could somebody help me determine my chances at princeton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>My parents are clueless about college; my counselors are overworked and are mainly concerned with getting kids in my high school into public Texas universities. I spend my time in between double shifts at work sitting in Barnes & Noble pouring through college guidebooks (because, pathetic as it I can't spend money on them) and trying to figure some of this stuff out. I'm still overwhelmed though. Essentially I have nobody to help me, my parents think UT-Austin would be a good match for me but I'm already in because of Texas top 10% ruling. Both my parents went to college but my dad was the first in his family and went to some tiny private NJ college...basically NOBODY has any experience or knowledge.</p>

<p>I'm a Hispanic female from a public high school in Texas (I'm half Meixcan and half white, I don't think that matters though.)</p>

<p>TEST SCORES:
PSAT: 214 (I will probably get National Hispanic Merit Scholar and cross-my-fingers Commended??)
SAT Math: 650 (I hope to raise this to above 700 when I take it again, but I couldn't afford to do a prep course like most other kids I know)
SAT Critical Reading: 800
SAT Writing:800
--I haven't taken SAT Subject Tests but I should probably score high on Spanish and Literature. Kind of freaking out about the Math IC or IIC (haven't chosen yet) though!
AP Spanish: 4
AP Psychology: 5 (I don't know if this one matters much though)
AP English Language: 5
IB Psychology: 6 (on a scale of 7)</p>

<p>** I'm an IB Diploma candidate. I also did the Middle Years Program, which is a 5-year IB track from 6-10th grade. I KNOW colleges could absolutely care less about middle school activities but this was a 5 year program that extended into 2 years of high school, I'm not sure if I'll end up including it in my apps though.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.2 W (have no clue what it is unweighted, but I only have 3 Bs on my transcript)
Rank: 14/468 (this will hopefully go up in the next few months)
Course Load: I have taken the hardest courses possible in every aspect.
Senior Class Schedule:
AP/IB Bio II (fourth year of science)
IB World Area Studies (fourth year of history)
IB Theory of Knowledge (required for IB Diploma)
AP/IB English Literature (fourth year of English)
AP/IB Spanish V aka Spanish Lit (fifth year of Spanish)
AP/IB Calculus BC (fifth year of math)</p>

<p>ECs:
-National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (my filler ECs, I know they don't matter)
-Swimming
JV 9th, 10th
Lettered 11th
Varsity 11th, 12th
-Debate
5th-place UIL All-District Prose Interpretation 10th grade (not sure if this is anything worth mentioning or not)
-Elected VP of National Spanish Honor Society
-heavily involved in Youth Council (leadership position) and youth activities at church--about 10/15 hours a week for 52 weeks a year for the 4 years of high school
-Elected student body Vice President --requires about 10 hours of work a week
-Physics Club (I only did this junior year, becuase that's the only year I was eligible for it, but I devoted 10 hours a week to it...not sure if it's worthwhile mentioning though)</p>

<p>AWARDS:
-Academic All-District for Swimming 9th, 10th (missed it 11th because I was doing mission work in Honduras and missed the qualifying meet)
-Trustee Award 9th, 10th, 11th (awarded to top students at my high school)
-Outstanding Hispanic Leader Award (awarded to one or two students from each high school in my city's district, I think)</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
I have about 400 years of community service over the past 4 years; none of it is soup-kitchen-type work though. I have taken many trips with my church during the summers and have done everything from repairing run-down churches in New Orleans (pre-Katrina, however) to spending 8 hours a day with inner-city Nashville kids at a Boys & Girls club to re-roofing houses in 110 degree heat on the Mexican border. Last year I received a scholarship to go to Honduras and do mission work. I think I could write great essays about any of these trips (too cliche of a topic, though??).</p>

<p>WORK:
I couldn't get a job until this past summer because I'm young for my grade, but I worked 3 jobs this summer for about 40-50 hours a week.</p>

<p>During the school year I'm working 10-15 hours a week, all of this to save money for college.</p>

<p>My recommendations will be great, the teachers know me well and understand how badly I want to break the mold of settling for what's easy in my family and go to Princeton. </p>

<p>Sorry that this post is so long and obnoxious, but I am COMPLETELY IGNORANT AND CLUELESS. I don't know if setting my sights on Princeton is being unrealistic, any advice would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You look like a fairly strong candidate. Don't screw up your essay.</p>

3

<p>
[quote]
I have about 400 years of community service over the past 4 years

[/quote]
</p>

<p>lol. I think you will be near the top of the applicant pool. Will you get in? I can't say, but I would definitely apply.</p>

4

<p>So an estimated junior year sampling of your schedule would be:</p>

<p>Hardest courses available (suggests substantial homework) + swimming (10 hrs/week?) + heavily involved in youth council (10-15 hrs./week for 52 weeks for four years) + student body vice-president (10 hrs/ week) + work (10-15 hrs/ week during school year)</p>

<p>School (hrs./day) + homework, in addition to AT LEAST 40 hours of work and ec’s per week.</p>

<p>…so you go to school and do homework, and work the equivalent of a full-time job all at the same time.</p>

<p>That's pretty impressive.</p>

5

<p>haha thanks...i'm flattered. my parents are just proud of me for making As so i don't know how i hold up in terms of...everyone else applying to princeton. i only get 5 hours of sleep a night and pretty much crash for the small amount of time im not working on weekends...but i'll do anything to get into a school like princeton. </p>

<p>does anybody have any comments/advice about my being hispanic? i know there's the little box that you check...but is there any other way that i can make that stand out besides maybe writing an essay about how i'll be the first in my family to go above and beyond a state school (hopefully)? </p>

<p>does being hispanic even give you an advantage in terms of acceptance at princeton?</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
does being hispanic even give you an advantage in terms of acceptance at princeton?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Being an underrepresented minority, especially one from such a modest and challenging background, will help you immensely. Your accomplishments are truly outstanding.</p>

7

<p>ED will improve your chances. If you're good at swimming, contact the coach and if you're good enough, he may go to bat for you, which will improve your already decent chances. Since you seem to be an English person, your essays should be good--just take your time and put a lot of thought into them--there are 4 required, 1 optional. If you can't fit everything in to the 4 required, use the 5th to tell them anything else. The nice thing about Princeton is that the financial aid is top in the nation, so if you get in they will find a way to pay for you. Back to your essays--just make sure it's representative of you.</p>

8

<p>thanks to everyone for the advice.
about my essays...(this is mainly to jon1314)
You probably read about my community service, and my trip to Honduras was the most life-defining and amazing experience I could have asked for: as a human, as somebody who loves kids, as somebody who loves nature, as somebody Latina, as somebody in this world who wants to change things (sorry for sounding like a Miss America contest at this point)</p>

<p>I've read though that writing an essay about a trip like that is way overdone and cliche. I know a lot of kids at Princeton might have had the opportunity to go to countries like Honduras and do mission work, but it was a rare opportunity for me (I received a scholarship to go) and I think I could write a great essay about it. From people who go to Princeton, are applying, whatever: do you think that an essay topic like that would be seen often in the Princeton admissions office?</p>

9

<p>Even a cliche topic essay, done with an apropriate twist or flare, can come alive.</p>

10

<p>If you relate the trip to your Latin American heritage, I don't think it will be cliche at all. An important thing to consider when choosing your essay topic is which choice lets you best express your thoughts, experiences, and passions. It sounds like an essay about the Honduras trip will have a voice and flavor unique to you, so I would go for it.</p>

11

<p>I'm most impressed by the 400 years of volunteering.</p>

12

<p>haha, sorry, typo.
although my methusaleh-esque volunteering would be impressive, obviously i should have typed (silly me) 400 HOURS. thanks for pointing this out.</p>

<p>any other comments though?</p>

13

<p>bump (10 chars)</p>

14

<p>I absolutely agree with arbiter213...you write it well and with a uniqueness, it will be great. Think of it this way--there are a total of around 17,000 applicants applying to Princeton. It's going to be hard to find a topic that is absolutely totally unique, so just try to take a topic, even if it's "overused," and make it unique by writing a phenomenal essay.</p>

15

<p>is having say over 500 community service hours a rare thing- not to be rude- but ignorance on my part- so say theoretically a "normal" applicant has around 1000 hours in one activity and he shows it through one of his essays- do u think that will increase his chances?-and jon are u in princeton- u seem to have mastered the application/admission></p>

16

<p>I have to say I agree with the others -if your essays sound like your posts I think your application will at least be seriously considered.</p>

17

<p>If money is an issue, schools will give you nice scholarships for being a national hispanic scholar. Althouth im not sure about those on your list you may want to check out:
Knox College ($15,000 a year)
Birmingham-Southern College (full tuition)
University of Arizona ($20,000 a year for non residents)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (full tuition coverage plus $2,000 annually)
Boston University (half tuition)
Kenyon College ($10,000?)</p>

<p>I hope this helps. Good Luck.</p>

18

<p>Generally, the better the school, the less merit based scholarship you get. However, the better the school, the more need-based scholarship you get. So essentially an inverse proportion. So just keep that in mind.</p>

19

<p>You have a strong chance of admission and there is no reason you shouldn't apply. A note about being Hispanic and early decision--since ED pools are predominantly white and rich since there is less financial aid flexibility in ED, applying as a minority ED will give you a double boost. Minorities' marked advantage in ED is discussed in the book The Early Admissions Game. However, since Princeton has the best financial aid program in the country, you don't need to worry about the normal financial considerations of applying early.
And if you are interested in engineering--I don't know since you didn't mention it, but I do see physics club and calculus--you're golden since Princeton (and most schools for that matter) look very favorably upon female engineers. All you really have to do is spend time on your essays and make sure your SATIIs are decent. Maybe bring up your SATI Math a little especially if you apply engineering, but I don't even think that is that big a deal as an URM.</p>

20

<p>agree with all.</p>

<p>solid chances.</p>