PLEASE CHANCE ME - PRINCETON SCEA

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800 Math, 770 CR, 770 Writing, 9 Essay)
ACT: 36 Composite, 9 Essay (36 on all except 35 on Science)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 Chemistry, 770 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0, unless A-s count as 3.7, in which case, 3.985
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s in AP Chemistry, AP Spanish Language and Culture, AP Spanish Literature and Culture, AP US History, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus AB (Subscore), AP Calculus BC
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature and Composition, AP Biology, AP Statistics, Choir, Student Directed Showcase (Semester 1), Vocal Interpretation (Semester 1), Programming (Semester 2), Honors Advanced Spanish: The Short Story (Semester 2)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, Mission of the School Award (at my High School)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Directed Showcase Director (directing my own 30 minute play, to be performed in January 2016), Theater (Theater Certificate in the Conservatory Program at my school) (been in every production at my school), Musical Theater (been in every production at my school), Choir (4 years as an alto at school choir), Church Leadership (Bible Study leader for 3 years, Drama team leader for 3 years, worship team singer for 2 years)
Job/Work Experience: Worked as a Junior Camp Counselor for 4 weeks in the summer between sophomore and junior year
Volunteer/Community service: Approximately 100 hours as a Project Leader at Sunday Friends, between 150-200 hours of service as a volunteer at CityTeam in the soup kitchen
Summer Activities: Performance at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Mission trip to Panama, Mission trip to San Francisco, Volunteer at church’s Vacation Bible Study
Essays: Common App (X/10), Princeton Supplement (X/10), Princeton Engineering (X/10)
Common App: 9/10. I talked about “Coming out” with my Christian faith, and being bold and unashamed in my identity. Religion can be a touchy theme, but I just used it as a tool to illustrate an accessible story of being proud of being yourself. I really stand by my essay, but I only give it a 9/10 because it could be more unique and quirky.
Princeton Supplement: 9/10. I wrote about my experience serving at the soup kitchen and the culture there, and I think it was a unique spin on the prompt (about culture).
Princeton Engineering: N/A, I applied under A.B.
Teacher Recommendations: 9/10 for both. I know both teachers extremely well and they probably wrote fabulous things.
Counselor Rec: 9/10. My counselor and I know each other well, and he even read his recommendation letter out to me.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 6/10. It didn’t go poorly, but the interviewer and I didn’t click. We have completely different interests, and it seemed like he didn’t even really like Princeton.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Private
Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): Neither
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: > 150k
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): None! :frowning:

Reflection
Strengths: GPA, standardized testing, recommendation letters, essays
Weaknesses: No major awards, classes could have been more rigorous in the context of my school, lack of arts supplement, having no hooks, Asian
Where else are you applying for RD: Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Northwestern, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UPenn, Notre Dame, Duke

General Comments
Good luck to everyone for their early decisions, if they haven’t come out yet! Princeton comes out in just a few more hours, and I’m extremely anxious. I am aware that many of qualified students get deferred and flat out denied, but the small sliver of hope is taking over my mind. Please let me know what you realistically think - be brutal! We will see what happens! Thank you so much for reviewing this :slight_smile:

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This is my first post so if you could tell me where to post chance mes like this I want to sometime soon. I didn’t apply anywhere early so I have a little more time I guess before the fear sets in :slight_smile:

Um, what? This is terrific. You have all the test scores and grades anyone could want. Are you your high school’s valedictorian? I’m not sure what your chances are an an Ivy school since they reject people with even more qualifications than you, but I’m sure you’re an extremely hard worker who’s done everything they can. Surely though, I would think you have at least a 50-60% shot.

The things that could get you are MAYBE extracurriculars because I don’t see anything major-specific in ECs/they’re all music/church related, but seriously I think you shouldn’t be hard on yourself and be calm for the next however many hours it is until the decisions. If you think you’ve written well for your essays then you should be in good shape. Again I can’t guarantee you’ll get in since it’s really hard to get into Princeton, but I wish you all of the very best. Hope you get a good decision!

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Also I should clarify I said the EC thing because you asked for brutalness. That was an extremely nitpicky comment and has almost no bearing on your essentially perfect application. I would die for those grades and awards so don’t sweat it :slight_smile:

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@cboverlord2k16 Aaah, thank you so much for the review! You can post "Chance me"s under the “Top Forums” at the left of the screen, in the category “What Are My Chances?”

Unfortunately, I come from a very competitive school, so I am not valedictorian (that one kid is insane! Taking literally 15 or so APs, with all A+s). And you brought up a great point about ECs. I’m hoping that it will be unique for an Asian girl to be interested in something non-academic like church or performing arts, and my commitment and consistency with those extracurriculars will benefit me. Oh well, you never know what they want! Honestly, it’s luck of the draw after a certain point. And thank you so so much again for the lovely review, if you’d like me to chance you back, I will definitely do that! :slight_smile:

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Hmm… your resume honestly looks pretty good. Steady SAT scores, and focused ECs showing lots of diversity. The only thing I would be concerned about is the lack of major awards. I’d say, while you aren’t a complete shoe-in, you have a pretty good chance - at worst deferred, and at best accepted.

Of course, that all depends on that one insane kid (if they apply to the same school as you) - do you know if they are? And how many people from Princeton does your school usually take?

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@franticmanatee did you get in

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@HollaChalla Defer! They wanted an art supplement.