<p>I'm an 18 year old girl from Norway, who's applying to Princeton.
For some strange reason I woke up one day with the conviction that Princeton is the college for me, even though it's about 4 times as expensive as a Norwegian education and to be honest I really do not know the first thing about the place (besides what their web site, leaflets, viewbook and article in CIS AUC magazine say).
I still decided to apply, though, and now that the apps are out of the way I'm stuck wondering whether I really do have a chance at all... Being a Norwegian, I don't feel familiar with the American application process, and I really do not know how where I stand as compared to other people, so if any of you could be bothered to take a look at my stats and tell me what you think, I would really appreciate it ;)</p>
<p>Even though your SATs and SATIIs are good, and your class rank is excellent, it is unlikely you'll get into Princeton. The median (50th percentile) SAT M+V at Princeton last year was 1465 with 25% of the class scoring over 1560. The number of applicants who were #1 or #2 in their class numbered in the hundreds. In short, most of the kids who applied had SATs better than yours and many of them had class ranks and grades as good as yours, or better, and only 10% or so were accepted. Those towards the bottom end of the acceptance pool generally had some sort of hook - athletics, minority status, legacy status, big parental donation. Now, being from Norway is a bit of a hook, and it may help, but given everything else, I'd say your chances were slim.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don't see it. Int'l from a country not in demand, below average scores, nothing unusual and as the last poster said, grades shared by myriad applicants.</p>
<p>Oki, I sorta figured, but i just wanted to hear other people's opinion, so thanks for offering it ;)
I guess my parents will be happy at least, they are not too supportive of me moving across the globe to pay a fortune to go to Princeton. My backup plan is studying international law in Norway, which I know I will easily get into, and besides I really want to do that too so I guess it's not the biggest deal :)</p>
<p>Btw, according to the Princeton stats on the SAT score reports, my SAT scores were within the middle 50% of the people accepted last year...? It said 680-770 for crit. read and 690-790 for maths, but I guess you are right that my scores are mediocre :( I would have retaken, but SATs are not offered that often here in Norway.</p>
<p>Anyways thanks to both of you for the insights!</p>
<p>Don't listen to these people...
if you really like the school, apply!!
I have seen people with lower scores than you, get in.
If you wrote strong essays and can convey a good story about your passion and EC's, I can't see why you don't have a shot..</p>
<p>and what do you have to lose? only 60 bucks for the app fee at most...
what if you get in?</p>
<p>Aw thanks, Deference, that really cheered me up for some reason! (I'll pay you back when I grow up and speak Italian and have my own mafia!)</p>
<p>Lol, I have worse mood swings than the 5 year-olds I teach for EC, from the depest abyss of "I'll never in a million years get in" misery to "what the hell I'll give it a try, and so what if it doesn't work out, my parents are paying the application fee, not me" in less than 2 min ;)</p>
<p>Astrid, the way it works at the very top US schools is like this: 50% of the class is filled with "special" candidates, athletes, urms, the rich and famous and legacies. We call these hooked candidates. Most hooked candidates will have lower stats and they basically make up the bottom 50%. For the unhooked, being in the 75% and above makes you a real candidate. Of course at HYP being in the 99% .......</p>
<p>Anyway, who knows, some people just get lucky.</p>
<p>You understand that I'm not being mean. Just realistic. I have better SATs than you (2210), comparable SATIIs, I'm an IB diploma candidate with excellent grades and high expectations of 6s and 7s on my exams, I'm an artist, I was recognized as one of the best writers in my state, I've got a mess of good ECs, I was sent unsolicited applications from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale...and yet I applied to none of those schools because I understood that my qualifications, as good as they are, weren't good enough considering the competition. Instead, I applied early decision to the University of Pennsylania, an Ivy League school that is a bit less difficult to get into than Harvard, Princeton, and Yale (and, by the way, had the program I wanted). Even so, it was a reach for me - I had maybe a 1 in 5 chance. And in the end, I was rejected. Of course, I applied to a bunch of other good schools and expect to get into most of them. The moral of my little story, if there is one, is be realistic about your chances. I understood that my chances for getting into UPenn were low, given my qualifications. You can apply to Princeton, but understand that it is highly unlikely you'll get in.</p>
<p>Yea I know, amptron2x, and I do understand what you mean, but my applying to American colleges/unis in the first place is sort of "just for the heck of it", so I just decided to do it despite the grim outlooks :) With divine intervention or a strategically placed lightening bolt I might perhaps have a 1 in 15 chance ;)</p>
<p>hey!! so you finally decided to come to this website;)? remember me from the other forum?:D anyway, i think your hook is that you're from Norway, and that not many people apply there. hello, diversity! so what if you dont get in? at least u tried=) come april we can celebrate/commiserate together. (more likely commiserate...) good luck with your IB (mwhahaha im freed from it already) and applications!!</p>
<p>just noticed ur ee topic: "Dancing Marionette or Master Puppeteer? Alfred Rosenberg's Influende as a Nazi Ideologist"...sounds interesting:D you've got me with the title hehe.</p>
<p>although it seems there's a slim chance you'll get in, despite you excellent grades, you should still apply. you coming from Norway is a hook... i think.</p>
<p>Whoa, jay01, what do you say we get web cameras and come April we can have an online comfort eating session together :P
Anyways, I'm glad I applied. Now it is of coure too late to do anything about my app anyways so all I can do is wait for the answer and in the meantime focus on getting an excellent IB diploma!</p>
<p>Btw, I talked to Sarah, who wrote me the optional reference and she told me some stuff she wrote, and I was really touched that she would say those things about me! She like mentioned this really nice anecdote about how I taught the kids sign language, and then she said she thought I would be one of the future leaders of the world. So when she told me that's what she'd written, I was like, oh thanks that's really nice of you, she was like, well I mean it, and i am really impressed by you and all this stuff. <em>sigh</em> Tender moment ;)</p>
<p>Edit: oh and thanks to all of you for lending your advice, I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>hahaha wow...i wish my teachers wrote nice touching letters...haha..i think my history teacher, who is also my counsellor, said that my "passion" is "history..." how biased!</p>
<p>LOL jay01...I have a passion for Physics and History, AP Physics which I took online as a course (so no rec!) and history which I just read up by myself (so no rec again), kinda takes the sheen off my app and my talk about my passion for the subjects.</p>