Help a high school sophomore get on the right track

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>I feel like I'm wasting my high school life. My family has been pressuring me to get into a good college and I feel that Princeton would be my ideal college considering my interests.</p>

<p>I'm a first generation Chinese male, if that matters at all. </p>

<p>I'm only in 3 honors classes (AP Euro, Chem, Algebra 2/Trig) , but I'm maintaining a 3.8 with relative ease in my classes.</p>

<p>My current classes are:
Algebra 2/Trig
Honors Chem
AP Euro
Spanish III
English 10</p>

<p>This summer, I'm enrolling in a pre-calc class so my projected schedule for next year is:
AP Bio
AP Chem
AP Physics
AP Calculus AB
AP US History
AP English
AP Psychology
Science Research</p>

<p>Science research is a class preparing you to compete in the Westinghouse and Intel Science competitions by the way.</p>

<p>It seems like a tall order, but I thrive on 4 hours of sleep and a cup of tea. </p>

<p>I also plan on doing tennis this year and both cross country and tennis next year. </p>

<p>I'm part of my school's Outdoorsman Club and Ping-Pong club. </p>

<p>I haven't taken any SAT's yet, but I do have a SAT prep book that I used for prep over the summer and got an average of 2150 on all the practice tests which can surely be improved to at least a 2300. </p>

<p>I'm also doing some volunteer work at a hospital and a soup kitchen, I have clocked 60 hours overall so far with a targeted 800 hours by the end of senior year. I am also heading to Taiwan next summer to teach rural children there English and to be a teacher's assistant. </p>

<p>What do you think I can change up/improve on as to up my chances to getting into Princeton? Honestly, if I don't get into Princeton, I'll go home and commit seppuku or something, lol, jk. I wouldn't be that extreme, but I'll probably be very disappointed and not eat for a few days, but I digress.</p>

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<p>I find it tough to believe that after 51 views, nobody has any input on this…</p>

<p>Please help! :(</p>

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<p>You seem to be on the right track. Keep up grades and get a high SAT score. After that, it’s a shot in the dark. My advice would be keep your mind set on Princeton, but pick a few places that you like.</p>

<p>Also, don’t mold your application around what Princeton “wants”, mold it around yourself in a redeeming way. Write something that no one else could; be unique.</p>

<p>Just relax, keep up the good work, and when it comes time to apply, apply at a lot of places and don’t fall in love with just one. I know it seems hard to want to go anywhere else, I have been there. With time, you will like more than one college. I am a senior, I have applied to many places. I will be crushed if I do not get in to Princeton, but the acceptance rate is quite low. I do not expect to get in, even as a legacy.</p>

<p>Your GPA is good, just keep it high. Make sure to keep good relations with teachers and counselors for recommendations later. And make sure to have at least one president/leader position. Besides that, be yourself. The rest is luck. </p>

<p>You are doing very well so far, you are on the right track.</p>

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<p>Thanks, do you think if I got a “mentor” in Princeton for my Science Research class, would that help my odds, especially if I worked hard under him?</p>

<p>A mentor for Science Research is essentially a scientist you work with/consult when working on your Intel Science/Westinghouse competition entry.</p>

<p>Also, it might be worth mentioning that freshman year wasn’t a very good year for me, grades and attendance wise due to some outside issues I was dealing with, but that shouldn’t matter too much, as I heard Princeton doesn’t look at Freshman year, correct? That’s what I’ve been hearing around this forum.</p>

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<p>Getting this locked, I am reposting in the “What are your chances” forum, since that forum gets more traffic and more traffic means more advice, which is something I am in dire need of.</p>

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<p>avoid being too stereotypical, but you seem to be on the right track. work hard</p>