3.3 GPA, leadership positions for 4 years, over 50 volunteer hours, low SAT and ACT scores = can someone get into Princeton with these stats?
My guidance counselor says that some people with the perfect application never even get into Ivy Leagues.
“My guidance counselor says that some people with the perfect application never even get into Ivy Leagues.”
@che527: That doesn’t bode well for you. That being said, Ivies look at things beyond grades, so saying “chance me” when all you put up are grades is pretty pointless.
It’s not completely useless in this case. You don’t say what “low SAT and ACT scores” are but 3.3 is pretty low for top 20 schools. The EC part doesn’t really kick in until you have qualifying stats. No one can say exactly what that is but looking at the Common Data Set gives you an idea. The 25% percentile for Princeton was a 32 and 75% was 35. 92% scored 30 or above. 86% had a 3.75 or above. 95% had a 3.5 or above.
Students with a 34 and 4.0 have a very small chance of acceptance like your guidance couselor stated. Please concider other options in conjunction with your guidance counselor.
There was a fellow who was admitted to Harvard with the GPA of something like 2.6, but he was three sports superstar and later played for the Boston Red Sox. So, being admitted to Ivy League colleges is possible with low stats, but the odds are extremely low unless you have something else that these colleges desire.
The person admitted to Harvard with a GPA that low must have had very good scores on standardized tests. All Ivy league athletes must fall within the academic index for eligibility so being admitted with low scores/GPA is even challenging for a highly recruited athlete.
Well, I looked it up. His GPA was actually 2.75 and his old SAT scores were 630 M 630 V. Because this is a public knowledge, I will reveal his name: Zak Farkes. While at Harvard, he was recruited by the Boston Red Sox. This was quite a while ago, too, so Harvard perhaps would make a difference decision today.
@TiggerDad Those scores/GPA would put him at 180 which is just slightly above the Ivy current minimum of 176 so he would still be considered admissible by the book. Most Ivy athletes are closer to 220 on average (higher at HYP) so the scenario would still be considered extremely rare and would almost certainly only be used with an exceptionally outstanding athlete such as the one referenced above.
To the OP - your GC is correct. According to last year’s admission statistics, only 12.8% of students in the very top range were offered admission. As @TiggerDad pointed out, “being admitted to Ivy League colleges is possible with low stats, but the odds are extremely low unless you have something else that these colleges desire”. The ‘something else’ would almost certainly need to be an accomplishment that would put you at the top of your talent area at least nationally (athletics, music, science etc) if not at some level of world wide recognition to be admitted with those stats.
@che57 unless your parents have donated a building or sth or you have founded a super successful company etc then chances are practically zero. you need to be an outlier in some way to have a decent chance of getting in with this GPA and low scores.
Please answer this question, even just to yourself. Why should Princeton admit you when you have not excelled in high school and did poorly on tests?
I don’t say this often, but applying would be truly pointless. Don’t waste your money.
You might need a combination of hooks to get in, write an essay that absolutely knocks everyone’s socks off, do something heroic in the next eight months that gets you 15 minutes of fame… something (or some things) that makes up for the sub-Ivy GPA and test score.
Ivies do let in a handful of low-stat kids each year – check out the scatter plots – but there must be something else to make up for those low stats. They’re not going to reject many 1600/4.0 applicants, who worked very hard to achieve those stats, to let in low-stat kids without something that the schools need (a big hook or multiple hooks) and who haven’t achieved public acclaim.
All that said, the only way you have a 0% chance is if you don’t apply.
If I were you, I wouldn’t bother. Even hooks or extradorinary EC’s will not make up for a 3.3 and “low” scores at Princeton, unless perhaps you are a star athlete.
Unfortunately, your GPA is quite low for this school and 50 community service hours is also low. A “low” ACT and SAT make it even more difficult. These schools reject over 90% of all extremely qualified applicants. I would look st the thread that shows students accepted to Princeton and deferred or rejected. That is an excellent showcase of the kind of student accepted…essentially “perfect” applicants are denied all the time under the best scenario.
General question, what publicly available scatter plots do you think are reliable?
With that stats and get into an Ivy… maybe IF you are the son or daughter of President… or with Billionaire parents ready to write a BIG check or you are some big time sports medalist. Even the URM, 1stGen hook won’t get you there. Are there things that make you stand out among the thousands of applications, other than being a low scorer? JMHO