’ve been awarded by the National Center for Women in Technology twice (state winner), and have a ham radio license.
I have recommendation letters from the founder of the academy I attended for freshman and sophomore year, an English professor at my university, and the professor I conduct research under. These should all be pretty strong letters.
I have a composite 33 on the ACT as well. I haven’t taken the SAT as it isn’t well-recognized in my location.
I feel that my interview with the alumni went very well. She was extremely courteous and we talked for nearly an hour.
I’m sorry if this is super scattered around, I tried to put absolutely everything that might have any relevance at all. Please let me know what you think of my chances and if there’s any additional information that might be needed.