Chances for Princeton/Cornell/Amherst

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

Indian male studying in a New Delhi private CBSE school.
Have English, Math, Psychology, Physics and Chemistry as subjects.
Want to major in English/Linguistics/Journalism/Philosophy

SCORES
SAT: 1560, Essay: 6/4/6
AP: English Literature 4 (took only one, we don’t have AP classes here)
SAT Subject Tests: Literature 740, Math II 760, Physics 770
IELTS: 8.0 (8.5 in Reading, Speaking and Listening. 7 in writing)
Had a perfect 10 CGPA in Grades 9 and 10, 83% marks in Grade 11 (okayish by India standards), 90% in Grade 12 First Term (the transcript I’ll be submitting)

EXTRACURRICULARS
-School Magazine Editor
-Ted Ed Club Co-Founder President
-Three years invested in Model UN International Press, Editor-In-Chief at school conference, won awards at all 11 MUNs participated in
-Model UN and Debating Society Scribe
-Summer Internship as Trainee News Editor at an English daily newspaper
-Volunteer Teacher for underprivileged elementary school kids at an NGO, organized several EC Activities like story writing, poetry recitation, spell bee etc for the students
-Volunteer English teacher at an after-school teaching initiative set up by the school.
-Electric Guitar for 5 years, have a Grade 3 Certification from Rockschool London with Distinction. Part of school guitar ensemble in 9th grade
-Robotics Club Member in 9th Grade. Won the Senior Manual Robotics category at annual inter-school event representing the school club.

HONORS
-Gold Medal for Seven Consecutive Years of Academic Excellence (from school)
-International English Olympiad 2015 School Silver Medallist
-Unified Cyber Olympiad 2016 Regional Gold Medallist (Tests Math, English and Computers)
-National Science Olympiad 2013,2016 Finalist
-IPEC Talent Search 2018 4th Position out of 200 participants.

RECOMMENDERS
Great relations with English and Psychology teachers. They can be vocal about my writing and communication skills. Also considering the MUN club in-charge. Spent a year with her organizing our school’s MUN and made close ties.
May also get a letter from the Editor I interned under.
School has no counselor, so will probably get that part from the Principal.

I’m not too sure if my ECs carry enough substance to completely cement me as a strong writer/journalist/editor. I’m also concerned because my writing scores on the SAT and IELTS are relatively low, don’t know if that would send mixed messages.
I’ll most probably be applying in the Single-Choice Early Action.

2

Parent of a former international student here (BSE '16). Essentially the onus is on international students to prove that their education will not only make them successful at Princeton, but also significant contributors there. What do you bring that differs significantly from any other student Princeton could admit? As a point of interest, when my son was at international orientation he met another student who placed second at the world robotics championships. Admittedly not every Princeton student has such an impressive resume but as an international it is a priority to differentiate yourself from the crowd.