<p>I'm a black freshman applicant to Princeton. I also have a dad who's an alumnus of Princeton ('76). I've just sent in my applications but I am already beginning to doubt myself. My GPA and SAT are lackluster but my GPA is a special case. It's around 3.56 but it's only like that because I messed up big time my freshman year. I had like around a 1.75 GPA total back then because I messed around. Everything else since has been 4.0, 4.5, and like two semester's of 3.75 and 3.5. </p>
<p>My SAT sucks; only my writing's decent.</p>
<p>M-590;CR-570;W-710</p>
<p>I have a lot of EC like working in my home country of Ethiopia helping nurses test AIDS patients and providing food and clothing to the needy in a hospital. I've also played sports such as JV Football, soccer, and look forward to playing tennis.</p>
<p>The only reason I perform poorly on SAT's is because I just can't seem to concentrate. My mind is flooded with too many questions about irrelevant details, such as how they came up with these types of questions, and why it's worded a certain way and not another.</p>
<p>I mean, I'm really passionate about my work (prospective physics student). I just can't seem to perform well on standardized crap. I really think it's all garbage, and that it should be completely disregarded as a criterion for university matriculations.</p>
<p>Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that because I'm black, and given the previous considerations, do I even have a chance at Princeton? I mean, there couldn't possibly be THAT many black people applying to Princeton. Will Princeton see right past my SAT scores (in my opinion, and hopefully Princeton's, it's not even a valid assessment for college performance) and into my determination to succeed in my physics?</p>
<p>I know this all sounds like a "chance me" or a rather cheesy rant but I really just need a poster to ease my psychological distress by answering the above questions. </p>
<p>No, I highly doubt that Princeton will “see right past” SAT scores…A school which gave only offhanded consideration to SAT scores would not have such a high 50% midrange. Many of us agree with you about the absurdity of standardized testing, but the reality s that they are still an extremely important factor in college admissions, despite our protests.</p>
<p>True, there aren’t THAT many Black students applying to Princeton, but then again Princeton doesn’t accept many students either - and those accepted traditionally have much more impressive numbers than you.</p>
<p>Based strictly on the information you’ve provided, I don’t think you will be accepted or that you necessarily should be accepted. Mediocre GPA, SATs, no Varsity sports…</p>
<p>Listen - passion and determination are great attributes. But Princeton attracts thousands of determined, passionate applicants every year that simply have a much more impressive resume. </p>
<p>and i dont know why everyone thinks that sats should not be considered, in college over half of ur grade in many classes will be determined by ur exams…one of my friend’s final exam in one class alone counted for 60% of his grade…the majority of which was multiple choice questions(just like the sat except about a million times harder)</p>
<p>fact of life life: if u cant survive something as easy as the sat u can not survive college esp with a major like physics</p>
<p>I am sure Princeton accepts people who are not great test takers but are good at other things. You’ve already sent in your application, so I guess all you can do is hope.</p>
<p>Dartmouth did a study and found little to no correlation between academic performance in college and SAT scores. It’s as simple as that. The SAT does not live up to its purpose. I don’t even think it has one. I think that College Board is like any other company trying to propel its own interests, and in the process, mooching people’s money. No matter how important SAT and SAT IIs may be, no combination of scores can be more important than your academic record over four years. Yale makes this statement on its website. I’ve had Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn, and Columbia e-mails reiterate the same thing. Maybe tests are not your thing. Given that you can’t change that now, design the best package you can with what you have right now. Apply and move on. People with all kinds of scores get accepted to many high-caliber schools, but there is one common factor in all of them, except maybe Cornellians: they all have good academic records within the context of their schools.</p>
<p>Guys, come on–
he’s a black applicant who’s father was a black student at Princeton as well.</p>
<p>I don’t think saying that SATs suck is an acceptable excuse for performing so poorly on them. Although they’re crappy predictors of potential, they’re still great for testing the rapidity of one’s analytical and thinking abilities.</p>
<p>Get those scores up to at LEAST 650+. Any applicant to Princeton with sub-600 scores is simply brazen.</p>
<p>One of my roommate at Princeton is Black!! He is an amazing freshman who does very well and his Sat scores are 2380!! He is one of the smartest kid I know in campus. I will be shocked if you get in , if you are planning to take physics your math scores certainly need help. But no body knows the admission game(ivy League) please keep us posted if you indeed get in. Good Luck</p>
<p>There was a URM who got accepted to Stanford with a 1700, so it’s not 0%, but your scores really aren’t going to help you. I’d take some practice tests, until you learn to focus, and retake the test - if you aren’t signed up for the January SAT, go anyway, and see if they have extra room available.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you’re technically a URM–I read an article once that stated that students from Africa (like 1st gen. or immigrants) are not viewed by admissions committees in the same way as African Americans.</p>
<p>Also, maybe you should take more practice SATs, and then you wouldn’t have all of these thoughts about where the questions came from, etc., and you would do a lot better. You could probably do standby testing for the January SAT and still send that to Princeton. I really think you should retake–those scores are not going to help you, even as a legacy and URM.</p>
<p>It is pathetic for someone to exploit the color of their skin.
Your father was a Princeton grad; you are not at the socioeconomic disadvantage. URMs are to promote those who are at an educational disadvantage. I can’t even believe that you would write this and I can’t help but be curt with this sort of dishonest behavior.</p>
<p>yea, i agree. messing up is not an acceptable excuse. nonetheless, since you can’t go back on what happened, i’d say that you’d have a below average chance of being accepted to Princeton. many people take the point of view that all blacks have an affirmative action advantage in admissions, when this is not true. given that your father went to Princeton (and sorry if i sound biased in anyway), i assume that he’s not making any garbageman salary. that said, i don’t think Princeton would view your application in the same light as they would a black student from the Bronx, New York who is a first generation college student, and whose family is extremely poor. but i might be wrong about you though. and correct me if a am.</p>
<p>however, with all this, i think you could greatly increase your chances by having stellar extra curricular activities.</p>
<p>and i don’t think you’re being dishonest. hey, if i was in your situation, i’d like to know if my race would help me out as well. quite frankly, you asked a simple and fair question requiring a more complex answer. but good luck with your college process.</p>
<p>tennisgirl, so what if I scored 590? Someone could’ve scored less than 500 and still be the greatest mathematician of all time. It’s all about how you take the test. Maybe you like to work slowly because you value your work and want to make sure it’s absolutely accurate, instead of blazing through a test that gives you only gives you less than a minute a question? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the SAT is nowhere close to being a “good” predictor of success in college. How can it be? It’s just a “how quickly can you work” test administered on a Saturday. And sadly, quickness is all it measures. How fast you work definitely does not correlate with a grade you’ll get in college, since the course is spread over a couple of months. Sadly, the SAT given too much emphasis. I’m just disappointed that Ivies haven’t made this realization about standardized tests; I really think that they’re quite careless in determining what they think are good criteria for the matriculation process. Something should be done about this, quite frankly.</p>
<p>Most of this post is in response to the above^^^:</p>
<p>From my experience, I would say that the ACT seems more to be a “how quickly you can work” test. However, I do strongly agree that no standardized test can truly gage the academic potential of any individual. At the same time, however, it’s taking it a bit too far to say that the SAT only measures quickness: There is obviously some rough correlation between SAT scores and academic ability. Can you honestly tell me that someone with a 1200/2400 SAT score could possibly have the same potential as someone with a 2400? </p>
<p>I also think it’s unfair to say the ivies are careless in determining their criteria for admission. You and I may not agree with it, but admissions offices do not pick their policies randomly. I do agree that ideally, there could be a better system than the one currently in place, and something should be done to improve the admissions process. However, it would be highly impractical to completely renovate the current system overnight. What admissions criteria do you suggest colleges should use in places of the current standardized tests? They surely can’t purely assess applicants based off of their academic records (an A at some schools does not equal an A at others). Therefore, there does need to be something standardized in the criteria. Maybe a federal standardized aptitude test is the answer. But do you think that our inefficient bureaucracy could handle this better than the government sanctioned monopolies currently in place?</p>
<p>Oh well… This debate has been going on forever, and it is inevitable that the system will eventually change, given time. Excuse me for my ramblings: I’m bored and felt like posting for some reason. (Actually, I just finished by Caltech app and sent it in and was apparently on some sort of writing high.)</p>
<p>Cybershot, I wasn’t judging your abilities. If you read my post, I said that it would raise some questions- the admission committee, no matter what position you take on standardized tests, takes those scores into consideration and very well might raise an eyebrow at it.</p>
<p>I agree that standardized tests aren’t the best way to measure academic ability, and that’s why they don’t base their decisions on test scores alone. I also strongly dislike standardized tests, but we have to face reality. And the reality is that test scores are a part of our application, whether we like it or not. (You realize this too: “Sadly, the SAT given too much emphasis.”)</p>
<p>I believe many of you are being very cruel to CyberShot. 1MX, CyberShot has done nothing dishonest. He has simply asked a question about his chances of being admitted to Princeton. </p>
<p>Cybershot, in regards to your opinion of the SAT, I feel you are very misguided. Certainly, the SAT is not a perfect measure of aptitude, but it is definitely a reasonable one. Why? Because unlike grades, which vary tremendously from school to school, the SAT is standardized. It really is the only way for the school to compare your ability to someone else’s. </p>
<p>Also, my personal feelings are that a person with a score as low as yours would not be able to live up to the incredibly high expectations of the engineering and science departments of Princeton. Working quickly is very important, since all tests are timed and the amount of homework is significant to the point where you must manage your time very well. </p>
<p>In terms of your chances, I would not be surprised if you got in, given your legacy factor and your race.</p>