<p>the suspense is going to mess with me even more now that I know the exact date</p>
<p>Did anyone else get two of the exact same emails from Princeton about the online notification about 30 minutes apart? </p>
<p>When the admissions office says it looks only at your highest scores on the SAT, what does that entail? Would the combination of my highest scores be counted at every step of the process right from the start? Someone please delineate!</p>
<p>@HPClee: Yes I got two of the exact same emails. </p>
<p>Nolasaxman: I used to read a lot of college admissions literature and blogs! I think I recommended a few books earlier in the thread: Admissions Confidential and A is for Admission are VERY helpful and are written by former Duke and Dartmouth admissions officers, respectively. Also, my parents have been discussing college with me ever since kindergarten (one of the cons of having tiger parents), so my family has always been very knowledgeable about the process. </p>
<p>BrooklynRye: I don’t think “it is naive to believe admissions go far outside the classic GPA-Boards-Rigorous Curriculum triumvirate in the early rounds.” Admissions definitely goes beyond the classic objective stats evaluations during the early rounds. Yeah, of course if you have a sub-2100 SAT score and a 3.4 GPA it’s highly unlikely the adcom will consider you unless you have some amazing hook. But you should read what alfawarlord posted several days ago!</p>
<p>"The admissions process includes two readers who evaluate your Common Application first, read your essay and additional info, then decide if they want to read your supplement based on what they read in the Common App. They can either toss it or keep reading. They’ll read your supplement, anything you attached, then read your letters of rec last. They then take into consideration any other feedback, such as from faculty who have listened to your Arts Supplement. They grade the survivors and send them off to committee, where everyone skims your file and grades you once more. They whittle down the pool until they get to the desired 700ish candidates.</p>
<p>Source - my old boss’ sister is an adcom"</p>
<p>Also, I doubt the email requesting your parents’ 2013 returns is significant. There’s already a thread on the Princeton forum dedicated to this issue, and it’s pretty clear that A LOT of people have received the email. Anyways, I agree that it seems extremely inefficient and unproductive of Princeton to do that. </p>
<p>@HPClee I also got two of the mail. God, I didn’t think I could be in a worse state than I am now; then the sent this! :-SS I guess for the next twelve days, all we can do is pray that somehow, we all get in… [-O< </p>
<p>It’s as if everything I did for the past 17 years comes down to that fateful day on December 15, 2014</p>
<p>@ambitious19: I think what @BroklynRye is trying to say is that the term ‘holistic’ is somewhat misleading. While 2400 SAT is not a guarantee of admission (two years ago the salutatorian with 2400 SAT score was rejected.), you do need very competitive stats to get in. </p>
<p>During the information session, Princeton Adcom said that almost all students they consider have 5s on their AP exams meaning that is a minimum qualification. I come from a very competitive school in a competitive region in Northeast and our class size ranges from 750 to 800. In the past 10 yrs every student who has been admitted has had SAT scores > 2350 and GPA in the top 10 ranks. </p>
<p>The only exceptions have been athletes. Even the two questbridge students were valedictorians but did not have too many awards. So what we are trying to say is GPA, SAT scores and course rigor is a minimum requirement to be considered and then ECs, awards, essays, etc play a role in the final decisions. </p>
<p>Opinion559: I totally get what you’re saying! But what Broklynrye seemed to be implying was that the adcom only takes into consideration objective stats during the early rounds.</p>
<p>I agree that if you’re not even academically competent, you don’t deserve a place at Princeton. But the adcom certainly does not weed out applicants based on test scores, without evaluating the whole picture.</p>
<p>Anyways, good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>One other exception to this observation was a daughter of Princeton faculty who did not have very competitive grades but was still admitted.</p>
<p>Being on the east coast means I get my decision at 3:00 pm… That whole school day is going to be tense. And it’s a Monday! #-o </p>
<p>I get my decision right in the middle of my AP Lit final!!! Ugh for those of you on the west coast, are you planning to wait until you get home to open the decision? Haha I don’t think I could handle opening it at school…</p>
<p>@Ambitious19 opening it at school, I won’t be able to wait</p>
<p>@sciencedaddy @ambitious19 I’m also opening mine at school… but definitely not in front of friends </p>
<p>Im in the eastcoast and I’m probably opening it at 8pm after work 8-X </p>
<p>Man this is during our quiz bowl playoffs… It will be tense for sure.</p>
<p>Man this is during our quiz bowl playoffs… It will be tense for sure.</p>
<p>We can respectfully agree to disagree on this, Ambitious, but the stats don’t lie. With average board scores in the mid-2200’s or high 30’s, average GPA above a 3.7, and course load rigor featuring predominantly AP classes, the majority of scores must be above these levels. Such scores are therefore a primary driving criteria in the early stages of the admissions process in order to assure enough of such students in the ultimate entering class. Opinion559 understands that, at least in part, I am skeptical of the whole ‘holistic’ admissions process but it goes deeper than that. I’m not saying that the personal essay, a good life story or unique outside factors never play into the early filtering process. I just think these are in a distinct minority and that the majority of those making it through the early rounds are at the top academically, legacies, recruits in athletics or the arts, or otherwise prominent beyond mere grades, e.g., George W. Bush.</p>
<p>I’m going to be at home (school releases early on finals days) so I can cry into my pillow all I want :P</p>
<p>GUYS WHY DOES THE LINK THEY SENT NOT WORK?!?!?!!</p>