Princeton 2018 RD results discussion and review

SAPenguin · March 28, 2014, 12:42am

Well a thread is opened for SCEA but not RD so I am doing this! Hoping to keep some valuable information for the next generation! Please type if you are willing to share :)
(Copied from @Happyppah)
(I am rejected on my birthday! How sad it is)

Decision: Accepted/Waitlisted/Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):

ACT:

SAT II:

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):

AP (place score in parenthesis):

IB (place score in parenthesis):

Senior Year Course Load:

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Job/Work Experience:

Volunteer/Community service:

Summer Activities:

Essays:

Teacher Recommendation:

Counselor Rec:

Additional Rec:

Interview:

Other
Intended Major:

State (if domestic applicant):

Country (if international applicant):

School Type:

Ethnicity:

Gender:

Income Bracket:

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection
Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

musicheartbreak4 · March 28, 2014, 2:36am

ACCEPTED: Engineering
deferred SCEA

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (CR:750 M:730 W:730)
ACT: none
SAT II: Math II (750), Chemistry (760), English (740), US History (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 94.6 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus BC (5), AP English Language (5), AP US History (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus/Linear Algebra, AP Physics B, AP Chemistry, AP English Literature/English IV, AP US Government, Intro to Computer Programming
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Commemorated National Merit Scholar, AP Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years varsity softball (Captain), 3 years cast and crew theatre (stage manager twice), 4 years Latin Club (treasurer), 4 years GSA, 3 years Student Diversity Board.
Job/Work Experience: Intern on Capitol Hill and in a science lab.
Volunteer/Community service: volunteered at special ed school
Summer Activities: Working
Essays: I loved all my essays. I really got to show all the different sides of my personality!
Teacher Recommendation: didn’t read them, but I think they were good
Counselor Rec: also not a clue
Additional Rec: from the Congressman that I worked for on Capitol Hill, generic I assume.
Interview: went really well I think.

Other
State (if domestic applicant): Northern VA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: private, all-girls
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: no financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female engineer

Reflection
Strengths: test scores, grades, common app essay, applied SCEA
Weaknesses: low SAT math
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: UVA, Michigan, Penn State Schreyer Honors College, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon

Seemchat · March 28, 2014, 3:27am

Are you specifically interested in engineering, or you thought that to be a smarter choice?

Denlah · March 28, 2014, 5:44am

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] ACT: 35
[] SAT II: Math II (790), Chemistry (780), Lit (760)
[] Unweighted GPA: 4.0
[] Rank: 1, but my school had twenty valedictorians out of a class of about 360.
[] AP: 5 each on Chem, Bio, English Language, and APUSH.
[] Senior Year Course Load: Six APs and theater arts.
[li] Major Awards: I won some small-fry essay contests and got second in TN with a bigger one. That got me published in The Tennessee Magazine, actually, but I forgot to put that on my application. Also National Merit Finalist, top 10 in Tennessee’s Chem Olympiad, some other things.[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars: Chess Club (three-time president), Sr. Beta Club (president), Spanish Club (president), Model UN (treasurer), Student Government (treasurer), National Honors Society (treasurer), plus five or six other clubs with various leadership positions.
[] Job/Work Experience: Unpaid internship as a radio talk show host for a month; that was really cool.
[] Volunteer/Community service: 240 hours with special needs kids, 140 with general ed kids, other eclectic stuff
[] Summer Activities: I did TN’s Gov School one year; my other years I’ve volunteered with kids. Last summer I attended Boys State and toured Costa Rica, too.
[] Essays: CA essay was maybe my best piece ever; it was about skating with a blind girl. It really happened, plus I turned skating into a really excellent metaphor. My Princeton essay was about a quote I have hanging in my room, and I related it to a learning experience that I shared with my friend who is a freshman at Princeton.
[] Teacher Recommendation: Eh. Dunno. My Spanish teacher wrote one and my English teacher wrote the other. I haven’t seen my Spanish teacher’s essay but my English teacher let me peek at her first draft and it was pretty rough. I’d had them for two and three years, though, so they knew me well
[] Counselor Rec: Better than most, I think. My gifted coordinator wrote the rec, and that was super awesome because he works really closely with all of us in the enrichment program.
[] Interview: I’ve had better, but this one was pretty good. It actually lasted for two or three hours and apparently I had an insight about my interviewer’s work on marine preservation that really excited her. But generally I felt sluggish that day, and some of my other college interviews definitely went better.

Other:
[] Intended major: English
[] State: TN
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White, non-Hispanic
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: Complicated, but not rich at all. I might get a tiny Pell Grant even.
[li] Hooks: None.[/li]
Reflection
[] Strengths: Neat volunteerism, strong leadership, great essays.
[] Weaknesses: I could have done so much more, but I’m selectively lazy. No excellent ECs or anything. Recs might have been a weak point, but I can’t control my teachers’ writing quality.
[] Why you think you were accepted: Great stats, great essays, good ECs, and luck.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at Williams, Emory (likely letter), Cornell, UPenn (likely letter), Vassar. Rejected by Harvard and Yale, but Princeton was my top choice so I’m still thrilled.

General Comments: If you want to get into HYP, apply to HYP. Not just H. Not just Y. Not just P. Apply to all because admission for most qualified applicants is a crapshoot. I toured Yale yesterday and my tour guide was a Yale-Harvard cross-admit who’d been rejected from Princeton, the opposite of my situation. Sometimes, finding method in this madness can be impossible.

SAPenguin · March 28, 2014, 1:48pm

@Denlah That’s me…I just applied for Princeton! Pretty sad that I don’t have a second chance in my life for Princeton undergrad as they don’t accept transfer students…loved this school!

Schoolapalooza · March 28, 2014, 2:12pm

Decision: Rejected

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown):
[] ACT w/ Writing: 33 Comp 34 Eng, 32 Math, 35 Science, 35 Reading, 10 Writing
[] SAT II: Math 2 750; French 650
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7 UW; 4.2 W
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 25%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): 8 APs (6 5s and 2 4s)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP French, AP Computer Programming, AP English 4, state requirements (personal financial literacy and a fine arts semester)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): selected as Rotary Youth Exchange Ambassador to Belgium (did my first senior year abroad in Europe 2012-2013), Belgian Rotary Leadership Award; Rotary Youth Leadership Award; National AP Scholar; Rotary Student of the Month; French honors award; in other words, nothing that impressed ad coms[/ul][/li]
[ul]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): National Honor Society, sec. of French Club, Spanish Club, Rotary Interact and Rotaract, RYLA Youth Camp, Math/Science/Engineering Club, Environmental Club, Rotex counselor for incoming/outgoing exchange students
[] Job/Work Experience: tutor, babysitting, IT work
[] Volunteer/Community service: Meals on Wheels,
[] Summer Activities: working but not much
[] Essays: felt they were pretty good; wrote from the heart and addressed overcoming obstacles to succeed; probably strongest part of app. Chose the “Princeton in the service of all nations” prompt, which dovetailed nicely with my experience as a Rotary Youth Ambassador
[] Teacher Recommendation: Science teacher probably good, English teacher meh, APUSH teacher great; dunno cuz I waived for FERPA
[] Counselor Rec: likely generic; big high school and she just started this year
[] Additional Rec: probably decent
[] Interview: Awesome - local alumni and I met at a coffee shop and had a great and comfortable interview. Best interview I had out of all.
[] Supplementary Material: Didn’t send and now wish I had.[/ul]

[ul]Other
[] State (if domestic applicant): Oklahoma
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: very large public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): <$100K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none, except maybe my year abroad as a Rotary Exchange Student and being fluent in three languages.
[/ul]

[ul]Reflection
[] Strengths: unusual ECs with being selected as a Rotary Exchange Student, math scores, as I applied for Comp Science concentration
[] Weaknesses: GPA, class rank. Got a few Bs my sophomore year. School just started to weigh this year, so none of my previous APs were given extra GPA.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Grades/class rank, no major research or hook.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted:University of Oklahoma Honors College and Scholars Program; waiting for NYU. Rejected: Columbia, Princeton, Brown.[/ul]

General Comments: I knew it was a long shot, but had a family friend who attended and was really hoping for a chance. I never heard much from any ad comms and never had a chance to let them see the “true” me. However, I wish all the best for those accepted. Congratulations!

orientalsoup · March 28, 2014, 7:13pm

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

[list][] SAT I (breakdown): 2090 (superscored - 720 M, 730 W, 640 CR)
[] ACT (breakdown): 31 (35 E, 33 M, 27 R, 28 S, 9 W)
[] SAT II: 660 US History, 660 Literature, 630 Math II
[] Unweighted GPA: 4.195/4.0
[] Weighted GPA: 4.72/4.5
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/43
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Not offered at high school
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): Not offered at high school
[] Senior Year Course Load:
Honors British Literature
Honors Calculus
Honors Physics
Honors Western Civilization
Sociology/Jurisprudence/Psychology
Guidance IV
Honors Spanish IV
Art IV
Physical Ed/First Aid
Church Lifestyle/Church History (Religion)
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Honor Society Scholarship Program Nominee, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Award Runner Up, New Jersey Scholars Program Semi-Finalist, Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award, Certificate of Merit from the Society of Women Engineers, New Jersey Governor’s School for Engineering Nominee

[list]Subjective:

[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
School Musical (Lead Role grade 10, 12)
Students Against Destructive Decisions (Secretary)
School Choir (Senior Soloist)
Art Club
Spanish Club
National Honor Society
[] Job/Work Experience:
[] Volunteer/Community service:
Soloist at Parish
Big Brothers Big Sisters
[] Summer Activities:
Summer Camp at Local Community College; Graphic Designer online (through a forum and Tumblr); Fanfiction Writer
[] Essays: Common App - excellent; Supplemental - Great, Unique; I wrote honestly and emphasized my geekiness and love of musicals, and I picked the essay about culture and wrote on how being a fangirl has shaped me socially, emotionally, etc.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I had 3 - Precalc/Algebra II teacher, Literature teacher, and US History II/Geography teacher - and they were all excellent; I’m one of their favorite students and they adore me
[] Counselor Rec: Excellent; she likes me a lot
[] Additional Rec: Director of my school musicals - excellent; I saved my sophomore year show and he loves me
Note: For recs, I got lucky because my school is so small. My teachers know me very well, and I’ve taken to texting and talking to them in my free time. In addition, my musical director has been through a lot with me, and this year’s seniors are his favorite so he adores me.
[] Interview: It went really well! We talked for about 45 minutes, and he was really nice. He asked about my school - all girls, so it’s pretty unique - and was impressed I was a singer at church. We also talked a little about musicals - we both love Wicked and Les Mis - and my fanfiction - he’s into Harry Potter, too.
[] Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): Sent a link to my graphic design gallery

[list]Other

[] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Catholic, All-Girls
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: <$300,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Parents are immigrants - if that IS a hook…[/li]
[list]Reflection

[] Strengths: Recs, Grades, GPA, ACT, (maybe) Interview
[] Weaknesses: SAT, SAT II; also, I’m Asian
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My scores and extracurriculars aren’t much to look at
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Northeastern, Babson College, University of Richmond, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Waitlisted: Brown, American University; Rejected: Cornell, UPenn

**General Comments: **

I didn’t think I would get in (oh, look, I was right!), but I gave it a shot anyway!

I thought maybe being a geek and an artist would help me, since I emphasized my unique hobbies (like, who else would have the gall to say they write fanfiction and they love Tumblr?), but I suppose my eccentricities weren’t enough to make me stand out (or perhaps they were my downfall?). However, it was fun to talk to the interviewer, and I loved writing my Theme Essay (although my parents told me my essays made me sound spacey).

If I could do this process all over again, I’d definitely shoot for higher scores and more various extracurriculars. Unfortunately, though, my lack of leadership in my EC’s is due to the lack of participation in school clubs. I ran for Vice President of NHS (with no campaigning or speeches or anything), and we had to re-vote twice (once junior year, once in senior year when we got back to school) because we kept having ties. In the end, the other girl won because everyone - due to the unpopularity of and apathy towards the society - kept switching their votes. (Seriously. One girl laughed and said something along the lines of “Who cares? I keep switching my vote. This is ridiculous.”) But, anyway, it was an interesting process (that we’ll have to repeat in four years). So congrats to everyone who got in and good luck to all those who were waitlisted!

blue4worm · March 28, 2014, 7:18pm

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400
ACT w/ Writing: N/A
SAT II: Chemistry-790; Math 2-770; US History-760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8-3-9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on APUSH, AP Microeconomics, & AP US Govt
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Physics C E&M, AP English Language, AP Macroeconomics, French 3, Linear algebra, World history

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Minor Awards:

AP Scholar Award
A volunteer of the year award at a local outreach center.
1st place in a calculus tournament at a local college.

Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scouts for four years (Eagle Scout; multiple leadership positions; merit badge counselor);Martial Arts for three years (1st degree black belt in 2010, 2nd degree black belt in 2012); Teen-Advisor for three years (Honor-council member for two); piano for two years; participation in a fledgling leadership program at the National Infantry Museum for two years;church functions.
[] Job/Work Experience: Working for my grandfather’s startup as a microchip programmer. Unofficial Sat tutor.
[] Volunteer/Community service:Volunteer work at camp for underprivileged children for 3 years in a row; volunteer work as a counselor at the National Infantry Museum for one summer; multiple church missions trips; other miscellaneous volunteering activities. I logged over 500 hours easily.
[] Summer Activities: Jobs and volunteering work.
[] Essays: My common application essay was about failure. I will spare the details, but, all things considered, it was the best essay that I have ever written. I would give it a ten. The activities essay was an 8 or 9. The “princeton essay” was about an influential person, and I would give it anything between a 7-9.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I haven’t seen them, but I trust that the letter by my APUSH teacher was outstanding. My math teacher’s was probably adequate, simply because Dr. Ionascu is not a writer.
[] Counselor Rec: Awesome.
[] Additional N/A
[li] Interview: Meh. It was the shortest interview I had, since they chose to interview many students in a matter of hours.[/li]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Homeschooled
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): >$300K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
[] Strengths: My common app essay was fantastic. Unique familial circumstances-we adopted a teenager a few years ago. 
[] Weaknesses: Getting a B in AP Physics C that ruined my 4.0. SAT subject test scores. A paucity of APs.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No hooks.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted:Dartmouth, Williams, WASHU, UGA, Georgia Tech; Waitlisted: Harvard, Duke
[li] What would you have done differently?: I would have taken more APs. I would have studied harder to get better SAT subject test scores. I definitely would have done more in Boy Scouts (Hornaday Award, OA, Stem Nova Award, etc). [/li]
General Comments: Princeton was my #1, and I foolishly really thought that I would get in. I’m not dumb; I have scoured past admissions threads and have drawn conclusions that I thought were reasonable. Congratulations to the students who got in, but I honestly don’t think that the average accepted student was any more deserving than I was.

musicheartbreak4 · March 28, 2014, 9:35pm

@SApenguin I applied to the school of engineering because that is what I want to study. Personally, I think its ■■■■■■■■ when people apply to a certain major because they think it will be “easier” or something. Also, for a lot of these programs you have to write the “Why X?” essay and it’ll be harder to write/less compelling if you aren’t genuinely passionate about what you want to study.

@Denlah I disagree. I think you should only apply to schools that you actually want to attend and have something specific to offer you. You shouldn’t apply to the whole Ivy League (or HYP) just because you want to go to an Ivy League school. It’s actually that type of thinking that has led to drastic increases in applications to elite schools in the past few years. There aren’t more students, but students are applying to more schools.
Of HYP, I only applied to Princeton because it’s the only one I was interested in actually attending and it’s the only one with a substantial engineering program. Because of the Ivy League’s general liberal arts tendency, most of them aren’t very involved in engineering - except for Cornell and Princeton. Those are the only two I applied to - and I got in to both.

tiva_mcabby5 · March 28, 2014, 9:58pm

Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 34 composite (33 English, 33 Math, 32 Reading, 36 Science, 30 Combined English/Writing, 8 essay)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 680 Bio, 690 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank or give percentiles
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4), American History (4), Biology (4), Calc BC (3, AB subscore 4)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP French, AP Physics, Calc 3, and a bunch of writing/history electives
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Key Club (treasurer), Yearbook (editor), Math Honor Society, Art Honor Society, Softball
Job/Work Experience: local restaurant since April 2013
Volunteer/Community Service: at least 150 hours since freshman year between church and Key Club
Summer Activities: working, traveling
Essays: good, especially my supplement
Teacher Recommendations: I didn’t see them, but I hope they were good!
Counselor Rec: same^
Additional Rec: I helped raise money for my local police office, so the police chief wrote a letter for me
Interview: yes

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: medium public (1800 students)
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: $100,000-$110,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: commitment to service, essays, ACT
Weaknesses: GPA, AP scores, SAT II’s
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: GPA, SAT II’s
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to Boston College, SUNY Binghamton, and University of Rochester. Denied at Yale, Tufts, Brown
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Disappointed but expected. Excited to say I think I’ll be going to BC next fall!

momfromme · March 29, 2014, 1:10am

@musicheartbreak Columbia is strong in engineering.

Keridee · March 29, 2014, 2:41am

DECISION: Accepted
SAT: 2260
SAT II: Writing, Biology (M), US History: 740, 720, 680
(home schooled)

Interview was wonderful and made me feel at ease.
I was rejected from Harvard and Cornell; accepted to BU and UVA, waitlisted at Stanford and Brown.

guccigirl · March 29, 2014, 4:14am

Decision: Accepted!

I hope this helps someone!

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):2350 (800 M, 750 CR, 800 Writing 10 Essay)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 770 US History, 790 Physics
Weighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.08 (unweighted much lower)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank (but I’m around 10/100)
AP (place score in parenthesis): BC Calc, US History, Physics, English Lang, French (All 5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): 6 in IB History
Senior Year Course Load: IB Math HL, IB Economics HL, IB Chemistry, IB English HL, IB French Literature, TOK, Band/Jazz Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w/ Distinction, National Merit Scholar Semifinalist, AIME qualifier, National Jazz Music Awards (but with my school’s jazz band not by myself), All State/Region Jazz Bands

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Lots of Music- Jazz Band competes at very high level nationally (Lead Trombone)
Newspaper (Middle School Managing Editor and Humor Editor)
Asian Diversity Club (President)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Alot of volunteerism in teaching
Summer Activities: Volunteering in China, YFU Summer Germany, Rutgers Jazz Institute
Essays: (If you want to read them PM me)
Common App - 7.5/10 (I liked it, and also didn’t like it… but most people said it was good)
Supplements - 10/10 (They were special, unique, passionate)
Teacher Recommendation: Never read, but probably really good!
Counselor Rec: New counselor who I didn’t know long, but we bonded quickly so hopefully it was good!
Additional Rec: Sent in one from where I volunteered, and also another teacher
Interview: Wasn’t offered one

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Race(s) (White, AA, AI/AN, Asian, NH/PI): Asian
Hispanic (Y/N):N
Gender:
Income Bracket: Above Average
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Absolutely nothing
Other Accepted from school: 1

Reflection

Strengths: Passion, Good Essays, Test Scores, Music, Unusual EC’s (volunteerism/teaching)/ Leadership, Very humorous tone to the application
Weaknesses: GPA, lack of major leadership positions, no huge awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays, Music, Community Service.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UChicago, Dartmouth, Stanford, Yale
Waitlisted: Columbia, Harvard
Rejected: UPenn Wharton (From deferral), MIT

General Comments:
I hate to be cliche, but future applicants: don’t ever give up! People told me I couldn’t get in to any HYPSM school. My parents, some friends, and worst of all myself. But here I am…
The odds were stacked against me: Asian… low GPA (compared to others from school)…sparse leadership positions…other great applicants from my school. But I just worked with what I had, put it all I had on the line, tried my hardest, and it paid off.

Cbatarseh · March 29, 2014, 4:34am

WAITLISTED

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2150 Composite 710CR 720M 720W 10E
PSAT: 215. NMF
GPA: 3.87UW 4.21W
Rank: 2/6 (small school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: English Honors, Physics Honors, Bible, Psychology Dual Enrollment
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st in Physics at state competition; National Merit Finalist

Subjective:

-3 years of work at a cafe. I’m a Junior manager and assistant director of marketing.
-Student director of fundraising at my school
-Founder of an after school writers and math workshop at my school.
-Started branch of a nonprofit in my city.
-Started a small cake business (no website or anything for admissions counselors to see)
-Member of the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council.
-On Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council in my city. Treasurer Junior year and Senior Adviser
Senior year.
-3 years of Beta Club. President Senior year.
-4 years volunteering at my church. A total of approximately 200 hours/year.
-Member of my school’s mission team. I’ve been to Romania and am going back this December.
There are a couple other things I could write about, but the Common App limits me to 10 activities, and these are probably my stronger activities.
Essays: I think that both of my essays were really good! They showed positive aspects of me that weren’t completely reflected in the rest of my application.
Teacher Recommendation: Great! My teachers all wrote letters that spoke very highly of me.
Counselor Rec: My counselor said that I was one of the brightest students she has seen in her 30+ years of teaching.
Interview: It went perfectly! My interviewer told me she would write the highest recommendation possible for me.

Other

Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Louisiana
School Type: Small private school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $100,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: I think my extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation helped a lot!
Weaknesses: My lack of rigorous courses, even though I took the most rigorous courses my school offered.

General Comments: Who on here who has been accepted will not be going to Princeton? I’m honored to be on the waitlist, and I’m trying to gauge how many slots will be opened up for waitlisted students.

MCT1996 · March 29, 2014, 8:34am

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (CR:710 M:670 W:790 Essay:9)
[] ACT: none
[] SAT II: U.S. History (620), Literature (580)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/~400
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Language & Composition (3), AP U.S. History (4)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): None.
[] Senior Year Course Load: Physics Honors, American Government, Japanese II, AP English Literature & Composition, Intermediate Chorus, AP Calculus AB
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None.[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

SAT Club (Founder/President)
AP Club (Founder/President)
My School’s Chapter of Junior Statesmen of America (Co-founder/Secretary)
Academic Challenge Bowl (Team Captain)
My Church’s Youth Ministry Committee (Vice President)
Mock Trial (Secretary)
Bowling Club (Secretary)
LEO Club (Activities Directory)
DECA
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring college exchange student from Korea in English writing and grammar at a local college preparatory school
[] Volunteer/Community service:
Special Olympics
Coastal clean-ups
Campus clean-ups
Salvation Army: Red Kettle Campaign
Toys for Tots Foundation
Raising money for sports equipment for patients at a male’s rehabilitation center
[] Summer Activities: (Mentioned in Job/Work Experience), campus clean-ups
[] Essays:
Common App Essay: This essay is probably the best essay I’ve ever written. I went in-depth about the struggles that I’ve had to encounter. I focused on three major characteristics/circumstances of myself and my life: my low income status, my racial dichotomy, and my sexuality.
Extra-curricular Essay: I wrote about ACB and what it means to me.
Two Summers Essay: I wrote about volunteering to paint and clean my school’s damaged campus.
Supplement (Person who influenced you in a significant way): I wrote about helping one of my classmates in Japanese who was struggling and who was arrested a few months later.
[] Teacher Recommendation:
English 10 Honors teacher: Excellent. He really went into depth about my personality and accomplishments. He also used an excerpt from one of the essays that I wrote for his class as his introduction and said that I had “an intellectual vitality that [he] never sensed from any other student in [his] twenty-four years in the educational system.”
AP U.S. History teacher: Equally as excellent. “I wish I were more like him; I wish we all were.”
[] Counselor Rec: It was good, but not as good as my teachers’. She focused more on my extra-curricular activities as opposed to who I am as a person.
[] Additional Rec: None.

Other:
[] State (if domestic applicant): Guam
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Chamorro (Guamanian)/Korean
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: <26,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Low financial status, first generation college, underrepresented minority[/li]
Reflection:
[] Strengths: Essays, teacher recommendations, class rank, GPA
[] Weaknesses: Low SAT scores, minimal AP courses (lack of courses offered at my school) no honors/awards
[] Why you think you were accepted/wait-listed/rejected:
Honestly, I don’t want to come off as preachy or anything, but God really did this for me. My scores are below average for Ivy League standards, and I had no awards. However, I still got into the #1 ranked undergraduate university in the nation. God is good. And in terms of my application, my essays and teacher recommendations truly made up for my low scores and lack of awards.
[] Where else were you accepted/wait-listed/rejected:

Accepted: UPenn, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Carleton, and some safety schools
Wait-listed: Harvard, Stanford, Washington University in St. Louis
Rejected: Yale, Oberlin

General Comments:
This may be cliché, but continue to work hard throughout your high school career; it will surely pay off. Even though you end up not getting into your “dream school,” you will end up where you’re SUPPOSED to be rather than where you THINK you should be. I was bummed about my Harvard and Yale decisions because I thought that was where I wanted to be, but after getting into Princeton, I realized that Princeton is where I’m supposed to be because the admissions committee there saw something in me that Harvard and Yale’s didn’t. Do not give up, even when you feel as if you can’t do it anymore. Perseverance will pay off, truly. Good luck to future applicants and congratulations to everyone who got accepted into any sort of university this year!

HabeshaGuy · March 29, 2014, 10:22am

My friend’s stats

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):2210(740,750,720)

SAT II:750,770 Bio,Chem

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/66

AP (place score in parenthesis): None

IB (place score in parenthesis): None

Senior Year Course Load: Ethiopian Curriculum

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Essays: Most inspiring person 9/10,

Teacher Recommendation: Good

Counselor Rec: Good

Additional Rec: Good

Interview:

Other
Intended Major: Biomedical engineering

State (if domestic applicant):

Country (if international applicant): Ethiopia

School Type: Private/Magnet/coed

Ethnicity: Black/African

Gender: Female

Income Bracket:

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted:NYU,Cornell,Clark,Princeton
Rejected:Yale,Darthmoth,
Waitlisted: Mccallister

porico · March 29, 2014, 8:12pm

Regular Decision

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (800M 760R 730W)
ACT: 35
SAT II: 800 Math, 670 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 40/350 (Insanely competitive school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): B/C Calc (5), Spanish (4),
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Chem, AP History, Hon English, Networking
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Ultimate Frisbee, Tech service club (President), Gaming club
Job/Work Experience: Intern at networking company in summer
Volunteer/Community service: Tech service club
Summer Activities: Ultimate Frisbee league, working one summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Unknown
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec: Probably so-so
Additional Rec:
Interview: Good, not great

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large public, national recognition
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $400K plus
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Scores, Grades
Weaknesses: No standout extracurriculars, essays could be better, not enough APs Junior year and before
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Little demonstrated interest, No visit
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted NC State, UNC, Tufts. Rejected: Princeton, Yale, Duke. Waitlist: Vanderbilt Note: written by father, father’s opinions about reasons

SweetPrince · March 29, 2014, 8:16pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT: 2320 (M/R/W/E = 800/760/760/12)
[] SAT II: Math II (800), Chemistry (800), Physics (800)
[] Weighted GPA: 98/100 (this is after my school inflates my IB predicted grades)
[] Rank: School doesn’t report, but there is one girl whose IB predicted total is 1 more than mine
[] AP: 5’s in Calculus BC, Chemistry, and Physics C: Mechanics
[] IB: 5 French SL; predicted 7’s in Math HL, Physics HL, Chemistry HL, English HL, and Economics SL; and 3 in EE/TOK
[] Senior Year Course Load: the 5 IB courses that I haven’t tested out of yet
[] Major Awards: I don’t feel that these deserve to be called major awards but the most significant accomplishments that I told Princeton about were decent results in Canadian math contests (best overall place was 20th in the Canadian Senior Math Contest, I got Provincial Champion a few times as well), invitations to some camps (Canadian National Math Camp, Lloyd Auckland Math Workshop, and International School for Young Physicists), and a couple citizenship awards.

Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars: Math Competitions/Math Club (Captain of our provincial championship team, Organizer of our Math Club), Basketball (Varsity in 10th, Junior Varsity in 12th {weird, I know}), Peer Tutoring (Organizer of our peer tutoring program and tutor), Track (1500 m, 3000m, 5k, decent results). I had 6 others but I don’t think they made a difference. I am part of Me to We Club, worked at Kumon, did some stuff for Amnesty International, and did some Speech, Physics, and Linguistics Competitions.
[] Job/Work Experience: The Kumon experience from above. This was insignificant though because I barely got any time to work.
[] Volunteer/Community service: I’m pretty lacking here. Maybe 50 h total for tutoring and Me to We combined.
[] Summer Activities: The camps that I went to were the highlights of my summers. I also have been going to Europe for around 4 weeks to visit my family every second summer for a while.
[] Essays: CA essay was about playing basketball at the net in front of my house and how my experiences there shaped me in many ways. As you would expect I talked about the physical and social influences of the net, but I think what gave the essay the creative edge was my reflection on the ways that my time at the net shaped the way that I think. The supplement was about my father and how his resilience, love of knowledge, and integrity influenced me. I know this topic is one of the largest cliches out there, but I actually feel that my father has influenced me more than every other person combined.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I got my Math teacher and old English teacher to write them. The math man and I have really grown close this year, but I think that at the time that he wrote the letter he didn’t know (and possibly like) me well enough to write an insightful letter. The glish gal doesn’t know me well at all, and probably doesn’t think of me that highly (she predicted me at a 6 last year). However, it was between her and my new English teacher who only knew me for 2 months. It couldn’t have been that bad I guess.
[] Counselor Rec: Probably not helpful or hurtful. He’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t know anything about me except my grades and a few extracurriculars.
[] Interview: It probably didn’t hurt me. I got all dressed up to go to the interviewer’s big fancy law firm only to find that he’s the type of guy that rates all the people he interviews as “in the top 5% of students I’ve interviewed.” Princeton probably took his word with a grain of salt, but as I said it probably didn’t hurt.

Other:
[] Intended major: I told them Electrical Engineering, but I’m leaning towards Math now
[] Province: NOVA SCOTIA BAYBE (that’s in the Great North)
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White, European
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: [100k, 200k[ before tax (and here we pay a lot)
[li] Hooks: My parents were refugees from a war? Probably nothing.[/li]
Reflection
[] Strengths: Decent scores across the board (except the merde I pulled in French), passion for math, candid essays, don’t have many resources at my school (AP wasn’t offered, had to take at a different school)
[] Weaknesses: Not amazing in any one area, probably sub par recommendations, not much volunteering, and of course that 5 in French!
[] Why you think you were accepted: I know people say this a lot, but this time it is true. I got lucky. It was pure luck that my application hit some sweet spot in the admissions officer’s mind. You’ll see why this was a remarkable outcome below.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: some Canadian schools; Rejected: Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia. Yeah, it was that close. But Princeton was my favourite so I am happy nontheless.

General Comments: Good luck young ones. I am done with this madness.

yangmaster · March 29, 2014, 11:02pm

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[]ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 33 R, 36 S)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[]AP (place score in parentheses): AP Music Theory (5), APUSH (5), AP Micro (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats (4), AP Lang (4), AP CS (5), AP Comp Gov (5), AP Chem (5)
[]IB (place score in parentheses): none
[]Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Lit, AP Bio, Spanish 5, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Macro, Psychology
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar (if that can be considered a “major” award)[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 4 years on the boys’ high school swim and dive team, senior year NHS
[]Job/Work Experience: Kumon over the last summer, recreational soccer referee since freshman year
[]Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer at local library since sophomore year
[]Summer Activities: Swimming and programming
[]Essays: Pretty good.
[]Teacher Recommendations: I knew one of my recommending teachers since sophomore year and met the other at the end of junior year. Haven’t seen the rec letters.
[]Counselor Rec: Haven’t seen the counselor rec
[]Additional Rec: none
[li]Interview: Decent, but not stellar. The interviewer was nice, though.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): MN
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public school that graduates ~800 per year
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: ~200K
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Objective stats
[]Weaknesses: No leadership positions, typical Asian applicant
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not impressive enough.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to U Minnesota, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, UCLA, USC; Waitlisted at CMU (SCS); Rejected from Duke, Harvard, MIT (deferred EA), Stanford, Berkeley, UChicago (deferred EA), UPenn
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Lol I never had a chance. I was competing against state champions and national award winners, and a typical, boring Asian applicant who does well in school comes to beat them to a spot at Princeton? Ha! I wish that were true. Well anyways, congrats to those accepted.[/li][/ul]

Nihilus · March 30, 2014, 10:41pm

[color=red]Decision: Deferred SCEA -> Rejected[/color=red]**

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2400
[]ACT (breakdown): 36 (36E 36M 35R 36S)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 790 Physics
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.90
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5s: Calc BC, Chem, Psychology, APUS, Micro,
4: Macro
[]IB (place score in parentheses):
[]Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Physics, AP Bio, AP English Lit, AP Spanish Lang, Politics Elective
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF, Presidential Scholar Candidate[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Huffington Post Teen blogger, Online political website (Editor-in-Chief, Quiz Bowl (Founder, President), Model Congress (Head Delegate), Science Olympiad, MUN
[]Job/Work Experience: Academic Tutor
[]Volunteer/Community Service: Library shelving
[]Summer Activities: SAAST engineering camp, politics camp, cultural camp
[]Essays: Good 8-9/10
[]Teacher Recommendations: didn’t see
[]Counselor Rec: didn’t see
[]Additional Rec:
[li]Interview: good[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: South Asian
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: 150-200k
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None. (Wrote and published a book in 7th grade)[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Scores, varied ECs, HuffPost/published author, scores
[]Weaknesses: Competitive applicant pool
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ^^^
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied:
Accepted: UChicago (with likely), NYU Stern, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon SCS, UMich, UCLA, Rutgers, Georgia Tech
Rejected: MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Penn
Waitlisted: Yale, Columbia, Caltech, Dartmouth
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:[/li][/ul]

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