I heard Princeton is a good school...

<p>...but is it good enough for me?</p>

<p>Haha JUST KIDDING (please don't flame me)!</p>

<p>I'm a junior right now at a very competitive public school. So far I'm thinking about applying next year as an environmental studies major.</p>

<p>[Academics]
GPA: 3.96
WGPA: 4.75
No rank
Courseload: 5 college prep courses, 9 honors, 8 AP, 2 at Princeton University, 1 independent study on environmental studies; skipped 2 years of math, 1 year of programming, 1 year of chemistry, and 1 year of music theory; exhausted all bio courses at my school, so I'm taking 200-level classes with Princeton students next year --> hardest courseload in my grade</p>

<p>[Test scores]
SAT M: 800
SAT CR: 720
SAT W: 720
SAT II Bio: 800
SAT II Chem: 800
SAT II Math 2: 800
AP's sophomore year: Computer Science A 5; self-studied Biology 5 and Environmental Science 4
AP's junior year: Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Language; self-studying Human Geography, Psychology, Statistics</p>

<p>[Primary extracurriculars and TERMINAL officer positions]
Environmental Club - President (and founder)
Debate League - President
Tutoring Society - President
Amnesty International - Vice President
Model United Nations - Vice President</p>

<p>[Secondary extracurriculars]
French National Honor Society
Science Club
Soccer</p>

<p>[Recognitions]
USA Biology Olympiad semifinalist (top 500 in the nation)
NJ Science League qualification and certificates
NJ Governor's School on the Environment nominee, finalist, then the program was canceled
AIME qualifier (115 AMC 12)
Shore Bowl quarterfinalist and team captain
NJ Scholars Program (humanities focus) nominee, finalist, scholar
Princeton University Moot Court Tournament seventh place team/quarterfinalist
Colonial Valley Conference fourth place team
Varsity Policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate teams
JPMorgan Chase Lincoln-Douglas Tournament Award
AP Scholar last year, hopefully National AP Scholar this year
...And some other small stuff</p>

<p>[Summer activities]
2003 - travel in Europe and Asia
2004 - skipped 2 courses
2005 - skipped 1 course, worked as a tutor
2006 - NJ Scholars Program, Environmental Management course through Harvard SSP, JSA symposium on leadership and politics, maybe getting a job and/or a course or two at the local CC if possible</p>

<p>I've explored the fields of biology and public policy throughout high school, and they overlap nicely in the field of environmental studies, which I plan to major in in college.</p>

<p>What do you guys think of my chances? Thanks in advance for any comments. :)</p>

<p>damn impressive-start writing the essays!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Your in....plus your in-state!</p>

<p>Nothing's guaranteed. Good luck!</p>

<p>yeah that's true. you might want to look at the stats of beenpro123. Although i think he's fictional, it seems that they do reject top people.</p>

<p>I dont understand why people feel the need to post "chances" threads on the non-chances boards.</p>

<p>Dude, there's an entire board devoted to "chances" threads.</p>

<p>And it's pretty silly to think 17 year olds can tell you whether you will be accepted or not.</p>

<p>Let's say I had a black box that could tell you your exact probability of admission (for example, say it was 58.395% for you). If you are ultimately accepted or rejected, you will say that the black box is goofy. You don't really want chances, you want a guarantee which no one can give you. So I think your chances are good but if you are not accepted you will resent anyone's favorable chance statement now. Likewise, if you are accepted in spite of someone's low probability assessment, you will also be annoyed by that person. So, good luck. Assign yourself a probability (at least to the 4th or 5th decimal point) if it think it helps you. You have worked hard in HS and will have a bright future.</p>

<p>how about you stop posting your stats on all the forums and enjoy high school :)</p>

<p>insecure101 - I think being from NJ actually hurts me... though they accepted like 8 people from my school this year (most were ED, though :)</p>

<p>frenchie06 - I'm on break. I already drove around for five hours, withdrew money from the bank, spent all my money, went to the mall, and went to Barnes and Noble. Now I'm off to Coldstone. :)</p>

<p>My son had similar SAT and SATII as yours, and less ECs. He got in HPY and Williams. You have no probem at all.</p>

<p>Eh, hard to say that. My friend was 1st in his class with even stronger credentials...but was waitlisted at HPY.</p>

<p>If Princeton's your top choice, apply ED. The 26.8% rate is deceptively high for non-legacy, non-atheletes, but you still have a far better shot than RD.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The 26.8% rate is deceptively high for non-legacy, non-atheletes, but you still have a far better shot than RD.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, the high ED acceptance rates are not at all deceptive in terms of non-hooked applicants, especially as compared to Princeton's peer competitors.</p>

<p>From Avery:</a></p>

<p>With 1600 SAT score:</p>

<p>Princeton Early: 97.9%
Princeton Regular: 61.0%
Harvard Early: 61.4%
Yale Early (ED): 81.3%
Stanford Early (ED): 89.2%</p>

<p>But perhaps more instructively, with a 1500 SAT score.</p>

<p>Princeton Early: 86.4% (!)
Princeton Regular: 25.5%
Harvard Early: 29.4%
Yale Early (ED): 41.9%
Stanford Early (ED): 61.9%</p>

<p>The difference is still apparent with a 1400 SAT score.</p>

<p>Princeton Early: 50.7% (!)
Princeton Regular: 5.5%
Harvard Early: 5%
Yale Early (ED): 17.5%
Stanford Early (ED): 26.5%</p>

<p>The Princeton ED advantage is real, and most likely due to the fact that (for whatever reason), high school students prefer</a> HYS to Princeton.</p>

<p>Now these figures are of course slightly dated, so no doubt today the same statistics would show a lesser chance. Yet probably not so much smaller, and the general idea remains: if you want to go to Princeton, apply early, and if you do you'll have a (comparably) fantastic shot.</p>