concerned about chances...

Colleges & Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>im just going into junior year of high school in the fall, but i moved to my school after school started in freshman year. in my freshman year, my grades weren't that hot, and i did end up getting C's for one class..how badly is that going to affect my chances of getting in? what else do i need to do to make up for that? </p>

<p>in sophomore year, i raised my grades substantially, from one B, one B+ and the rest being A's..</p>

<p>im really worried, because princeton is basically my dream school, and i don't want the two C's that i got for both semesters for that one class to totally shoot my chances down...</p>

<p>help!</p>

2

<p>There’s really no way to know for sure, but the only thing you can do is make sure that from now on you work really hard in your classes and work hard to reach your potential in school. Just try your hardest, and maybe if you’re able to go from being a C student to an A/A+ student, Princeton will be impressed. Use your summers to find something to do that you’re passionate about, that’s unique and impressive, to try to make up for your freshman grades. Hope is never lost, but the college admissions process is tough these days. Take a look at some other schools so you have other options you know you’ll be happy at, and that’ll help relieve your stress. good luck, and remember, hope is never lost!</p>

3

<p>thanks for that reply:)</p>

<p>yeah it’s a little scary with the college admissions process becoming harder and harder to pass these days…im actually looking into the medical field - do you know which colleges rank best in undergrad med programs?</p>

4

<p>I think Princeton doesn’t consider freshmen grades, but I could be wrong. I’m in the same boat, going to be a junior, have meh grades, and REALLY REALLY want to go Princeton.</p>

5

<p>i really hope so, because my freshmen grades suck.</p>

<p>haha wow really?</p>

<p>i’ve really brought my grades up (or so i think) from my freshman grades.
and i guess i kind of have the leadership skills.
(i mean, not trying to be arrogant.)</p>

<p>what do you want to major in?</p>

6

<p>what are my chances?</p>

<p>College Class Year: 2015
High School: Private</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA - Weighted: 3.03
Class Size: 200</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT I Math: 710
SAT I Critical Reading: 510
SAT I Writing: 640
SAT II World History: 510
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 730</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Significant Extracurriculars: school magazine, service on saturday program, table tennis school team, piano- played since second grade</p>

<p>Leadership positions: Asst editor of school magazine</p>

<p>Athletic Status - list sport and your level: Table Tennis, 2 years of “JV”, 2 years of “V”</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work: 4 years- service on saturday program, 2 years- UNICEF fundraising, 2 service trips</p>

<p>Honors and Awards: NSHSS, Honor Roll</p>

<p>College Summer programs: Columbia SHSP</p>

<p>Senior Yr Classes: AP Hum Geo, AP Stat, Senior English, Chinese Lit, Forensics Science, Human Biology/Sport Science, Creative Writing, PE, Transitions</p>

7

<p>@rossierollcake I want to major in the woodrow wilson school for public and foreign policy. I am looking at getting certificates in one or more of the following Russian/Eastern European studies, Latin American Studies, Finance, Economics, or Biology.</p>

8

<p>@cucclater</p>

<p>To be honest, I’d have to put your chances at “reach.” Unless you’ve really got something amazing that you haven’t mentioned, your GPA and scores just aren’t high enough. With acceptance rates at 8.2% last year, probably your best bet is to try the SAT again and at the least get your composite above 2000. To put this in perspective, members of my class that I talked to after getting accepted were in shock and awe about getting in, including people with upwards of 2100. I had a 2270, 4.2 GPA, 3 AP scores of 5 and 2 scores of 4, along with two bands, two-season athlete, and student government, and still considered my chances up in the air.</p>

9

<p>I believe (although I am somewhat guessing) that princeton considers Freshman grades only as much as they affect your GPA. What they REALLY care about are Junior and Senior (the ones that are ready for applications) grades. Sophomore grades matter somewhat in between Freshman and Upperclass grades. That being said, I had perfect grades Freshman year and I don’t think it could have hurt me.</p>

<p>@cucclater
Regarding your SAT: All your math are very good, but reading, writing, and History really need to come up. See if you can get 700+ for everything. From what I’ve heard (through the grapevine of admissions officers of various elite schools) SAT scores and GPA are a sort of preliminary filter. Once you’ve passed that, you’re in a pool with about 12,000 other qualified applicants and then they pick based on what/who they need - violin vs piano, dance vs soccer, baseball vs football, etc.</p>

<p>@rossierollcake
do your best to improve your GPA as much as possible and get a great SAT score. Princeton’s admissions process is remarkable thorough (which means they don’t use a dart board for final decisions) so if there’s something on your application that really makes you stand out they’ll see it. Keep your hopes up and explore other options.</p>

10

<p>After reading the comments already posted, I would say pretty much the same thing. There is really no way to know what your chances are.</p>

<p>Getting into the Ivy League is very much a lottery, no matter what your application looks like. I feel like I am a pretty good example of this, more or less, so I’ll tell you what I had on my application to give you an idea…</p>

<p>Within the Ivy League, I applied to:
Princeton- Rejected
Brown- Rejected
Yale- Waitlisted, then Rejected
Harvard- Waitlisted, then Rejected</p>

<p>I graduated as Valedictorian of my class of 211 people.
Since GPA scales vary from school to school, mine won’t make sense, so I’ll just say I had high A’s in all of my classes, most of which were APs or honors. (The only ones that were not were classes my school did not offer APs in and my electives.)</p>

<p>SAT:
Reading- 800
Math- 680
Writing- 740</p>

<p>SAT II:
Biology- 730
Literature- 750
World History- 720</p>

<p>AP Scores:
World History- 5
English Language- 5
European History- 4
Biology- 4
Psychology- 5
English Literature- 5
US Government- 4
Human Geography- 5</p>

<p>Top extracurriculars (I had others as well, but that list would be longer than I want to type.):
Editor-in-chief of School Newspaper (11th-12th grade)
President of National Honor Society (11-12)
Vice-President (10), then President (11) of Interact Club (service organization connected to Rotary)
Historian (10-11), then Treasurer (12) of Student Council
U.I.L. Academics Competitor (9-12) (I’m from Texas, so I don’t know if you know what this is, but in Texas it coordinates all athletic and academic competitions between schools statewide)
Youth Advisory Board Member for Southwest Texas UM ARMY (service/mission organization)</p>

<p>Achievements (Again, I could list more than this, but I don’t feel like typing it.):
-Competed at U.I.L. State Competition in Editorial Writing- (9,10,12) - 9th grade- won 3rd at state, 12th won 1st in 3A Division and “Tops in Texas” (first overall competitor out of all the schools in Texas) for Editorial Writing
-AP Scholar, Distinguished (Also National AP Scholar by the time I finished)
-Commended in National Merit Scholar Program
-Quill and Scroll Journalism Honor Society
-My high school’s Who’s Who Award- English
-Various ILPC awards for newspaper work (also a Texas thing)
-Lots of departmental annual outstanding student awards from my school</p>

<p>I didn’t have much work experience in high school, but I did a lot of community service/ volunteer work with various organizations both during the school year and in the summer, including a mission trip to the Dominican Republic that I helped plan in the summer after my Junior year.</p>

<p>Also, in each of the alumni interviews I had for those schools, the alumnus interviewing me told me that they thought I had a really good chance. One asked me to keep him updated about my application results (for Harvard) and said he was surprised when I was wait-listed.</p>

<p>I would also say my application essays were pretty good, and opinion seconded by my AP English teacher and my newspaper sponsor.</p>

<p>I don’t want to seem haughty by listing all of that, I just wanted to give you an example of someone who was rejected by the schools you are considering. I encourage you to still apply to Princeton (maybe you will be more lucky than I was in the Ivy League lottery), but make sure you find other schools you like as well. I am currently at one of my back-up schools and am happy there. (It is possible.)</p>

<p>Good luck with your applications!!!</p>

11

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much. I have recently acquainted myself with a sophomore from Princeton and with the same concerns (my first quarter grades for this [freshman] year weren’t that great; I got a few C’s because I was still trying to transition from a horrible public school to a rigorous private school) and he says that Princeton does not consider freshman grades when applying. They look at your sophomore grades, junior grades (the most prominent) and first semester senior marks. </p>

<p>Moreover, when you apply to Princeton, most high schools don’t send your quarter grades. They usually just send your semester grades. </p>

<p>So take the most rigorous courseload you can handle, try to get yourself up there in the ranks (apx. top 10% of class), and just exhaust the resources that your school provides you with. Those are the kind of people that Princeton (and any other Ivy league school for that matter) looks for. People who make the best of their opportunities readily available to them, and are promising enough to show that they will continue to do so later on in life. Stand out. Do something that will set you apart from other applicants. But most importantly make of the best of and enjoy your high school years… they only come around once… </p>

<p>Good luck and have fun!</p>

12

<p>like so many ppl have said, there’s no way to know “your chances”. however, something that i’ve always remembered is what i read in one of those ivy league application help books…“the essays are THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of your senior year”…so just keep that in mind. seriously, some ppl have got in by writing about taking a shower. or having tea.</p>