This discussion was created from comments split from: Princeton University Class of 2022 SCEA Applicants Thread.
I’m happy to start a chance thread. Maybe we can make it a positive thing. Obviously be realistic, but at this point we’re all just nervously waiting, so maybe in our replies we could all say at least one thing we see as a strength in the poster’s record? That would definitely be a calming experience for me, and I think it might help others, too. Anyone interested in a friendly chance thread?
Or we can add it to this thread?
Can we just do it on here?
I’m cool with a chance me! I’m super anxious waiting rn.
Anyone wanna start?
I’m going to copy the set-up they do for results threads so we can all easily copy and paste it into our comment and ten add to it. Also, guys, I know everyone’s on edge, and the last thing we need is more stress. If you want to leave out any part of your record etc. feel free. No judgement, just feedback, and some friendly comments on the poster’s strength/s would be awesome.
Sounds good. And thanks for being so positive! We all need it right now
Okay, guys, here’s the outline. I don’t know why the ** isn’t bolding the headings, but maybe someone more techy can figure that out? 
[ b]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.):
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
[ *] Summer Activities:
[ *] Essays: Common App (X/10), Princeton Supplement (X/10), Princeton Engineering (X/10)
[ *] Teacher Recommendations:
[ *] Counselor Rec:
[ *] Additional Rec:
[ *] Interview:
[ /list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?:
[ *] Intended Major:
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type:
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported):
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported):
[ *] Gender:
[ *] Income Bracket:
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.):
[ /list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths:
[ *] Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD:
[ /list]
[ b]General Comments:**
[ b]Objective:**
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 1570 (780M/790R)
[ *] ACT: 35
[ *] SAT II: 800 US History, 780 Literature
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/1000
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human (5), AP Euro (5), AP Physics (5), AP Psych (5), AP Lang (5), APUSH (5), AP Computer Science Principles (5)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP Micro, Honors Spanish 4, AP Calc AB, AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Computer Science
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Theatre since 4th grade. Been in 15 shows during high school, mostly with only paid adults. Major roles- Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Inga (Young Frankenstein), Janet (Drowsy Chaperone), Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), etc.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: my family opened an escape room and I am the head of Creative Development, so in charge of puzzles. I was very involved in the business from the start.
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Lots of tutoring, volunteer for technical theatre for around 6 shows during high school.
[ *] Summer Activities:
Harvard precollege program
Columbia precollege program
Brown precollege (summer@brown)
[ *] Essays: Common App (10/ 10) - Wrote about mental health issues and stigma, and connected it with my hopes of writing to inspire social change.
Princeton Supplement (8/10), Internalized racism beginning with things like the toy industry which exacerbated the cycle
Princeton Engineering (NA)
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: Both 10/10
[ *] Counselor Rec: no idea, not close with her. Probably 8/10
[ *] Additional Rec: 10/10 from teacher who is a Princeton alum recommending me from a personal perspective
Also submitted professor evaluations from summer courses, which both said I was the best in class and warranted a place at “brown or any ivy”
[ *] Interview: 9/10
[ /list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[ *] Intended Major: English
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): SC
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported):
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): white
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: >200
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): none
[ /list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths: personal hardship that has given me a lot of perspective. And all my recs!
[ *] Weaknesses: no hooks, maybe not spectacular enough
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD:
[ /list]
Brown, Harvard, Yale, Stanford
[ b]General Comments:**
Thanks for chancing me guys!
Here it goes…
[ b]Objective:
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 750 Reading and Writing, 780 Math, 17 on essay
[ *] ACT: N/A
[ *] SAT II: 770 Chemistry, 790 Math II, 720 US History
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.957
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Micro-econ (3) , AP Physics 1 (3), AP Lang(3), AP Seminar (4), APUSH (4), AP Chem (4), AP Gov (5)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP French, Advanced Creative Writing, Sociology, American Legal Systems, AP Calc Workshop
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Princeton Club of Wisconsin Book Award, School Merit Award
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): CTeen (Jewish youth group lol @ my username, President of local chapter and member of international leadership board), French club, winter musical (assistant director this year), Humanitarian Club, Student Council
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Host at a local restaurant
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Hospital, NHS, Merit Award, CTeen
[ *] Summer Activities: AP Chem at Northwestern CTD and research at Boston University in the RISE program
[ *] Essays: Common App (9/10), Princeton Supplement (10/10)(I am very proud of this essay)
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: I think I had good recommendations, my english teacher offered to write me a letter before I even asked and my Honors precalc BC teacher only had one other rec to write so I feel like she put a lot of time and effort into writing my letter.
[ *] Counselor Rec: Had my principal write mine.
[ *] Additional Rec: N/A
[ *] Interview: I really enjoyed my interviewer. He provided me with tons of insight of what it is like to go to Princeton, but also about what it is like after graduation–opportunities and connections in the alumni community.
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[ *] Intended Major: Molecular Bio with possibly a certificate in french/creative writing
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): Wisconsin
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Income Bracket: Not sure
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): Fluent in Russian and a basic understanding of the romance languages
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD: Cornell, Penn, Duke, Georgetown, George Washington, Boston University, Case Western, University of Miami, Rice, Tulane, University of Rochester, Emory,
This sounds very validating, which is exactly what I need in this (very) stressful time. Warning: My stats are not exactly stellar numbers lol
[ b]Objective:
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 1350 700 Reading/English 650 Math 18 Essay
[ *] ACT: N/A
[ *] SAT II: N/A
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/444
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5, 5, 3, 3
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): nothing earth shattering
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Started independent human rights online magazine; articles published by Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Columbia
Politics/human rights activism club (founder, president)
founded human rights initiative to restructure language acquisition curriculum to facilitate cross cultural integration among Euro diaspora communities
school newspaper (editor in chief, state qualifier)
[ *] Job/Work Experience: N/A lol
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: 20 hours maybe at school (separate from human rights work)
[ *] Summer Activities:
-Stanford humanities research institute (full scholarship)
-Columbia human rights/lit program (full scholarship)
-Princeton journalism program for low incomes (all expenses paid)
-open mic events, art galleries, etc etc
[ *] Essays: Common App (7/10), Princeton Supplement (7/10), Princeton Engineering (N/A/10)
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: Good I hope
[ *] Counselor Rec: she said it was amazing
[ *] Additional Rec: Princeton alum/journalism from program
[ *] Interview: we talked about philosophy and politics i got really nervous
[ /list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: YES
[ *] Intended Major: Woody WOO
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): IL
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type:uncomeptative public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): non hispanic
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): white
[ *] Gender: F
[ *] Income Bracket: 30-40k
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): 1st gen
[ /list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths:
[ *] Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD: private LACs w/ lots of $$$ for poor kidz
[ /list]
[ b]Objective:
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (took it once), Reading & Writing: 770, Math: 790
[ *] ACT: ACT: 35 (took it once), English: 36, Math: 35, Reading: 36, Science: 33
[ *] SAT II:Math 2: 790, Chemistry: 800
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A, probably around 3.85
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A but definitely top 55
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics, Comp Sci A, US History, Language, Calc BC, Chemistry (all 5)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP French, Stat, Literature, and Biology + some regular level required classes
[ *] Awards: National Merit Semifinalist (honestly don’t know why I didn’t get the National Hispanic Recognition?), National Honor Society, 1st place in a statewide French competition
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President, previously Secretary); Volunteering at the educational center of a nature reserve, teaching bio to kids, STEM club that travels to elementary schools to do presentations/teach about STEM to kids, Teen PEP (www.hitops…org if you don’t know what this is, it’s about giving freshmen seminars on health and sexuality), Varsity XC and Track, Hospital volunteer
[ *] Job/Work Experience: none
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: See EC’s
[ *] Summer Activities: Working at the nature reserve mentioned above, taking summer classes
[ *] Essays: Common App (8/10), Princeton Supplement (9/10), Princeton Engineering (X/10); Super proud of them! Both written about 2 different big challenges I’ve had to overcome, although Common App was a little overdramatic
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: Chem teacher gave an amazing one (“best student in 20 years”, etc); didn’t read the other one so idk about that
[ *] Counselor Rec: My counselor had interviewed me to write my NMS rec so she reused that letter, I’ve come into her office a ton over the past 4 years so I’m sure it’s good if not great
[ *] Additional Rec: Submitted 2 extra recs from extracurricular advisors, hope they don’t get annoyed by 5 different recs…
[ *] Interview: 1 hr 15 min long, nothing special but not bad, didn’t have much in common with interviewer so a little awkward at times
[ /list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
[ *] Intended Major: Chemistry
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[ *] Country (if international applicant): US
[ *] School Type: Large public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): Hispanic
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
[ *] Gender: Female
[ *] Income Bracket: Upper middle?
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): URM, living super close to campus & they usually accept 3 or so people from my school
[ /list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths: Essays, recs
[ *] Weaknesses: EC’s not broad/extensive enough?
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD: If I get accepted I’ll still be applying to Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, MIT
[ /list]
Extra Info: My sister has health issues where she cannot be home alone, so soph year I had to decrease my EC involvement to be with her. I wrote the supplement about this & put it in my extra comments section so I’m hoping it’ll balance my weakness
Overall, I just want to say that I’m posting purely for reassurance… at this point there’s nothing anyone can change and it’s better to read these over, give a quick reply, and go work on your other supplements instead of obsessing for another week!
[ b]Objective:
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): N/A
[ *] ACT: 32
[ *] SAT II: N/A
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/250
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 taken, 5s on 2 and 4s on other 2
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: All APs/Honors
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Competitive summer program with <10% acceptance rate, College Prep Scholar, State award
[/list]
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Have a leadership position in all and am actively involved
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Fast food for two years
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
[ *] Summer Activities: summer program above
[ *] Essays: Common App (9/10), Princeton Supplement (8.5/10)
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: 8/10
[ *] Counselor Rec: 9/10
[ *] Additional Rec: 10/10
[ *] Interview: 6/10
[/list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[ *] Intended Major: Undecided
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): Southern state
[ *] Country (if international applicant): U.S.
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): Yes, Mexican
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported):
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Income Bracket: <25k
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): URM, low-income first-gen
[/list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths:
[ *] Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD:
[/list]
General Comments:
I think my essays might make me stand out 
also messed up the formatting so oops lol
[ b]Objective:
[ *] ACT: 35 E/M/R/S
[ *] SAT II: 760 Literature 740 US History
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5,4,4,3,3,3,3
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: APs/honors
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Jaycee’s Outstanding Young Wisconsinite, Jake’s Café Creativity Award, Most Improved in Cross Country, NMSF, AP Scholar with Distinction
[ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): EXPO (Director)- local event but I spend approximately 850+ hours per year making 300+ paintings to decorate hallway with talent show, synchronized swimming, club showcase (this event is so hard to explain)
FBLA (President) national competitor in economics
NHS (Co-President)
Varsity Cross Country
Blue Crew (Leader) - freshmen welcoming club
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
Was asked to be the first high school intern at Acuity Insurance after presenting to the CEO for funding for my coloring book
Marina dockhand
Sheboygan Youth Sailing Center Office Manager
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
Created 32 page coloring book (Color Me Sheboygan, sought funding from businesses, drew pages, talked to kids around Sheboygan for input, raised $11,000.
Donated $11,000 to Children’s Museum and created programs to encourage creativity, art, start a community mural, and to sell coloring books around Sheboygan (around 11 stores)
[ *] Summer Activities:
[ *] Essays: Common App (too subjective to rate) talked about how my coloring book taught me how to combine my intellectual and imaginative parts of my personality, Princeton Supplement, talked about wanting to studying microloans v. direct foreign investment to decrease cultural lag
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: read both, one said best in career, other talked more about my personality
[ *] Counselor Rec: I think very good!
[ *] Additional Rec: rec from my coloring book mentor, more details about Color Me Sheboygan
[ *] Interview: average
[ /list]
[ b]Other**
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[ *] Intended Major: Economics (Entrepreneurship)
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): WI
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported):
[ *] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): white
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: high
[ *] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): nope
[ /list]
[ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths: uniqueness
[ *] Weaknesses: AP scores for sure, not academic enough
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
[ *] Where else are you applying for RD:
[ /list]
[ b]General Comments:**
@18YearsASlav Okay, maybe we just do strengths then? That would be nice for everyone.
@writerreader22 Your stats are AWESOME. I also think you definitely have a great creative theme defined, especially through all that leadership you have in theater. I’d say your chances are very high, because you have both great ECs and stats going for you. Great accomplishments!
@appletree456789 your writing looks incredible, good luck on Wednesday:)
@jewboy104 Your stats are great. I’d say it’ll probably be decided by your essays and how they view your ECs, but those look great as well, so I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t jump to admit you.
Thank you! That is reassuring. I guess we’ll find out in a week, but that makes me feel a little better @appletree5656