<p>Hey everyone, I am going to be a senior this year. I am in love with Princeton, it is truly my dream school and it is somewhere I really could imagine myself going. </p>
<p>My one problem is my SAT scores. I only had a 1410 (Reading and Math) and a total of 2120. I would say the rest of my application fits the standards for Princeton. </p>
<p>I am retaking the SAT's in October and my goal is a 2250. I am looking at the worst case scenario, which is I don't improve.</p>
<p>Is there any point of applying if I remain at a 2120? Will my SAT score ruin my chances? I don't know if this matters, but I am white and my family's income is $90,000. Thanks</p>
<p>An SAT of 2120 is slightly above the 25th percentile for those that get admitted to Princeton. That means you have a better score than over 25% of the students that get accepted. It may not be an ideal test score, but you are still in the running for being accepted, so you should still apply. </p>
<p>It’s great that you are retaking the SAT, since a higher score can only increase your chances. I myself took the SAT 3 times. The first time I scored a 2120 like you. The second time I scored a 2180, and the third time a 2260. Just about everyone experiences an increase in their score, so don’t stress out too much about it.</p>
<p>Have you thought about maybe taking the ACT? Some people do a lot better on that as opposed to the SAT. I took it once and got a 34, which is much better than the first score that I got on the SAT. Regardless, I’m sure you’ll do fine, and good luck!</p>
<p>It’s definitely worth at least an application. If you really want to go, apply. Your scores might not be what gets you in, but it’s only one part of your application. To put it another way, your score wouldn’t keep you out, so apply!</p>
<p>While SAT128 is correct, you can bet those 25% of students at the bottom had some sort of “hook” that got them in (i.e. legacy, athlete, outstanding musician, etc.). If you’re talking about your average applicant, you had better be above the 50th percentile. Take the SAT again and don’t put Princeton on a pedestal. Even a 2400 SAT, 4.0 GPA, and 5s on a dozen APs do not guarantee you acceptance. Even with those stats, you would need significant EC’s and show a passion for something.</p>
<p>If you think that bringing your SATs up will ensure that you get in, think again. Princeton is looking to build a class. So it would be pointless to admit anyone above a certain score. You have to be in the right place at the right time. What I mean is that you have to be the outstanding cellist when they are looking for a cellist in the orchestra. You have to be the actor when they’re looking for people to fill the theater roles. You see? The higher you put Princeton in your dreams, the harder it’s going to hit the floor.</p>
<p>OP, listen to me. I’m a sophomore at Princeton. Just apply and do the best you can. THe absolute worst thing that can happen is that you get rejected. So what? You’re out 75 bucks, and you gained experience making an application and dealing with rejection. Both of these are valuable life skills.</p>
<p>Do your best, and then hope for the best. That’s all you need to worry about.</p>
<p>Yes, definitely apply. A score of 2120 is fine (actually, it’s the same as mine as of right now). Yes, it isn’t great, and it would be awesome if you can improve it. The fact is, though, that it is good enough.</p>
<p>I feel that there is this vibe on CC that WAY overemphasizes the SAT. In my college search, I have talked to several college admissions officers, and nearly all of them say that the SAT is not a massively significant portion of the application. It is definitely a portion, but things such as your transcript, EC’s, and essays are infinitely more important. They show who you are, what you are interested in, and how much you thrived in the environment you were in – which is ultimately what colleges care about. The SAT score is just a number, from a test taken on one day. Colleges are much more interested in things such as a transcript, which shows your success over time, than a single SAT score from a time you may have had a bad testing day.</p>
<p>I disagree with ptontiger16. I feel another flaw on the CC community is to much overemphasize hooks. For example, I have seen comments along the line of, “You don’t have a great application, but you are an URM, so you will definitely get in.” This is simply false. Hooks count for very little; from what I’ve heard from admissions officers, they serve really nothing more than a tie-breaker amongst equally qualified applicants. </p>
<p>So, my final word. If you have good grades, hard classes, awesome EC’s, and write good essays, your SAT score won’t bring you down too much. Just realize that, in the end, colleges are looking for fit – and fit is a criteria that no SAT score can fully encompass. Please, apply.</p>
<p>@Adodie, URM may not count for much, but I listed some specific hooks that make all the difference. For instance, coaches submit a ranked list of recruited athletes that they want to admissions. Then, the adcom looks at the athletes and determine if their scores are up to par - their scores just have to be competitive, they don’t have to be as high as your normal student’s - and then decide whether to admit them. This process is true of any D1 school. Thus, if you don’t have something like this going for you, a score in the bottom 25th percentile puts you at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Being a recruited athlete is a hook, no question, but I’d be willing to bet that the vast minority of students in the bottom 25th percentile who go to Princeton, or any Ivy League, for that matter, are recruited athletes or musicians, simply because there are so few who actually are good enough to be recruited. While some in the bottom 25th percentile may have hooks like that, I expect the majority of those students are applicants who show amazing dedication and focus to their extracurricular activities and have good essays.</p>
<p>Adodie, if you think URMs get only a tie-breaking advantage, I refer you to the official decision threads at HYPS. It is crystal clear from those threads that your premise is not supported by the evidence.</p>
<p>Princeton has 19 varsity men’s teams and 17 varsity women’s teams. Some of those are big, reputable teams, such as football, basketball, lacrosse, and track and field. Each year, each of those teams has new recruits - the exact number, I don’t know. They can’t just all have walk-ons because Princeton is a D1 school that is pretty good in its athletic department. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that the majority athletes are in the bottom 25th percentile, but just pointing out that there must be many, not just a “few” recruited athletes in each class. But I believe that amazing dedication and great essays don’t make up for lacking grades/scores. An Ivy League school simply won’t admit you if they think you can’t handle the work. And the best indicators of that are your grades and your scores.</p>
<p>Running10, do yourself a favor and ignore the discussion on what hooks and just apply. If your concern is whether or not you should apply, the answer is YES, and that’s all you need to know.</p>
<p>The answer to this question relies on several variables:</p>
<ul>
<li>How qualified you are in the eyes of the admissions officer</li>
<li>How much is your time of filling out an application worth</li>
<li>How much is the application fee worth to YOU</li>
<li>The probability of you being accepting and how being accepted or denied
will affect you</li>
</ul>
<p>That being being said: you should post more info about yourself ( Gpa, ec’s etcetera)
with more info, us at CC will be able more accurately determine whether or not it is “worth” applying
or not. Hey, you could have done the first brain transplant on a freakin’ hippopotamus but if all you give us is your SAT score then what are we supposed to tell you?</p>
<p>Anyway, care to chance a fellow back? I’m on the front page with a post entitled “Chance.”</p>
<p>@ptontiger16, I don’t believe good EC’s or great essays make up for lacking grades, either, and I apologize if that is what I seem to convey. I just, personally, believe colleges put more weight on grades than standardized test, and I also don’t consider 2120 as a lacking score, since it is within the 25-75th percentile. I remember having a conversation earlier this summer with a Yale admissions officer: he said any score within the 25-75th percentile is good enough and shows a strong enough academic quality in an applicant.</p>
<p>To OP: From every source I have ever seen, the most important part of a college application is a transcript. If you are taking the most rigorous curriculum at your school and are exceeding in it, you have proven yourself academically. I stand by my claim that the transcript is more important than any standardized test, and so it is incredibly difficult to tell your chances without any indication of class rank, course rigor, and grades. What I can tell you is to not overemphasize standardized tests: If your scores were below 2000, I believe that would be a major cause for concern, but I think you are fine with where they sit right now. </p>
<p>Once again, please, please, please do yourself a favor and apply. There is no harm done, and you by no means have no chance of being admitted. It is a reach school, like it is for everybody</p>
<p>Just wanted to add to this whole “hook” conversation…</p>
<p>Hook isn’t just about athletics. It’s also about the background. A lot get into HYPS with legacy. I’ve heard more than enough stories about morons in HYPS who got in only b/c the legacy. Of course, not everyone coming with legacy are morons and unqualified, but legacy counts a lot.</p>
<p>Also regarding background is the ethnicity, income status and the life story of the applicant. It is well evidenced that African Americans, Hispanics, and most of all, native Americans get awesome boosts in admissions. If you come from a low income bracket and are a first generation college student, that yet again works as a boost.</p>
<p>I’ll stop here since I need to go somewhere. But keep in mind the bottom 25% got away with their low scores because they had something else special. What you should look at is the average SAT scores.</p>
<p>*And SAT does count and help. Especially if you have a high score, it can be an eye candy.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add to this whole “hook” conversation…</p>
<p>Hook isn’t just about athletics. It’s also about the background. A lot get into HYPS with legacy. I’ve heard more than enough stories about morons in HYPS who got in only b/c the legacy. Of course, not everyone coming with legacy are morons and unqualified, but legacy counts a lot.</p>
<p>Also regarding background is the ethnicity, income status and the life story of the applicant. It is well evidenced that African Americans, Hispanics, and most of all, native Americans get awesome boosts in admissions. If you come from a low income bracket and are a first generation college student, that yet again works as a boost.</p>
<p>I’ll stop here since I need to go somewhere. But keep in mind the bottom 25% got away with their low scores because they had something else special. What you should look at is the average SAT scores.</p>
<p>*And SAT does count and help. Especially if you have a high score, it can be an eye candy.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the posts and responses. I definitely can see that I am in the 25th percentile and a lot of the people below me have a hook or something really special. But I will apply and give it a shot. Like several people said, the worst thing that happens is I get denied. In the future, I think I would regret not applying. Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>Great! As a final note, from what I can tell, SAT scores have nothing to do with academic success at Princeton, except perhaps for Math and Physics. The only factor that is really matters is grit in almost every case.</p>