<p>Int'l applicant
Asian male (Chinese)</p>
<p>GPA 3.8ish uw / 4.0 w (top 1% in my school of 250 kids)
SAT V 730 / M 800 / W 750 - 2280
SAT IIs Math IIC - 800 Chinese with listening 800
(I'm gonna take 2-3 more SAT IIs in oct. and nov.)
ACT 35</p>
<p>ECs aren't spectacular at all but I was involved in some clubs
and service projects and held president position for one of them.</p>
<p>What'd be my chance at Princeton if I apply as ED?</p>
<p>To be bluntly honest, you've a very little chance ED or RD. Your lack of EC will definitely hurt you at top colleges like Princeton. I know many people who got rejected because the only outstanding part of their application is the 2400 SAT.</p>
<p>Nothing stands out at all in comparison to other Princeton ED applicants. Go browse this year's Princeton ED 2010 thread to see what kind of "applicant" I'm talking about.</p>
<p>things look grim to me too but maybe thats bc u haven't said <b>anythng<b> about your ec's. try to set yourself apart from the typical asian male who likes math and science.</b></b></p><b><b>
</b></b>
<p>Just go for it, and don't give up hope!</p>
<p>If you weren't international, your chances would be pretty good...</p>
<p>Unless your EC's are stellar, your grades and SAT scores can only get you so far. I would say the only shot you have is if you write some Pulitzer quality essays.</p>
<p>I have a sneaking suspicion that many people on this forum reply to these posts with mean or just discouraging comments because they want less competition.</p>
<p>True, you don't really "stand out" compared to lots of applicants. But it's not like you are an automatic rejection because you've got a decent GPA, test scores, and your ecs are not non-existent by what you say.</p>
<p>IMHO, you have a chance, just not an above-average one, even ED. But if you like Princeton, don't give up hope! Show that you want to go through essays and what not and be optimistic.</p>
<p>tabularasa, come on-Princeton gets 20,000+ applicants. If I was worried about individual competitors who I didn't even know, I wouldn't be applying to college, I would be applying to NIH for experimental Paranoia medications.</p>
<p>Ah, if you haven't heard... there is absolutely no point to taking more than three SAT Subject Tests. Not one school requires or even wants more than three. You're annoying me.</p>
<p>Seriously, can someone answer for me why people like this take more than three SAT Subject Tests, especially when they already have all 800 and a 35 ACT?</p>
<p>
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Seriously, can someone answer for me why people like this take more than three SAT Subject Tests, especially when they already have all 800 and a 35 ACT?
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</p>
<p>It adds a further boost to the academic profile of the candidate.</p>
<p>Or, to turn the question around, if someone can easily get four 800s, why shouldn't they? It's not like taking an extra SAT-II will detract substantially from their time.</p>
<p>Colleges who are looking for 3 SAT II's are not going to give you special consideration for taking four. That is rediculous. If that were the case, they would mention that as the means for building a stronger application. Taking four demands you come in for two seperate testing dates, so it detracts significantly from your time. If you have 3 700+ SAT II's you are golden. There is no need to take anymore.</p>
<p>
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Colleges who are looking for 3 SAT II's are not going to give you special consideration for taking four.
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</p>
<p>Colleges give you an academic rating (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). They also consider whether you are strong, weak, or average within your rating band. To qualify as a strong 1 requires an incredible academic profile, especially considering the fact that strong 1's are supposed to be likely summa cum laude candidates. At</a> Harvard, for instance, merely to get into academic 1 territory requires scores of 770/780+. An additional 800 might be the difference between being seen as a weak 1 or an average 1. Or a 1 in the first place, if your other scores aren't as strong.</p>
<p>Or consider what Fred</a> Hargadon once said about perfect test scores: "Hargadon added that test scores also served as a 'caution.' 'Test scores are like lights that go off (and say to me) 'Fred, do you know you are about to turn down a student who got five 800s?''"</p>
<p>The point being that for all the talk about test scores not mattering, at a subjective level having perfect test scores can be a signal to admissions officers to at least take a closer look. Getting four instead of three perfect SAT IIs would be the modern equivalent, since (relatively) more students are applying with three perfect SAT IIs. In summary: it makes you stand out.</p>
<p>
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Taking four demands you come in for two seperate testing dates, so it detracts significantly from your time.
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</p>
<p>Perhaps I simply schedule my time less stringently, but I don't find losing a few hours of one early saturday morning to be such a catastrophe.</p>
<p>If you are heavily involved in the EC's that are supposed to be so influential anyway-you don't have free saturday mornings.</p>
<p>
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If you are heavily involved in the EC's that are supposed to be so influential anyway-you don't have free saturday mornings.
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</p>
<p>If you're so heavily involved in ECs that you can't spare an extra saturday morning, you're probably not applying as an academic candidate anyway. Either that or you simply don't need to worry about admission, seeing as you have both perfect academics and outstanding ECs.</p>
<p>"seeing as you have both perfect academics and outstanding ECs"</p>
<p>?????? What???????</p>
<p>Dude, what's wrong with you? You already made your point, why do you need to keep hanging around and being mean?</p>
<p>I think its hard to judge since we aren't having a live conversation but I'm not being mean, I'm just talking. Right now I'm drinking orange juice and listening to dmb, I'm actually pretty calm.</p>
<p>
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?????? What???????
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</p>
<p>Perhaps you misunderstand where exactly I'm coming from. I'm really only referring to the exceptional academic candidate, applying specifically on his tremendous academic strength as opposed to a balance of ECs and academics or ECs alone. That is the type of candidate who would normally take more than three SAT IIs, and who would most benefit from them.</p>