<p>Hey guys, I was wondering about my chances at Princeton ED...</p>
<p>South Asian Male </p>
<p>GPA: 94
SAT: 2300 (770CR 790M 740W (12 essay))
APs: Bio-5, US-5, Micro-5, Macro- 5
SAT II: Bio- 760 US- 790 Math IIC- 720
School: Rated one of the top public schools in the country and doesn't rank</p>
<p>EC:
-Debate Team (9-12)- Novice Director (11), Captain (12)
-Newspaper Writer (10-12) and Opinions Editor (12)
-A club run by the social studies department at my school which picks the top 20 social studies students in the grade and lets them participate in this seminar about government and eventually we take a trip to DC
-A club that hosts fundraisers to stop child labor (9-12)
-Played league baseball in 9th and 10th grade</p>
<p>Awards:
-Numerous Debate awards from national tournaments (Also ranked in top 10 in the Northeast and top 30 in the nation)
-International Science and Engineering Fair regional finalist
-NMS Semifinalist
-AP Scholar with honor
-Member of the 10 person national debate team</p>
<p>Volunteer/Work Experience:
-Volunteered over 100hrs in Central Park
-Volunteered 20 hours in local library
-Summer Internship at Research Lab at Columbia University
-Summer Internship at the Roosevelt Institution (student run think tank)
-Year long internship at a law firm that exclusively does pro bono work for underpriveleged people
-Attended a pretty selective/prestigious debate camp summer after sophmore year</p>
<p>Other Info
-Hardest Courseload blah blah
-one rec is reallly good the other is decent
-similarly one essay is really good the other is decent</p>
<p>All your stuff looks great. Then I get to your last two lines:</p>
<p>"-one rec is reallly good the other is decent
-similarly one essay is really good the other is decent"</p>
<p>Why would you ask someone to recommend you who isn't going to give you a really good recommendation? And why would you submit an essay if you knew it was only 'decent'?</p>
<p>If your comments in these two lines are true, just forget it--you will have no chance. At least 75% of the people applying to Princeton ED will have very good essays and excellent recommendations. Yours will go in the "rejected" pile.</p>
<p>Well 1st you can't know what sort of rec you'll get before you ask for one.... the teacher really likes me and he wrote good things, he just happens to write really bland recs which I wasn't aware of till he showed me after he sent it in. And for why I submitted a decent essay, I say its decent because its an honest evaluation of the essay, it wasn't bad or anything just not the most brilliant thing ever ever. I answered the question in an honest way it just wasnt jaw dropping great. </p>
<p>Look, I was being really tough on you--I'll admit it. But my point wasn't to ruin your morale--it was to toughen you up to the type of competition you are facing in an effort to get into Princeton. The people applying there are really cutthroat in their efforts--so you need to be the same.</p>
<p>Take your "decent" essay and have someone who you trust proofread it and make comments for improvement. Then re-write it and have this person and one other person proofread it and make comments also.</p>
<p>As far as the recommendation. If you know someone who doesn't write such "bland" recommendation, ask them to write one for you instead. Or offer to help the original recommender write the recommendation--or ask if you can read it before they send it in--then ask them if you can suggest some minor improvements (do this in a nice way, obviously). </p>
<p>You have to be proactive in all this to make sure you put your best face forward. That's all I'm really trying to say here.</p>