<p>Alright. How much does Princeton University look at you grades? Do they weigh them more heavily than test scores, extra-curricular activities, teacher reccomendations, essays, and major awards, and subjective factors (ethnicity, parental education, and family income)? I'm a Pakistani American and my dad's a doctor and mom has a master's but she does not work. Let's say I have perfect SAT/ACT/SAT II scores, 5's on AP Chem, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP US History, AP World History, AP English Language, and AP Computer Science A, am enrolled in 6 AP classes my senior year and am taking Calculus III and Organic Chemistry from a community college, run cross country, am on the student newspaper staff, do speech and debate, am a lawyer in mock trial, play the piano, volunteer at my local science center, am vice president of a young democrats club and president of the math club, work at a tutoring center as a math tutor, and do some science research with a professor at a local community college, I've won state/regional awards in piano, speech and debate, mock trial, and math, and have attained very good teacher recommendations. A subjective weakness is that I went to a large public school in my freshman year, a small private school my sophomore and junior years when I moved out of state, and will go to a medium-sized public school for my senior year, with the first year being in Indiana and the next three being in Tennessee. My objective weaknesses are grades in my first 3 years in the B+ to A- range in all honors and 2 AP classes putting me in the top 25% of my 300 person class, summer activities limited to taking piano lessons, taking a few online courses, and volunteering at my religious center and my local science center, and that up till the time that I have to submit my application, my only awards/honors are having published an article in a small science journal and the state/regional awards I mentioned in speech and debate, mock trial, piano, and math. Knowing my mediocre grades, let's say I write one essay about being an agnostic Pakistani Democrat in Tennessee and write my other one about how I used laziness as a "drug" that I indulged myself into until I realized what it had done to me and self-studied 6 AP exams in 2.5-3.5 weeks and learned all I could about math, physics, chemistry, and biology in the summer before my junior year. Let's say that before I submit my app, I win a challenging creative math contest in my state and get very high A's in all my senior classes beofre submitting my app and after I submit my app, I send in additional information of being an Intel STS Semi-Finalist in Chemistry, getting a perfect score on the AMC 12, being a USA Physics Olympiad Semi-Finalist, a USA Biology Semi-Finalist, and a USA Chemistry Olympiad qualifier with the top score in my region. Will I be able to redeem myself through explaining my laziness in my essay, winning a major state math contest before submitting my app, and sending in additional info of being a semi-finalist in 5 major national math/science competitions to give full proof that I have altered my lazy ways and can do great stuff if I apply myself? If so, what would be my chances of getting into Princeton next spring?</p>
<p>I can tell you right now that those competition results are totally implausible.</p>
<p>I’m not asking you to comment on my chances for these competitons, because I have already put in time for them but was not able to compete in them because of the stupidity of my school principal in not allowing us to go for some random reasons. I am quite sure of each result. Please restrict any comments to my chance of getting in to Princeton with this type of application.</p>
<p>I answered this question over on your Harvard thread, but I guess you need more convincing. Colleges are academic institutions and, as such, are most interested in scholarship. With mediocre grades, you need to be realistic. See:</p>
<p>[Four</a> secrets from admissions officer’s lips: What really matters to them | USA TODAY College](<a href=“USA Today Educate - Teacher & Student Resources & Guides”>USA Today Educate - Teacher & Student Resources & Guides)</p>
<p>“Admissions officers agree, grades matter in pre-college classes. It was ranked the absolute most important factor in admissions decisions with 79.9% of officers saying it was given considerable weight.”</p>
<p>[Admission</a> Decisions: What Counts](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/decisions]Admission”>What Counts in Admission Decisions – Counselors | College Board)</p>
<p>A college’s statistics should never be taken as rules for admission, though.
Students should know that many factors influence admission decisions, including:</p>
<p>Courses taken
Grades received
Class rank
Standardized test scores
Personal statements and essays
Recommendations
Extracurricular activities
Interviews</p>
<p>Just curious for upcoming children. Do ivies take into account the rigor of one school over another? For instance, A- to B+ in a few classes at extremely rigorous private school (all classes taught at honors or AP level) versus all A’s at less rigorous?</p>
<p>All colleges take rigor into account, but they compare student-to-student rigor, not one school vs. another. The Common Application’s Secondary School Report asks guidance counselors to rate the rigor of each student’s program. See page 2: <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012SchoolReport_download.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012SchoolReport_download.pdf</a></p>
<p>In comparison with other college preparatory students at your school, the applicant’s course selection is: a) most demanding, b) very demanding, c) demanding, d) average, e) below average.</p>
<p>In addition the GC is asked to: Please provide comments that will help us differentiate this student from others.</p>
<p>Yes, getting all of those achievements will make you an extremely strong competitor, but for a good reason. It is near impossible to get perfect SAT/ACT/SAT2/AP scores, qualify for USAMO/USAPHO/USABO/USACHO, get Intel Semi-finalist, win a state math contest, and get perfect grades. Please do not use “let’s say that” because it is extremely improbable you will achieve them all. Try setting your goals a bit lower.</p>
<p>PLEASE DISREGARD THIS THREAD NOW AND POST ANY FURTHER COMMENTS IN MY NEW “Chance Me” THREAD.</p>