“The head of the hunt”? Were they talking about your specific application or those that were deferred? Also, should I be trying to have my counselor speak with the adcoms if Princeton remains my top choice? (I am writing a letter to them as well)
Congratulations to all those who got Accepted. Best wishes to everyone else for RD. My son got deferred. Being an ORM (Over Represented Minority) couldn’t have helped. (Indians & Chinese are the highest represented ethnic minority)
DEFERRED
ACT: Composite 36 (Math: 36 | Science: 35 |English: 36 |Reading: 35)
SAT Subject: Math II - 800, Physics - 800
IB: Predicted Score 42/42 (4 HLs)
Mathematics HL (7) | Economics HL (7) | English Literature HL (7) , Physics HL (7) , History SL (7) | Spanish Ab Initio (7)
“Often, a deferral means that the committee would like to see your senior year academic performance.”
Is this just standard language sent to all or does it have a clue as to why they may have deferred the application or what they are now looking for?
Is my son aiming too high with Princeton? What Colleges would you recommend he apply to in Regular Decision? Do keep in mind that financial aid is very important and that he is an international student and therefore aside from five colleges, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Yale and Amherst, all others are Need Aware for him.
@OverseasFather That was sent to all I believe
Yes, I recommend asking your counselor if he or she could speak with Princeton’s AO in regard to your deferral. Write a meaningful LOCI, perhaps demonstrate how your most recent activities (or accomplishments) can strengthen what you can contribute to Princeton? Good luck.
Deferred as well; unsurprised but somewhat disappointed. I plan to write a LOCI and ask my counselor to talk to adcoms. Is it relevant to put in the letter not only updated accomplishments but also that my grandmother was recently diagnosed with cancer and deteriorating fast? It’s put a lot of pressure on my family, but I feel that my performance has strengthened despite the increased work in my home life so I think it might be an extenuating circumstance that wasn’t in my original app. Ik that’s a bit of a pity card though and I’d prefer to emphasize my own merits. My stats aren’t great tho so…
Yes, your GC should speak (better than email, but you have to take what you can get) with the AO and communicate it’s your top choice.
And yes, you should send a short, simple LOCI to your AO as well.
Good luck.
My daughter is a freshman at P this year. She was deferred and got in. You never know. Keep your head up. Write your letter and send your grades. Hold strong.
Hi @OverseasFather,
How are your son’s (1) ECs, (2) leadership experiences, (3) services to his community, etc.?
What is he interested in studying (intended major)?
Any academic research experience?
Hello @par271828nt,
Deffered
Intended major: Mathematics and Economics
Academics:
ACT: Composite Score - **36/b
SAT II: Mathematics Level 2 - 800 | Physics - 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 ← Estimated
Weighted GPA: 5.5 ← Estimated
Rank : **Top 1% /b (School does not rank)
IB (place score in parenthesis): **42/42/b
Senior Year Course Load: (4 HLs instead of the 3 required)
Mathematics **HL/b | Economics **HL/b | English Literature **HL/b |
Physics **HL/b | History SL (7) | Spanish Ab Initio (7)
Achievements & Awards:
2019 1st Place in ‘Commquest’ (interschool commerce festival)
2014-19 Numerous Awards at MUN conferences.
2017-19 Club President/Founder of Science and Math Club at school.
2018 Winner & Best debater at an intra-school debate.
2017 Leader of the school band for 1 year.
2016-17 Class representative in 9th and 10th grade.
2015 All India Topper in 8th grade ASSET English Exam
Activities:
Volunteer teacher for over a year with Project Dhruv, the Underprivileged Gifted Child Identification & Nurturing Program of Mensa - India, the High IQ Society. Underprivileged children scoring in the top 2 percentile in the Supervised Mensa Test, as per Mensa’s worldwide norms, are identified as Dhruv Scholars. (https://www.mensaprojectdhruv.in)
~ Teach 11th-grade Dhruv Scholars to improve their proficiency in mathematics and to help expand their mathematical knowledge beyond their regular school curriculum.
~Identified a smaller group of interested Dhruv Scholars and helped prepare them for competitive math exams and to qualify for the Mathematics Olympiad.
Teaching assistant - Taught 10th-grade mathematics class in school.
MUN - Active participant for 5 years. Also judged at MUNs.
Trainer - I have been a trainer in the MUN Society in school for 4 years. I organize mock MUNs in school.
Debating - Participated in debates for 4 years. Member of debating club for 2 years. I organize debates in school.
Music - Lead Guitarist in school band for 4 years.
Organized and provided training for a marathon for underprivileged children.
Organized an art competition for underprivileged children in school.
Conducted seminars for underprivileged children on life skills/etiquette.
Poetry - I write poetry as a hobby. I have presented my poems at events in school and also in my English Literature class.
Performed at the TEDx event in school.
Attended a 3 week-long summer course at Yale University as part of the ‘Summer Institute for the Gifted’ program.
Chess (recreationally). I also study chess theory & analyze professional games intensively.
Badminton (recreationally).
Interests:
Films
Reading
Trivia/Quizzing
History
Research:
I am currently undertaking research in economics on the use of nudge theory in education by analyzing the effect of positive reinforcement on test performance.
Letter of Recommendations:
Counselor - Excellent
Teacher (2) - Most likely excellent
Extra Curricular Activity - Excellent
In the 1st week of December, my son was invited by the Indian chapter of Mensa International (https://www.mensa.org/) to become a member, based on his 99th percentile placement in the Mensa Supervised IQ Test. He did not report this to Princeton, because he wasn’t sure if it would make any difference. He did call the Princeton admissions office to ask if he could send any additional information. The person at the office, however, said that she didn’t know at what stage his application was at and that he could upload the info to the portal but she wasn’t sure anyone would even look at it at that late stage. Would something like this have made any difference?
Can you send me a private message off line? I want to give you a few suggestions of schools, and what to/not to emphasize in your application.
(Since this is a Princeton blog, I won’t want to talk about other colleges here.)
Good luck to you.
I don’t think we can send private messages till we have at least 15 posts. Any opinion on the Mensa membership?
About Mensa Membership: Based on what I have read, some people are quite unhappy, if not offended, if someone tells them he/she is a Mensa Member. It is like telling someone, “I am certified smart.” (The issue is not just the person is smart, but he/she has to go to take a test and tell someone they are certified smart. It could be interpreted that way.)
What matters more is HOW you use your intelligence, for research, for your community, to help others, etc. that really matters. That should be one’s emphasis and focus.
It is, however, IMHO, okay to mention done some work for gifted children in Mensa’s XYZ program. It is a form of service.
Personally, I would definitely avoid putting using words like “high IQ”. For me, it is not a plus at all. Just my 2 cents.
A few other suggestions:
- focus on describing how your works have (a) impact and helped others. What’s the outcome, (b) changed you as a person (if it has) or your views of anything (if it has), etc.
- how do you want to use your talents and interests (e.g., in math and econ) to help your own community?
- it’s the quality of EC’s that matter, not the large amount/quantity.
- I think the SIG camp is not run by Yale. They are just renting the space from the University.
Overall Suggestion: For all your EC’s, ask yourself, what is the impact of each? (Some could be just for fun, without any impact. That is fine.) Which are the most unusual? Why unusual? If you are given only 5 to 10 minutes, what would you tell the admissions officer what you have achieved?
Hope that helps.
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@OverseasFather - My son graduated from Princeton in 2014. I’m not sure if anyone else mentioned this but when I looked at your stats what I thought was missing was socialization, Peer/group activities outside of academics. What does your child do with others for fun, hang out. I see hobbies that he can do alone but I think they would like to see that he will not be a loner on campus… Just my opinion.
I got into Princeton, Columbia, Harvard and brown. Not sure where I’m going btw thank god for my essay writer. But I really took a financial hit.
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they require quarter grades for every year of high school?