help a rising junior on the road to princeton!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>I've wanted to get into princeton ever since middle school. If i actually get accepted in 2 years....no competition with any other schools that i apply to, i'm going to princeton. that being said, I'm going to be a high school junior, and i really want to know i should do next year to maximize my chances. </p>

<p>And yes, i know my SATs suck.....they're from freshman year, when i didn't know what i was taking until i looked it up on collegeboard after i took it. That's definitly going to be step one on my road to the Ivies. </p>

<p>I'm a 15 Indian male from Illinois (rising junior, i skipped a grade). I go to a completely new school that opened my freshman year. Unlike many of my peers, I try to create opportunities that aren't availible in a regular public high school experience. </p>

<p>I can speak English, Telugu, a tiny bit of Hindi, and i'm getting closer to becoming fluent in Chinese. </p>

<p>The majors that i'm most intrested in are Astrophysics, Physics, and Mathematics. Also, I would like to minor in Chinese. </p>

<p>SAT I: 2000 combined, 620 CR, 660 W, 720 M. (Note: this SAT was from freshman year; my scores have likely skyrocketed since then. Numerous practice tests have told me i'm in the 2200-2300 range now, and i have started some SAT coaching programs as well.)</p>

<p>SAT II: Haven't taken yet, but I will take Math II and either Physics or Chemistry. </p>

<p>ACT: 32 Composite, 31 English, 35 Math, 31 Reading, 32 Science, 30 English w/ Writing (got a 9 on writing). </p>

<p>GPA: 4.5 (w), 3.79 (uw). However, i've heard that Princeton does not consider freshman year GPA..... in that case, 4.64 (w), 3.93 (uw)</p>

<p>Class Rank: My school does not provide class rank anymore, but I'm in at least the top 5% of a 650+ student body. </p>

<p>APs: Freshie year: Computer Science, 4. Human Geography, 5. </p>

<p>Sophomore year: European History, 5.</p>

<p>Junior year: Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Chemistry, Language and Composition, US History, Calculus BC. </p>

<p>Senior Year: US Government and Politics, Comparitive Government and Politics, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Literature and Composition, Biology, and probably Art History (self taught)and Psych (self taught). Also, will be taking Calculus III in conjunction with the University of Illinois....although it's not an AP, it's worth mentioning :P</p>

<p>Volunteering: Volunteered with an FEA tutoring station at my school, along with feed my starving children.....probably 40 hours or less in total. I'll probably find a way to bring that up, though. </p>

<p>ECs: </p>

<p>Math Team - Leader for 2, most probably 3 years (by end of senior year). Achievements include 2nd place at regionals freshman year, making state freshman year, leading 2 teams to 3rd at confrence sophomore year, and MANY more to come junior year. </p>

<p>Science Olympiad - Leader for 1, most probably 2 years. Main event is Astronomy, I also partake in technical problem solving and protein modeling (and whatever else my coach tells me to do). Being a new program, we have yet to achieve anything except for the 2011 Spirit award.....with me at the helm next year, hopefully that will improve. </p>

<p>Scholastic/Quiz bowl - Varsity player for 2, probably 3 years. Started off as a reserve jv player, worked my way up with tremendous studying and the like. I have attended a couple of camps for the purpose of increasing my ability at quizbowl, I have definitly improved a lot. Achievements include 2011 Turnabout Tournament All-Tournament (Answered the most tossups), won 2011 Confrence Tournament, 2011 Regionals Tournament, came 3rd at 2011 Masonic Regionals (earning us $200).</p>

<p>Tennis - JV player for 1, probably 3 years. Made the team freshman year, didn't make it sophomore year. I pretty much view tennis as a fun sport, and i'm definitly not extremely serious about it. I have gone to a lot of clinics and coaches to improve my skills, though. I possess 1 JV letter. </p>

<p>Religious Group - I am Hindu, and have helped form a group from the ground up. Since then, we've had 3 public concerts, with attendance ranging from 50-400 people. We have performed at the Chicago Telugu Association, in front of famous actors from India. At that same performance, we earned a cameo on an international television channel (TV9 in India)that was broadcasting the CTA performances. </p>

<p>Chinese - By far, my biggest EC. i'm coming closer and closer to being able to speak the language fluently. My speech and tones are both superb; my writing, while sloppy, is pretty good as well. My teacher recognized my talents early and sent me to a Chinese speech competition in freshman year....which i pulled a gold medal in, without much effort. I promptly did the same in sophomore year, and my gold medal run probably won't end. Next year, if i excel with the speech competition, I will probably earn an all-expense paid scholarship to Taiwan to study. I have also done lots of translating for Chinese ambassadors from Beijing that visited our school. I helped them learn about the American education system and culture, and in the process, i got to know about theirs.</p>

2

<p>you said same things about cal tech and cornell</p>

3

<p>Well…i mean, my stats can’t really differ from cal tech to cornell to princeton. only difference is princeton is my 1 choice, caltech is 2, cornell is more of a match.</p>

4

<p>Don’t be so sure shrey – cornell is more selective than you think, especially with your SAT scores.</p>

5

<p>i know it’s a lot more selective than i give it credit for; however, my SAT scores are from freshman year and are in no way indicitive of what my real SATs are going to turn out like.
and there ARE a lot of other variables, like essays and teacher recs, right? hopefully if those turn out right i’ll have a better shot :P</p>

6

<p>bump! how should i increase the appeal of my applicant profile?</p>

7

<p>Bump 10char</p>

8

<p>bumpppppppppppp</p>

9

<p>newsflash its a crapshoot.</p>

<p>Don’t obsess over 1 school, but broaden your horizons. Also, if you like Princeton you’ll love Harvard.</p>

10

<p>i know it’s a crapshoot, i’m asking about ways to make it LESS of a crapshoot. :P</p>

<p>princeton is probably my #1 choice, but i’m considering so many other schools (caltech, yale, harvard, cornell, northwestern, umich, uiuc)</p>

11

<p>BUMP!!! how can i make princeton less of a crapshoot?</p>

12

<p>become friends with the admissions officers?</p>

13

<p>oh noes, but i live in suburban illinois, not suburban new jersey!</p>

14

<p>High SAT would do a lot. Win an Olympiad.</p>

15

<p>compete in the olympics maybe</p>

16

<p>SATs, i think i can pull up. thugh, my ACT will probably turn out a hell of a lot higher. </p>

<p>any other ATTAINABLE things i could do to help my chances?</p>

17

<p>try to broaden your horizons a bit, cornell isnt a match and even with a high SAT and great ECs it’d still be a crapshoot
The best thing you could do is raise all your scores, i mean raise them like crazy
Try to figure out some safeties and dont rely on top 10 schools as matches
Admissions are crazy so you never know whats going to happen. I had a friend who goes to harvard now but got rejected from cornell, yale, princeton, upenn and dartmouth. It’s all too subjective to tell you exactly what to improve on. But you need to realize that they are random and can really surprise you. Raise your scores, win stuff, get internships that align with your projected major and hope for the best. Thats really all you can do.</p>

18

<p>thank you, that’s probably the best advice i’ve gotten so far.</p>

19

<p>bump!</p>

<p>would i completely be wasting my SCEA if i used it on princeton in two years…?</p>

20

<p>Come back in two years, and you’ll probably have a better idea.</p>