I am a rising senior at one of the top 200 schools in the country and I have wanted to go to Princeton since I was a kindergardener. I know that it is an extremely hard school to get into but I want to get into a selective school that will make my suffering in high school worth while.
Here is my information:
Grades:
3.92 unweighted GPA, 4.6 weighted GPA
I have taken mostly honors/AP classes throughout high school. My only Bs were in my freshman and sophomore year (3 freshman, 1 sophomore. Strong upward trend).
AP Classes:
1 sophomore year
3 junior year
4 senior year (AP European History, AP BC Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Spanish Language and Culture (5th year of Spanish)
My scores so far have been nothing to show for but the posts I have read have said AP scores don’t really count.
SAT:
1910
It is bad, I know, but I have a chance to take them again in October.
SAT II:
haven’t taken any yet but will in October also as Princeton requires 2.
Extracurricular activities:
Soccer for 3 years (I was injured freshman year. Varsity junior and senior year, and I have a good chance at being captain senior year).
Lacrosse for 4 years (3 years on varsity and I also have a very good chance at being captain senior year)
Astronomy club member
Worked as a camp counselor for a kid’s camp for the past 4 summers
On a select lacrosse team club this summer and a competitive soccer team (I am the captain of the soccer team).
Other Information:
I lived in Africa (Zambia and then Tanzania) for 10 years of my life with my dad doing public health work. This has inspired my interest to do something like that but I am also interested in engineering and medicine.
I have 139 service hours but I hope to get to 240 hours to get the extra purple tassel.
My dad is an alumni of Princeton University.
The average GPA for getting into Princeton from my school is 3.95 and average SAT 2293 but there were outliers with lower scores.
I know that there have been many other “chances of getting into Princeton” posts and most have been much more impressive than mine, but it would be much appreciated and would mean a lot to get an opinion on my chances.
Thanks a lot and please reply with any other questions you may have.
My answer probably not what you want to hear but here is my opinion. Unless you are recruitable for soccer or lacrosse (which, as a rising senior, you would probably already know by now) or unless your family gives gobs of money to Princeton, I would think your chances are pretty slim with that SAT score. Frankly, unless hooked, most have slim chances. Princeton is a schools that places a high value on stats, more so IMO than the other Ivy schools. Go ahead and apply, as everyone has reaches, but don’t put too much hope in the application and work on finding a balanced list of other reach, match, and safety schools. Think about what you are really looking for in a school, what appeals to you, and let the folks here on CC know and perhaps we can suggest some schools you might get excited about. Do you have other schools you are already considering?
thanks a lot for your answer. I am thinking about UMD college park, Georgetown, UCLA, UNC chapel hill, and notre dame.
I highly suggest the ACT. I think your living experiences will make for some great essays but be careful not to sound too cliched! It’s really impossible to tell your chances, but I’d say it’s a reasonable dream, just not a statistically probably one. The other schools you listed are great choices too, I wish you the best of luck!
I’d also apply SCEA. Princeton is a lottery for most people, but SCEA lightens the load, I think.
Thanks carminative and codemachine! I’ll DEFINITELY look into the ACT and SCEA
I’d like to offer a slightly different perspective on SCEA. Bear in mind that most recruited athletes (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 of them) apply and are accepted in the early round which significantly skews the admission rates for early action. Children of faculty and staff will also apply early. Additionally, legacies are generally accepted during this round (a slight plus for you); their admissions rate is slightly higher than the general population as well. For the class of 2019 an extremely large percentage of applicants were waitlisted from the early round. Given all of these factors, the advantage of applying early is negligible but I would advise it anyway if it is absolutely your first choice. Just don’t put too much weight on the “early” advantage.
I agree that your test scores need to be significantly higher to be a competitive applicant, even with the legacy factor. The ACT is an option (you will need to take it with writing) and probably worth considering if you think you can produce better results.
Remember that Princeton really is a far reach school for pretty much everyone. Work on those scores, connect with a couple teachers who can advocate for you as references and write great essays. Then apply and see what happens, along with a few safeties and ‘nearer reach’ schools.
All the best to you!!!
@soccerlax123 If you can contact Princeton’s lacrosse coach and get recruited, that’ll be probably be the easiest way for you to be admitted, as Princeton has a great lacrosse team. You also have the legacy status which is beneficial, but if you improve your scores your chances of admission will increase more than the chances of solely your athletic abilities getting you in. Perhaps try the ACT to see if it suits you more.
You cannot take both the SAT and SAT subject tests in October, so one of them will have to wait for November.
In terms of recruiting, while you can certainly contact the coaches, I think it’s unlikely at this stage that you would be a highly ranked recruit. And in terms of your other schools, unless you are in-state, UVA and UNC are extremely difficult to get into (and a 1910 will probably not be sufficient). Georgetown is also very difficult and likes to see 3 SAT subject tests. Of the schools you have mentioned, you might only get into UMD - are you okay with that? I would strongly suggest you consider other schools that might be more in line with your current statistics.