Chance

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I'm an international student studying at an international school. I understand that chance posts are not very predictive -- but given that my circumstance is quite unique (This is my third school, went to US for freshman year, came back for sophomore year, and changed to another school in junior year because I ran out of courses at my old school), can I have some guidance on where to apply for early? I'm really lost as to what may be my best option for applying in the early round. All my leadership positions are attained this year since I'm a new student to my current school. </p>

<p>Right now I'm thinking of
1. Doing Yale/Princeton SCEA which are my top choices </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Doing UPenn Wharton ED with UChicago EA (I'm going to a program at UPenn this summer, past participants have nearly 100% success rate at applying early decision wharton/M&T program). </p></li>
<li><p>Doing UChicago and Georgetown EA (which leaves me RD round for applying to my top choices Princeton and Yale). </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you very much!</p>

<p>SAT 1: Taking it this saturday, according to mock should be around 2250.
SAT 2: Haven't taken it yet (I know one of my biggest mistakes is not to register for all these tests earlier)</p>

<p>GPA: Freshman Year: 93 ish Sophomore year: 3.96 Junior Year my first semester dropped to 3.83 (this school is significantly harder) but second semester is 3.95. (The average GPA for accepted students at Georgetown/UChicago from my current school is 3.76, for Yale it's 3.88, and for Princeton it's 3.91). </p>

<p>APs: Sophomore year: AP Physics B (4), AP World History (5), AP Calculus BC (5 Self-studied), Junior year: AP Physics C (Mechanics & E&M), AP Comparative/US Government, AP English Language, AP Macro/Micro Economics</p>

<p>Senior Courseload: AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Eng Lit, AP Statistics, French, AP Psychology</p>

<p>Awards: AP Scholar, Steinway Piano International Competition Regional Gold, Asian Open Piano Competition Outstanding, some school honors. </p>

<p>Clubs: Forensics (Vice President at my old school, numerous awards), MUN (numerous awards), Math and Science Tutor, Service Club 1 (Senior Director), Service Club 2 (Senior Director), Service Club 3 (Manager for Fundraising), Political Union (Founder & President), Investment Club (President), Staff writer for school newspaper, Piano/Saxophone (12&4 Years), </p>

<p>Summer Activities: UPenn Program this summer, Yale Ivy Scholars last summer.</p>

<p>Volunteering: Volunteer for Virginia Paralympics. Been to Fiji, Cambodia, and Indonesia for short term services (2 weeks ish). </p>

<p>Recommendation: One teacher knows me really well and wrote me my recommendation for a quite competitive summer program (I got in so should be at least decent), the other not sure (I was a top student but not sure if he likes me). </p>

<p>Financial Aid: Not applying
School Type: highly competitive private (around 10 to 15% to ivies each year) (although some are legacies)
Ethnicity: Asian
Hooks: First gen for asians..don't know if that helps.</p>

<p>Any advice is welcome, thanks a lot!!</p>

2

<p>Hi. Firstly, I would like to say that I am also a junior and the comments I will make are only based on observations I have made from viewing other chance/results threads. My comments cannot be substantiated in any way lol.</p>

<p>Regarding your options: I’m pretty sure Yale and Princeton are SCEA, so you can apply to one. ED (Wharton) means you can only apply to Wharton early, all other schools have to be regular. You also might want to look whether UCh and Gtown are SCEA, but I do not think they are.</p>

<p>GPA/Coursework: excellent, can’t say anything else.
SAT: 2250 would put you in the clearing, but I would say aim for 2300 or above. ~15 kids get into Princeton every year from my school. We have an application that charts the student’s stats and the average is a 2310 for those accepted. 60% of my school is Asian, so I think that might give you a good idea of what the scores are like.
SAT II: I’m sure you will do fine.
Extracurrics: I’m going to be completely honest, and I am in no way trying to belittle you, but nothing really stands out to me. If I were an adcom skimming your list, I would not immediately see any common interests between your extracurriculars. Obviously, you have great activities with clear leadership and achievement, but so do a lot of other people who are applying. You have to find some way to link it all together, especially in the essays. How about doing some sort of internship this summer that really demonstrates one of your interests?</p>

<p>Hope I helped! I also put up a chance thread in this Princeton forum, you should check it out.</p>

3

<p>Hi excile 3418, thank you for your reply. Sorry for making my option part confusing, I was referring to either SCEA Yale or Princeton. I’m afraid that I’m not up to the HYP caliber and will just “waste” my early advantage by applying to an unrealistic place…Do you have any advice for that?</p>

<p>As for the EC part, I agree that I do not have anything special. I was trying to create an image of me being passionate about politics, business, and service. I applied through a school internship program and will be interning at a top architecture/design firm this summer --I know it’s not particularly related to my interest but that’s really the only option I have…</p>

<p>I will chance back!</p>