Does my gpa screw me over?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>1520/2280 SAT I
SAT I CR: 800
SAT I M: 720 (ugh, but I'm not retaking it. I'm done with SATs)
SAT I WR: 760, 12 essay
770 chem
770 math II
710 USH
5s on calc AB, chem, eng lit
4s on spanish, apush
AP scholar w/ ditinction
PSAT Commended (with a 221, stupid MA)</p>

<p>gpa: 3.35 unweighted, I'm not sure how to weight grades, but of the classes I've taken in the last 3 years, only a few have been non-AP. I have a strong upward trend, B/B+ to a B+ and an A- this year (freshman year grades are pass fail, but Princeton doesn't look at them anyways)</p>

<p>I'm not lazy, I just go to a small (35 person class) grade deflating private school. since the class is so small, class rank won't help all that much either, but I'm probably near the top, at least the top 10.</p>

<p>scientific research is probably my hook, I've done it all 4 years and I'm doing the Intel STS. I got a very strong supplemental recommendation from my lab coodinator as well.</p>

<p>last year, 3 people got into Princeton from my school, but in the 20 or so years before that, only 1 or 2 had gotten in. Last year's class was probably the strongest class in the school's history.</p>

<p>my worry is that Princeton can get plenty of white jews like me from NE that have crazy gpas and also did lots scientific research, so I think it's unlikely that I'll get in.</p>

<p>I'm finishing up my ED application this weekend, so what are my chances ED?</p>

2

<p>Tough to say. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>all the top schools say that the transcript is the most important document in the application...your gpa is going to hurt you very much...</p>

4

<p>scores are near 75percentile range, so it is a plus.</p>

<p>but i agree with Def. gpa will be very harmful to the strength of your candidacy. and you are right, a lot of people do research AND maintain insanely high grades. but hey, its worth a shot. if you've already prepared your app, might as well send it in and hope for the best.</p>

5

<p>scientific research hasn't hurt my grades, it's just that my school is very rigorous and gives very few straight As and no A+s at all. They don't exist at my school. Would that change the way I should calculate my gpa because I just plugged my grades into a online gpa thing, this isn't from a transcript.</p>

6

<p>Princeton (and all schools, for that matter) try to understand your grades in the context of your school. As all of us are well aware, an A from one teacher certainly is not "worth" as much as an A from another teacher within the same school, let alone from a teacher in a different school. AdCom will look at your school's profile--grade distribution, etc.--and decide where you stand within that profile, whether you have taken full advantage of the resources offered to you, etc. To reiterate, what's important are not the grades you earn per se, but your grades in the context of everything else. Good luck!</p>