<p>Princeton is very strict about their honor system. If they ever find out they can even take back the degree after graduation.
In Princeton, none of the exams are proctored since all the students sign the honor code. That is the level of trust they have in their students and I cannot imagine anyone getting away with something as outrageous as this.</p>
<p>On another note, have any of you experienced cheating going on in your own schools and how strict are the teachers and your principal about it? </p>
<p>No cheating as per college admissions. We don’t have many Ivy league applicants as it is, let alone kids who are thinking of doing Harvard SCEA, Princeton SCEA, Yale SCEA, Stanford SCEA in any combination as itis. However, as per academic cheating, there really is not much in our school. I haven’t witnessed any disciplinary actions.</p>
<p>i want this more than anything at the present moment. Alas, i do feel guilty wanting acceptance more than anything else…i feel selfish and hate being like this. Why do college admissions make overachieving students and parents act like this? I’m not saying it’s bad, I just feel like I’m going against my own principles by having obsessed over college admissions for months now </p>
<p>@Frozengogurt I literally could not agree more…it turns good people into obsessive individuals that can only think about getting into an Ivy league school</p>
<p>Hi guys. So I completely forgot that this was the first of THOSE times of the year again until my facebook kept lighting up with posts about college acceptances (mostly current classmates liking posts, saying gl, etc because my school doesn’t have many Ivy applicants each year). In regards to the last couple comments, I recommend doing what I did although it really forces you to change your mindset, and I know it may be impossible for some. So basically, once I hit senior year, I applied to a lot of places. But, I didn’t let myself worry too much about a first choice school. (I did think about that in the early parts of my high school career but not so much during my sr year) I mean I definitely every so often thought “oh it’d be cool to go there” but I didn’t really stress too much about it. What I did was that I got into a good state school and got a decent offer on a rolling app. At that point, I mostly envisioned myself going there. I basically felt happy going there, and I never thought about other apps. (Actually, I often just forgot about applications for a couple days at a time) I never really talked about apps with anyone. I didn’t really care to gossip about it. I just worried about school and normal life. I always thought “I throw a decent amount of apps. Maybe I’ll get lucky somewhere like if I was throwing darts at a dartboard. These schools are all so amazing and get the best students from around the world. If I don’t get accepted, that’s fine because I don’t actually think I’m Ivy material. (this thought might have been a little too negative. I think my parents were a little sad that I actually thought that way and was down on myself. so this part maybe don’t replicate lol?)” Anyway, I basically just would think only about the schools that I already got offers from. Once I got a new offer, I would think about that school. If I thought it was better at the time, then that would become my dream school I guess, but it would still compete with other schools in my mind. Basically, try not to worry about it. I got to the point where I felt really amazing and improved in my self-confidence a bit if I got accepted but wouldn’t care much if I didn’t get accepted to a place. In the end though, you can do well at any school. There are so many people that drop Ivies for state schools, and they do well because they can more easily stand out, the atmosphere is better, it’s cheaper and doesn’t require more time spent on a job than studying, etc. I mean I still think about the life I could have gotten going to a state school. Also, don’t forget, I heard this once after decisions were released. Basically it went like this: “Feel proud of yourself that you were even confident enough to see yourself as a member of such a community. That’s really all that matters: that you have confidence in your own ability.” If you don’t get that final acceptance, you went through the application and was just not lucky. Because college apps has a lot of luck involved. Sorry in advance if anyone asks me anything and comments on my post. I might not reply or even check cc again. I don’t really use cc anymore and just checked because I remembered recently that this was early app decisions period. I might or might not check again, and I also am, at the moment, super busy working on my writing seminar R3 (basically the revision for my third paper, the longest of all the papers we write). If you do get accepted though, make sure you join the facebook group. (this is really useful) I don’t think it has been created yet because I cannot find it at the moment, but it will be made at some point. If you have any questions afterwards, I might be able to answer it but I don’t know because I made my schedule super hard this year by taking several classes in my weakest subjects. (trust me it is soooo much work and sometimes frustrating, especially because I don’t want to get my first B haha) </p>
<p>@Frozengogurt yea, I’ve been treated pretty badly by a few friends as the college pressure increased senior year. I was pretty bitter about it and feeling “used” for a while </p>
<p>My son is anxiously waiting for the Monday result. I’ve been lurking this particular thread ever since it was created and this behavior surely caused me couple of sleepless nights! Very well-qualified applicants from his school for Harvard and Stanford were deferred and rejected respectively, so the pressure is on him now! Our family have decided to see the result together once we all are back home in the evening so that we can either rejoice together or give him consolations. Good luck to everyone and I hope my S can meet you all next year at Princeton!</p>
<p>Ugh @Frozengogurt I empathize with you so so much about wanting Princeton more than anything else in the world. Watching my friends get into Harvard and Stanford have made me so incredibly excited for them, but at the same time, I want to experience the happiness myself too. And I know this sounds totally ridiculous and near-sighted, but I feel like if we get into Princeton, we’ll never be sad again (though we inevitably will later on in our lives, even if we get in). Sorry that sounds incredibly naive of me. Sometimes I romanticize college too much. I have a feeling that I’m going to get deferred though A lot of people in my school are talking (behind my back) about how they either hope I don’t get in or that I’m not “impressive” enough to get in. Just because I’m not in STEM apparently makes me a “weaker” candidate. </p>
<p>@HPClee If you’ve received any major awards since the time you submitted the Princeton application, I would suggest emailing admissions. I know a lot of people who send an email after they get deferred to reiterate their love for the school and to emphasize that it’s still their first choice. </p>
<p>I just want to get in to spite the two people who applied against me just to spite me (they admitted it). That’s such a sad reason to want to get in but it’s become my main reason. I’m such an awful person</p>
<p>@Ambitious19: If this will make you feel any better, I come from a school which is top in the region for its STEM applicants. But when a non STEM candidate applies from my school with unique ECs they are almost always admitted. In fact STEM can go against you because there are so many asians wanting to do STEM majors. As for people who don’t want you to get in, you are not alone in that. I have had classmates come and try to scare me just as I am walking into the All State audition room and so on. I especially feel very upset when I know that I have done nothing wrong to anyone and I am called an overachiever because I am passionate about learning and I want to be in a college where my interests can thrive.</p>
<p>There is so much jealousy around because in the recent years while college costs have gone up the value of the diploma has come down and so everyone wants the best degree possible, even though they have not worked for it over the years.</p>
<p>I am not a religious person myself, but I get reminded of the quote ’ God sees the truth, but he waits’.</p>
<p>@Ambitious19 I’m no admissions guru, but either way, I think you’re a wonderful applicant, just based off how much you’ve contributed to this thread and how much you’ve helped everyone. And I can’t believe people would do that! I definitely know some people at my school who are that cutthroat, which is why I’ve only told very few, close friends where I’m applying early… And @hopefulperson, you aren’t awful at all! I really hope we can all get in. It’s just the stress and nervous anticipation eating at us. </p>
<p>I’m going to try to stop looking at Harvard/Stanford results threads… I’ve been doing it to pass the time, and it’s hard not to take it to heart. So many of my friends/classmates from school who applied got rejected, even those who I thought were incredibly well-qualified. Not saying the people who DID get in weren’t qualified, but there were some acceptances that surprised me. But all the same, I’m happy for them, since the whole process is now a lot less stressful for them </p>
<p>I found out that the two people who most certainly have higher GPA’s than me from my school also applied to Prineton early… Great. I mean I’m in the top 3% or better (no official ranking) but that’s a little disheartening to hear. One of them is really nice , so I’d be okay if she got in but the other kid… I don’t know how strong their extracurriculars are though… I have been basically chanting to myself all day that I’m going to get deferred to try to counter my high hopes.</p>
<p>@yebhip One of my son’s closest friends went to a well known magnet STEM school and the only students who actually got accepted to Ivys were all outside the top ten in their grad class (she was one of the lucky admits). Really it depends on if your application strikes a chord with admissions more than anything else. If it doesn’t, it most certainly doesn’t mean you weren’t worthy of admission. </p>
<p>Over the last couple years Janet Rapelye has commented that they could have filled their class two or three times over and been happy with the result. If you are viable enough for consideration I’d say you are going to have a great future wherever you go! But I am secretly here on the sidelines cheering for all of you! =)</p>
<p>@Cantiger thank you very much for your kind words and support! I hope I stand out to Princeton, but if not, that’s okay too. I know everyone in this thread will do great things no matter what college they attend. :)</p>
<p>@otter101 Thank you for your kind words! Some of the acceptances from my school definitely surprised me. My friend (a really really awesome and funny state-level tuba player) got into Stanford but they deferred another friend who placed top 6 in the international chemistry olympiad and another classmate who WON the international geography olympiad.</p>
<p>@Opinion559 People in my school are serious backstabbers. A week ago, someone (under the name of my regional Princeton admissions officer) commented on the blogspot I kept while I was an exchange student in Finland. Immediately, it raised red flags because the comment made no sense at all and totally did not sound like an admissions officer. I found out later that another classmate who is also applying Princeton SCEA went through the trouble of creating a FAKE GMAIL AND BLOGGER ACCOUNT and setting the profile picture as the Princeton logo to artificially raise my hopes and then watch me get crushed on Monday. Luckily, I knew the comment was bogus when I first saw it, but I am blown away by the fact that someone would go through all that trouble just to mess with my psyche. I hate how my school environment breeds this spiteful culture.</p>
</p>
</p>