Princeton Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<h2>Hi My name is Michael and I am a current sophomore in Minnesota's #1 public school. Princeton is my dream school and my 3 older sisters all went there. I just wanted to know if i will get into Princeton at the rate i'm going, and what i should do in the next 3 years to get in!</h2>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>---Freshman Year
GPA UW: 3.77
GPA W: 3.83</p>

<p>Classes: AP Govt, Enr. Physics, Pre AP English 9, Advanced Algebra, Spanish 2, Choir, Theater Production, Gym,
I had all As and A-s except for my first semester grade in AP Govt which was a B+. This being my first AP class as a Freshman I feel like they would excuse that as I got an A second semester.</p>

<p>AP Govt Exam Score: 4</p>

<p>---Sophomore Year
Current GPA UW: 3.86
Current GPA W: 3.95</p>

<h2>Classes: AP World History, Pre AP English 10, FST (Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry), Spanish 3, Chemistry, Student Council</h2>

<p>Test Scores:</p>

<h2>I haven't take the real ACT or SAT but I took a practice ACT bling and got a 29. With my tutoring and extended time I will hopefully be able to reach a 34</h2>

<p>Extra Curriculars
-Mock Trial (team captain)
-Theater (1 varsity letter, plan to have 3)
-Choir
-Student Council
- I also had a Communications and Youth Outreach internship on Al Franken's Senatorial campaign last summer</p>

<p>Clubs:
-Sober Squad
-Spanish Club
-French Club
-She's The First (works to provide education for women in 3rd World countries)
-We for She (gender equality)
-Science Club
-212 (student leadership organization)</p>

<p>Credentials:
-Elected Student Council Representative
-Chosen by high school Faculty to represent Class of 2017 on Site Council (all 4 years)
-Spokesperson for school district's Technology initiative (E Learning^2)
-High School Site Council Representative for former Middle School
-Sophomore Captain of my highschools top Mock Trial Team
-1 varsity letter in Mock Trial (plan to have 4)
-3 year Minnesota Honors Choir member
-Chamber choir member
-1 Varsity letter in Community Service
-1 varsity letter in theater
-Leader for 4 educational Summits</p>

<h2>-Student Director of Middle School Musical this spring</h2>

<p>EXTRA THING THAT WILL HELP:
-I have 3 older sisters and all of them attended Princeton, maintaining high GPAs. Everyone tells me this counts as legacy, especially because there are 3 of them but im not sure!
-I am Hispanic and identify as Hispanic/Latino when applying to college</p>

2

<p>Extremely high reach. Your GPA is low for Princeton, and your EC’s are rather average </p>

3

<p>Contrary to what the above poster said, you are on a right track. You are only a Sophomore, and still have another 2 years to go. Keep up the GPA and win some awards and focus on ECs that you are passionate about. </p>

4

<p>@PurePhysics‌ I know it might be a reach but i also know that its not extremely high. I know all 3 of my sisters stats and they all got in so please dont be so aggressive</p>

5

<p>@vipham‌ Thanks!!</p>

6

<p>Hello fellow Minnesotan! I’m guessing that when you say that you attend the #1 public school in the state you go to Mahtomedi. You have a great transcript and you have some good E.C’s however you should try and get involved with ones outside of school. Institutions like Princeton will want to see you demonstrate leadership outside of the classroom. Having family members already attending will help your chances. Make sure that you’re following their footsteps academically but again try and demonstrate leadership in a community based organization. I think you’re on a great path towards Princeton!</p>

<p>Chance me back
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1706041-university-of-minnesota-twin-cities.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1706041-university-of-minnesota-twin-cities.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Thank you so much!! @swanny1210‌ </p>

8

<p>Your EC’s are mediocre at best. Mock trial? Theatre? That’s some University of Arizona stuff. Do you really expect to get in to Princeton with a 3.95 Weighted GPA? Please. You’re going to have to step it up if you want to make it past Princeton’s first round of cuts. Keep doing what you’re doing and your application is going straight in the garbage.</p>

9

<p>You should really edit your original post and remove your name. Identifying yourself on chance threads is almost never a good idea</p>

10

<p>Going to the best school can only help you if you are at the top of your class. Finishing middle of the pack will not help you, regardless of how good the school is.</p>

<p>Your GPA is on track towards where you need it to be. One or two B’s Freshman year won’t break you. You need to get your grades up to straight A’s, including multiple AP courses, no later than the end of Junior year, preferably by end of Sophomore year.</p>

<p>You really need a higher test score, but it’s still early; you can do that in the Spring or as a Junior. Try taking a practice SAT and see if you score in a higher %ile, the tests are a little different in what strengths they play to.</p>

<p>Taking Spanish when you’re Hispanic won’t mean anything, but if you could acquire fluency in a third (or more) language, that would draw some attention. Even better if you can make it something other than the standard French/Spanish/German taught in pretty much every US HS. Can you learn Italian? Russian? An Asian language (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Korean)? Something they can assume you didn’t grow up with people speaking it all around you.</p>

<p>Having siblings who went there does help. They have a pretty good idea of how you’d perform if admitted, coming from pretty much the same background. It also shows some reliable knowledge of what both the school and the workload would be like.</p>

<p>Mostly, look ahead to how the admissions committee will look at your application, and make sure it has what they’re looking for. Which is basically, Academically Qualified Plus. Your grades and test scores will tell them you are capable of handling the work, but that doesn’t set you apart from the rest of the applications. A few ECs that you are serious about and focused on are simply standard for their applicants and won’t be enough to put you over the hill. They’ll be asking, Why should we admit <em>this</em> student instead of any of these others? What would he bring and contribute to our community that we can’t get from anyone else? That’s the Plus, the X-factor.</p>

11

<p>^^^agreed. </p>

<p>You are only a sophomore, so don’t be discouraged by some stuck up Ivy people in CC. Although if you don’t improve that W GPA at least above 4.1, it will be quite hard</p>

12

<p>@oxford69 My extra curriculars are not mediocre. I know my GPA is my weakest point but I have a 4.0 for my current semester. My extracurriculars are better than all of my sisters who got in to princeton and i’m only a sophomore. Theatre is known to be a very strong extra curricular for selective schools. Being one of 4 people elected to student council in my class of 700 people is also VERY good. I also am the sole representative of my entire class on my school’s site council. I completely welcome criticism and tips (which is what i’m looking at) but thats not what you’re doing.</p>

13

<p>4.0 for your current semester? Give me a break. You’re gonna have to bump that waaaay up if you want to even consider thinking about applying to princeton. As for your ECs, theatre? :-& Everyone lied to you about that because they felt pity for you for taking such a lack-luster EC. As for student council, I wouldn’t really count that as an achievement, let alone list it on a college application. I’m just trying to give you some constructive criticism in order to help you get into a college that you are capable of getting into. :-bd </p>

14

<p>^troll</p>

15

<p>@oxford69 is, at best, mis-informed. Princeton has launched a $100 million plus arts initiative, of which theatre is a a major component. Theatre is a pretty big deal at Princeton, as @MigaRoddy’s sisters can probably attest.</p>

16

<p>@oxford69 well any credibility you may have had, you now lost. Obviously student council is something i will most certainly put on my application. Also explain to me how a 4.0 right now isn’t good enough. I literally can not get higher grades.</p>