<p>Okay so here's the thing...
I'm 13 years old going into highschool. I'm going to do the IB program. I REALLY want to be accepted for Princeton when the time comes. All of you who have got accepted to princeton WHAT DID YOU DO??? I'm willing to work my very hardest these up comming years, just ANYTHING to get into Princeton. I'll get involved in clubs, and my community, and i'll keep amazing grades... PLEASE HELP ME! I want to start high school really good, so that when it comes time to register for universities, i'll have at least a good chance of making it. I'm devoted, and persistant until I get what I want, I jsut need to know what to do to have a chance of being accepted. Should i join a lot of clubs, or just a few that I really love and put my heart into that? Please help! Thanks in adavance, I will be very grateful :D
(I live in Canada)</p>
<p>Theres been views but no answers! Please answer…</p>
<p>No one is responding because there is no easy answer.</p>
<p>I will tell you what my D was told by her counselor:</p>
<p>Take the hardest classes. Do well in them. Find an EC you love and stick with it. </p>
<p>But nothing is guaranteed. There are lots of reasons kids get into Princeton. And lots of reason kids don’t. The first of which is that there is only so much room. Lots of kids qualify for acceptance, but the university only has so many beds.</p>
<p>Thanks! Does anyone know if bein in IB progra
Helps?</p>
<p>Another thing, do I need to have like a special talent? Have any off you gotten into Princeton without having a ‘special talent’</p>
<p>^^I would think that being in an IB program at a respected high school certainly wouldn’t hurt (they want to see that you have not taken the easy route). Likewise, having a “special talent” that sets you apart from the thousands of other top students who are also applying at the same time as you will improve your chances.</p>
<p>How about of I don’t have a talent in anything?
I mean I have the smarts, and the perseverance… But I’m not some amazing athlete or musician… Has anyone gotten in without having an amazing talent?</p>
<p>One more thing if I start getting like only high 80’s rather than 95’s, will they understand I’m in the IB program?</p>
<p>Here is my piece of advice and take it for what it is worth (not very much since I am only a high school senior). Do what you love and are passionate about. Dont join sports teams or clubs just to say you are in them, do it because you actually enjoy the activity. There are a few people at my school who are trying to do everything they can to get into the college of their dreams. Not only will admissions officers see right through this (or so I am told), but they are not enjoying high school at all.</p>
<p>High school (and college for that matter) are supposed to be fun. Dont make getting into college an obsession that ruins your high school experience. Find an activity or two that you truly enjoy and delve into it. It has worked for me. :)</p>
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<p>Of course they have. There is no recipe for getting into Princeton.</p>
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<p>I assume you are speaking in terms of the Canadian grading system. I don’t know how the Canadian grading system translates into the American system and I’m assuming other people who are reading this don’t either.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the advice guys!!! Keep it coming, especially you guys who are in or got into Princeton.</p>
<p>Do you guys think it’s stupid that a 13 year old like me wants to even try for Princeton?</p>
<p>I go to Princeton. The fact is over 92% of applicants do not get into Princeton. This means you probably will not get into Princeton. Fours years from now it will be even harder, I imagine an acceptance rate between 6 and 7 percent. My advice is simple: don’t set your heart on a single school, ESPECIALLY not one as selective as Princeton. Keep an open mind and things will work out.</p>
<p>13 is too young to think about colleges. Junior year of high school is when you can assess your options.</p>
<p>Try hard in high school, do what you love, but don’t let getting into Princeton take away from the high school experience. Enjoy being a kid. Princeton’s just a school (albeit a very prestigious one) but there are many other schools out there. Doing “anything” to get into Princeton isn’t how you want to spend four years of your life. Sure, you could study hours every day, take the hardest classes, get a 4.0, get a 2400, spend three hours a day practicing a musical instrument, or whatever else. Even then chances are you’d be rejected. But is that how you want to spend your life? Wasting high school years to prepare to maybe increase chances for Princeton? </p>
<p>High school can be a lot of fun. If you miss out on the high school experience because of a lofty goal like Princeton you’ll regret it.</p>
<p>Best advice you’ll get is work hard and do your best. Challenge yourself and do what you love. But it’s all about balance. Social, academic, and extracurricular. Enjoy high school and forget about Princeton for a few years.</p>
<p>Okay, you guys are right…</p>
<p>A few extra thoughts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There’s nothing wrong with thinking about the future, or using your dreams of Princeton to inspire yourself to do more than you might otherwise have done. Just understand the difference between a dream and an unhealthy obsession with a college you might not get a chance to attend even if you do everything right.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s only one strategy that gives you a meaningful chance of success, and even that doesn’t come anywhere near making admission to Princeton likely. The plan is to make yourself into the best student and the best person you possibly can. Do well in your courses, cultivate your intellectual curiosity, don’t let learning stop when you finish your assignments. Do things that you love outside of class, and put all of your heart and soul into them. Look for experiences that will challenge you and give you new perspectives. If you do all that, you will be the kind of person Princeton is looking for. But far more importantly, you will be the kind of person YOU want to be. Wherever you go to college, whatever the future holds, you will be happier and more successful if you are doing things you love with a full heart, and doing your absolute best at them. So learn how to do that – it’s a no-lose strategy.</p></li>
<li><p>As a Canadian, eventually you will probably have to face a real dilemma, unless your family is ultra-low income. Canada has some excellent, world-class universities, and you can go to college there for a fraction of the tuition Princeton will charge, even after financial aid. They aren’t as pretty as Princeton, the faculties as a whole may be a tad less distinguished, and the student body is much bigger and not all as superhumanly smart and articulate as Princeton’s. But it will be hard-hard-hard to justify paying a lot more for Princeton than you would for Toronto, McGill, UBC. So you should research what makes them great universities, too, and what you would do if you went there.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would strongly agree with everything that “Lagging” said above except do NOT wait until you are a junior in high school to begin to think about college–you need to have taken the most difficult classes that you can and become involved in school or outside activities from day one in high school. It is very difficult to overcome poor grades from 9th grade and get into a school the caliber of Princeton.</p>
<p>Any schools that are as beautiful as Princeton, and good academically… People say Lehigh is pretty good, is it true???</p>
<p>Is Lehigh as beautiful as Princeton, and pretty good academically??</p>
<p>Those were amazing answers, thank you SO much! I will definitely take these things to Heart! I will work dry hard to try for Princeton. But if I dont make i, at least I’ll be qualified for other pretty good universities! Tha k you again</p>