<p>i really want to make it into princeton.
i am a junior right now. what do you suggest me doing now that will help me next year? i volunteer, hold a job (for 4 yrs), haven't taken the SATs yet, 3 varsity sports (coaches award for one).. don't have any other awards (know of any national contests i can enter?) etc..</p>
<p>thanks!!</p>
<p>too many people ask these kind of questions and to try and get theirselves into an ivy</p>
<p>nobody should tell you what you should do…obviously you should be involved, but do the things you have interest in.</p>
<p>i honestly believe the admission ppl can see through applicant’s ec’s that were done just to get into a school</p>
<p>do what u love and do it well…and it never hurts if u take as many ap’s as possible… 
what u can do is make sure when u do take that sat, u do very well. lol…</p>
<p>If you are a math/science person, there are plenty of math and science competitions (olympiads, ARML, PUMaC, etc.). And if not that, you could get a research position somewhere.</p>
<p>Otherwise, it is difficult for admissions people to compare you to the other people who excel at math and science. Of course, its definitely not that they wouldn’t accept u otherwise, just that these would help.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>9-10 years are key for setting up ECs, so that in 11-12 you really start profiting from them and raking in the awards and accomplishments. Now, youre best bet is to do ONE or TWO ecs really, really well.</p>
<p>5 golds at IMO</p>
<p>5 golds at IOI in addition to the ones from the IMO, as desperate asian mentioned, would help out.</p>
<p>Earn a US national ranking in sabre.</p>
<p>As a Princeton freshman with lots of juniors and seniors visiting from my school, I’m often asked for “insider” information on what might help them get in. I honestly don’t know any secret formula for getting in, but I do tell them the following things</p>
<p>Things People Might Not Know That MIGHT Help You Get Into Princeton</p>
<ol>
<li>Princeton has seen this resume before: 3.9, 2350, captain of Debate Team, editor of school paper, Model Congress, National Youth Leadership Congress.
Princeton hasn’t seen this resume before: 3.9, 2350, took 4 AP classes and nothing else senior year in order to leave school early to do a self-designed independent study at the NIH on the avian flu</li>
</ol>
<p>Who do you think they’ll let in?</p>
<p>Moral of story: EVERYONE does debate team, EVERYONE writes for the school paper. Do something original and tie-in a research project or community service into an academic Independent Study. Bonus points for writing a paper/abstract/research report about it that gets published. And honestly, it makes your life a LOT less stressful if you do an independent study in something you actually like – and then take fewer classes – and plus it’s not that hard to design one if you just think about what you’re really interested in.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Get your school to nominate you for the 2009 Humanities Symposium. If they don’t receive a nomination form, tell them to call the Princeton admissions office to request one. I’ve heard that about 80% of Symposium attendees who apply are accepted.</p></li>
<li><p>Rock your interview. Show off how unique, charming, intelligent, and…sorry awkward computer science nerds…socially competent you are. I know, I know, this is a TINY thing and people will probably get mad at me for saying this. But I do tend to think that Princeton cares more about social skills than Harvard. Honestly. Just a gut feeling.</p></li>
<li><p>PLEASE remember quality over quantity. It’s repeated so much because it’s true: the thicker the file, the thicker the applicant. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t think you have to do some sort of creatively brilliant application essay. All those famous ones that start “The woman wanted breasts” or “I am a dynamic figure” (you’ve read them, if not, google them) are well-written, yes, BUT you can be just as successful by writing a sincere essay about something you care about. If you can write about community service without being cliche, that’s okay. As long as there’s something in there that’s original, and as long as the essay is tightly constructed and concise, you’ll be fine.</p></li>
<li><p>Score high on your SATs. Score higher than a 2200. </p></li>
<li><p>If Princeton is your first choice for sure, you can send a “February letter.” This should be about half a page and should be sent during the first week in February. Basically it’s an update about what you’ve been doing (more awards, new community service projects, even summer plans) and then a closing statement along the lines of “Princeton is my first choice. If accepted, I WILL ATTEND.” It’s all about yield, and without early decision, Princeton has no idea who is actually going to matriculate. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Caveat: this is not a good idea if you have already bombarded the admissions office with additional letters, phone calls, emails, etc. But if you haven’t gone overboard, this sort of letter can help. </p>
<ol>
<li>If you can, get teacher recs from teachers who went to Ivy League or similar caliber colleges (or beter yet, Princeton). This is a tiny thing but it lends them a bit more credence and you know your letters will be well-written. (People will DEFINITELY get mad at me for saying that. But it helps. It’s one thing that helps all the kids who went to fancy private schools.)</li>
</ol>
<p>That’s all I got. If I think of anything else later, I’ll add it. Others, feel free to add on. And I might be totally off the mark on some of these, this is all just my personal opinion and what I know to have helped me and my friends get into Princeton. If other Princeton students/alums have opinions to the contrary, please share them! I honestly don’t know that much about this stuff… just trying to be helpful.</p>
<p>ceebee thanks a lot! that helped so much</p>
<p>I would really recommend scoring >2300, for starters.</p>
<p>Interviewing extremely well won’t help you if you don’t have the scores to back it up.</p>
<p>And, it always helps to stand out from the 20,000 other applicants. =P</p>
<p>What is the 2009 Humanities Symposium?</p>
<p>yeah i was wondering the same thing ^</p>
<p>The Princeton Arts and Humanities Symposium is a small three-day event for high school seniors who have shown outstanding promise/ability in the arts or humanities (okay, that was probably obvious). It’s basically an academic recruitment event – once you get there, they try to show off the school as much as possible and try to get you to come. I went in 2007 but honestly don’t know much about how they select people or how schools get nomination forms… Maybe you could email the admissions office or talk to your college counselor for more info…?</p>
<p>P.S. I should say “supposedly show.” I honestly don’t think I have outstanding ability at any of those things 
Though there were a lot of really smart people there!</p>
<p>2 years after, and I’m STILL finding this info very helpful</p>
<p>esp. with the Princeton Humanities Symposium…so do I ask a teacher to nominate me?</p>