So excited that this thread has picked up speed! I guess that, for one day, we’re catching up with the Penn thread.
I got a postcard of UChicago in the mail a few days back that I’d like to share with you guys. I know that it is from a different school, but there is a quote by the Dean of Admissions on the postcard that could be applied to every single applicant to every single school:
I guess the point here is that, now that we are in the long waiting period before decisions, our applications should be the last thing on our minds. Sure, our applications are summaries of our entire high school career, and they are our tickets to our educational futures, but they are also just one aspect of our lives. What is more important is the efforts, accomplishments that we’ve achieved in the process; without them, our applications have no meaning.
So, I think that in the next few weeks, we should transition from conversations about our applications and speculation to conversations to get to know each other. We’ve already spent 420 comments freaking out; putting everything behind for the next two weeks will make everything a lot better on decision day.
That being said, let’s get to know each other a bit more! What topics did you guys write for your essays?
Our financial aid application was already submitted and it already has the data with the numbers and our price. This form they are requesting merely validates that number. This most likely means that they are confirming this number on our financial packet. I still have a feeling that the only reason they would request this form is if they are verifying your app. If they wanted it for deferred or anything they wouldn’t need it until feb or march before regular results. This is proably why they want is as soon as possible to verify the financial aid package.
@DonkeyKong466 As much as I want it to be a sign that I’m accepted, just look at last year’s SCEA results thread. It’s a sea of deferments there, with a few acceptances sprinkled in. I don’t see why it would be any different this year, given that nearly everyone is reporting getting this email. It costs them no time or effort to ask for your W2, and by asking for everybody’s it makes sure that all the people who are eventually accepted (in the near future) will have gotten it. Also at least one person that I saw flipping through last year’s said there was no correlation and that they got the email but were still deferred. Possibly it signifies making it to committee, but it’s no sure sign of admittance.
Of course it’s also possible that it is supposed to mean something but that they pulled a Carnegie Mellon and accidentally sent out the message to everybody instead of just those accepted.
@azwu331 Agreed. As my psych teacher once said, everything’s been done, the paperwork just has to be filed. I wrote about my shortness and my sweaty hands. You?
@DonkeyKong466 It probably doesn’t mean anything also because the people who are deferred will still need to send in the forms for RD, so it’s an inevitable email for most all applicants. So as much as I wish it meant something good, it probably doesn’t.
I didn’t get that email. But I did send in the w2 tax return forms. They were pretty convenient too, a day after I emailed them through back in November someone replied saying thanks, we’ll add this to your file (and there was a name, so it wasn’t computer generated). I think them asking for tax forms is just that - asking for then from people who did indicate that they were seeking financial aid.
First quarter grades… If my counselor sent them I wouldn’t know… But I did get two Bs and a b + with everything else As and a +s… #senioritis…Too many bs for princeton?
@azwu331 My Common App was pretty out there, linking Voltaire to my failures and learning experiences with the extensive development work I’ve done in Haiti. My Princeton supplement was about my term abroad last fall in Paris, where I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for my French friends. (It was pretty crazy - for some reason, French grocery stores don’t sell pumpkin purée or whole turkeys, but we finally managed to find both at an American outpost!) Between those essays, the “favorite things” section, and my indicated academic interests, I think I made my Francophilia abundantly clear lol. What did you write about?
@kcarpenterfan How are your other grades in the previous years? If these are way more Bs than you normally get, I wouldn’t recommend you send them in, unless Princeton specifically contacts your GC and asks for them. But that’s just my 2 cents.
@meaa7130 well last year I for my first b ever in life and it was a b+ 89. Lol. I wouldn’t send them but if my counselor did without me knowing… ick. Guess I’ll find out on Friday because I have a meeting with her
@elk1819 That doesn’t seem out there. Many students write about travel experiences, community service abroad, etc. “So far from home, and yet the people in Africa/SE Asia/Latin America were just like my friends and family at home. From this experience, I learned…”
The strongest applicants who focus on insights like this demonstrate a genuine interest in the language or culture (backed by parts of your application) and not just travel.
Most people last year said that this email was suggestive of a good chance for admission. While by no means it has anything close to do with admission, it is definitely a good sign. As for the large number of people who got it, there arent that many. The people who are posting all got the email because if you didn’t get the email, you most likely wont immediately go online and post about it.
just had some questions
for engineering kids, how much do adcoms value olympiads (like USNCO, USABO) and AIME scores? do you think they have special people to read the engineering applicants’ apps?
does programming phone apps make me a unique applicant to engineering?
I clearly remember that PFAA asked both W2 and tax return statements for 2015 instead of 2014 to complete filing, and the webpage still requires the 2015 ones according to the link: https://admission.princeton.edu/financialaid/apply-financial-aid. I don’t know why the email today is asking the 2014 ones.
@DonkeyKong466 I googled the Princeton FA Form and a lot of CC threads regarding it popped up. And turns out, it was a good sign for the people posting it. However, most of the people posting were RD applicants. The fin aid office needed to know more info about them since they were (for the most part) going to be admitted. If rejected applicants got the email it would have been of no use, since there is no way that they can end up at Princeton. But we’re SCEA. That’s totally different (IMO). We still have a chance to get in RD, so they’ll need the forms anyway. The whole “if you get the email you’re probably accepted” doesn’t work when when have 2 rounds available to get in: SCEA and RD. I’m not sure if that explained it well or not, but this is just my opinion of how it works. Also I read that the Fin Aid office is separate from the admissions office. I think you’re jumping the gun a bit. But it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic!
