Princeton FAQ: Get your questions answered by current students

<p>What percentage of students go home for fall break as opposed to staying on campus or taking part in some type of activity with a group or organization?</p>

<p>My very unscientific estimate is 85%.</p>

<p>Does anyone travel/know of another Princeton student who travels into NY City on an every week or two basis to act/model professionally? Does it work? Travel time?
Thanks!</p>

<p>J O N A T H A N **S C H W A R T Z, who is now a senior, is one of the leads in the Off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks. There are eight performance of the show six days a week, so he has to go into the City almost every day. Going in once every week or two can easily be made to work. </p>

<p>[It's</a> Fantastick - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=ā€œhttp://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/04/30/23583/]Itā€™sā€>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/04/30/23583/)</p>

<p>[THE</a> FANTASTICKS is back. Better than ever!](<a href=ā€œhttp://www.fantasticksonbroadway.com/]THEā€>http://www.fantasticksonbroadway.com/)</p>

<p>That is awesome to hear!! Not that I will have that much success, but the fact it is being done while at Princeton is huge for meā€¦yahoo!! Now I just have to get inā€¦yikes! I like Princeton SOOOOO much better than the NY schools I am looking at. Thanks a million PDaddy!!</p>

<p>Do you have to take an SAT II in Chemistry or Mathematics if youā€™re applying for a B.A. in Computer Science instead of a B.S.E.?</p>

<p>Do people, particularly African-Americans, with SAT scores in the 1800s have a chance?</p>

<p>MorganSimone,
Thatā€™s a big stretch, in my opinion.</p>

<p>How much does an international applicantā€™s target for particular majors matter during the admission process?</p>

<p>Can you please tell me my chances of getting into Princeton?? I am an international applicant by the way.
For SAT I, I scored 2380/2400 and I have currently taken my SAT II and are awaiting my results. I am an IB student so the course is very very hectic. I have a 45 predicted for my IB if that matters. Basically, from the academic point of view, I am very strong.</p>

<p>However, Iā€™m not so sure about my extra-curricular activities. I have been a member of our soccer school team for 5 years in a row, but we havenā€™t won any medals. I have been a vice captain once and a captain once in these 5 years.</p>

<p>So could you please let me know of my chances of getting into Princeton or any other IVY league universities?</p>

<p>in the princeton supplement, they ask you the following question:</p>

<p>ā€œPlease tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held, if not already detailed on the Common Application.ā€</p>

<p>is it supposed to be a sort of anectodal, personal essay where you go in detail what you did or just a brief overview of how we spent summer in a few sentences?</p>

<p>iā€™m a Nigerian girl. i got 2050 on my SAT and iā€™m doing my SAT II. my GPA is 4.0 and i do volunteer work. do you think i have a shot at princeton.</p>

<p>a NON-CHANCE-ME question: How is the Astronomy Department at Princeton?</p>

<p>Are the astronomy/planetary science professors rather accessible? How much resources are available for those interested in the study of exoplanets and the solar system at Princeton? Is this a popular interest among the Princeton population? In general, if I love Princeton, but love astronomy even more, should I still go there (assuming I make it in)?</p>

<p>I absolutely love Princetonā€¦but I have a few Qā€™s to ask:
-is genetic engineering part of BSE or is it only offered as a certificate Im guessing its part of bioengineering
-also is it possible to take two very different majors such as architecture and genetic engineering??</p>

<p>Does Princeton have a nice shopping period (for classes)?</p>

<p>Also, whatā€™s it like at Princeton? And what makes it more attractive than other schools?</p>

<p>1) How much and in what aspect does legacy increase chances?
2) Do the electives on your transcript play a big role in admission? I have a random junk across the board. Besides Spanish.</p>

<p>Hey guysā€¦iā€™m an international applicant from Nigeria. I had a 1880 on the october SAT. iā€™m retakn january.hopefully, iā€™m hopin 4 a >2200. If i get that score, how have my chances been boosted. +i have gone 4several international competition, am among the top decile in my school and i also take d toughest courses. Considering all these, how good are my chancesā€¦</p>

<p>I really want to have my boss write me a rec. cause I think Heā€™ll write a really good one, apart from the two required teacher rec and counselor should I also send that one. Also Iā€™ve been doing well in AP Chem this year, and I donā€™t know if I sould have her write a rec. instead of or in addition to my french teacherā€™s. Although I did have my french teacher 3 yrs now, and my chem teacher only this yr. It would be too much to send all those recā€™s in, right?</p>

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<p>If you want to look at the increase in chances in terms of SAT score:</p>

<p><a href=ā€œhttp://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Opportunity%20Cost%20of%20Admission%20Preferences%20Espenshade%20Chung%20June%202005.pdf[/url]ā€>http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Opportunity%20Cost%20of%20Admission%20Preferences%20Espenshade%20Chung%20June%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>*A smaller, but nevertheless important, preference is extended to Hispanic and legacy applicants. African-American applicants receive the equivalent of 230 extra SAT points (on a 1600-point scale), and being Hispanic is worth an additional 185 SAT points. Other things equal, recruited athletes gain an admission bonus worth 200 points, while the preference for legacy candidates is worth 160 points. *</p>

<p>Furthermore, the admit rate for non-legacies for the schools in the study was 21.5%. The admit rate for legacies was 46.5%.</p>

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</p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=ā€œhttp://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princetonā€>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/)</p>

<p>Percentage of Applicants Accepted by SAT Range</p>

<p>SAT Score || % Accepted
2300-2400 || 26.3%
2100-2290 || 11.4 %
1900-2090 || 6.2%
1700-1890 || 2.2%</p>

<p>So, a pretty significant boost in chances if you score in that range, but the most substantial boost occurs at 2300+.</p>

<p>Thank you, good information. Do you know about legacy on the ACT?</p>