@Cantiger I really think that AP tests are irrelevant and only matter for placement and not admission. A 4 or 5 is perfect for any college imo.
@RoadtotheIvies98 - while I wish you were correct, this is not consistent with at least the Stanford statements about how they look at AP scores. Remember that famous set of youtube videos of sample application reviews? They definitely used AP scores as differentiators and as indicators of curriculum quality.
@meaa7130 Thank you! You really deserve this as well. Even if I do get deferred in two weeks, I won’t feel as bad about the decision if you manage to get in. 
@Cantiger I do understand the importance of physics in the application, but my school does not offer AP Physics C at all due to low enrollment numbers (actually, our school board never wanted to start an AP Physics C class in the first place since we lacked both good teachers and money). Last year they were going to start an alternative to Physics C, but ended up getting rid of that as well for the algebra-based AP Physics 1 class to get the most for their money. It was the only physics class that was available at my school, so I took it. The teachers were pretty bad, and I ended up having to self-study most of the exam myself (I managed to get an A in the class and a 5 on the exam, which was surprising since that administration only had a 4% 5-rate). Will my Physics 1 class be looked down upon when compared to another student’s AP Physics E/M class by the engineering admissions officers? And if that is the case, should I self-study for the AP Physics C exam this year? I have a pretty good calculus background.
To help keep us occupied during the wait, what’s everyone’s intended major/concentration? My son’s is political science.
@FarscapeFan Mine is Operations Research and Financial Engineering.
@FarscapeFan Chemical and Biological Engineering here!
what percent of scea applicants choose bse and what percent of accepted are bse?
Civil and Envriomental Engineering!!
Hi, everyone! I’m an applicant to Princeton SCEA 2020 hoping to major in astrophysical sciences and this thread has been insanely helpful. I just loved all of the encouragement and discussion going on and wanted to wish everyone good luck, wherever you may end up. You all seem like fantastic people and who knows, maybe I’ll get to meet you some day 
@ALiberatarian Don’t worry. I did not submit tax forms for my S last year and he never received an email requesting them either. Guess what? He was accepted SCEA.
I won’t waste my breath trying to convince people that there is no correlation between emails and results. It should just be common sense that if things are missing there will be an auto request to submit the information so it is available when and IF they need it. Just because they have a complete FA file doesn’t mean they will necessarily ever use it. (No idea why my S never got the email, but it was irrelevant.)
I also think that most people really overestimate the complexity and time involved in putting together a FA package. It can be done in minutes. Last year I submitted information to WUSTL and I received an emailed FA package the next day. Yale pulled up my information and gave me a package while I held the phone!!!
@ivyyhopes They say about 20% of the accepted SCEA pool indicates a BSE preference, but I don’t believe they publish anything about the overall applicant pool. Especially since Princeton doesn’t lock you into your choice, it would lead to a lot of people applying to whichever pool was easier to get into instead of being forthcoming about their interests. This behavior should be discouraged and though it doesn’t quench my thirst for information, it is the right thing for the university to do.
I don’t think they really comment a whole lot on the composition of the applicant pool in general. Even things like SAT/ACT scores are only ever published for admits, not the applicants.
I’m hoping to do BSE in CS or EE with a certificate in Robotics and Intelligent Systems.
@FarscapeFan my intended major is comparative lit
@memelover why not comparative memes
@RoadtotheIvies98 I’m not suggesting that having taken AP classes is required in any way for admission. Rather, I do believe that learning the course material is helpful in getting through the first year classes with a lot less stress. The volume and pace of material presented in an AP course is significantly less at most high schools than Princeton courses, but having a basic understanding of some of the material will certainly ease in the transition.
@azwu331 Your preparation will certainly not be looked down upon, particularly if more rigorous courses are not offered at your school. Having AP Physics 1 is great. See my response to @RoadtotheIvies98 above - AP’s are simply helpful in the adjustment to Princeton academics. But this should not affect your chances of admission.
I would also add that some students use AP credits to place out of first year/introductory classes. This allows the student to move onto more advanced coursework sooner. In engineering this is a definite plus since there is an extensive list of “prerequisite” kinds of courses. These can take most of the first two years to complete (and a couple of the maths even into the third year). The decision to place into higher level courses will be made with an advisor at the time courses are selected in the fall.
Rarely, students can use AP courses to gain advanced standing - essentially starting into sophomore year and graduating in 3 years. The downside is missing a whole year of Princeton! But it is possible.
@Cantiger Thank you for your detailed answer! Unfortunately, AP Physics 1 is pretty much worthless for a BSE degree at Princeton, so I’ll probably self-study a bit of calculus-based physics just to prepare myself if I get accepted.
As for using AP to graduate in 3 years… well, I wouldn’t want to give up a year at the school even if I do finish all my course requirements! I guess that, if it does happen, I’ll probably complete some certificates or something just to use up that fourth year. College is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I want to enjoy every moment of it.
@morrisk Welcome to the thread! Thanks for the well wishes; I wish you the very best as well!
@ivyyhopes There are no numbers for SCEA, but here are the statistics for the RD Class of 2019:
Total Applicants: 27,290
Total Admits: 1,948
Total Enrolled: 1,322
Total Acceptance Rate: 7.14%
Total Yield: 67.86%
Total AB Applicants: 19,903
Total AB Admits: 1,449
Total AB Enrolled: 1,009
AB Acceptance Rate: 7.28%
AB Yield: 69.63%
Total BSE Applicants: 7,387
Total BSE Admits: 499
Total BSE Enrolled: 313
BSE Acceptance Rate: 6.76%
BSE Yield: 62.73%
Total Percentage of AB Applicants in Pool: 72.93%
Total Percentage of BSE Applicants in Pool: 27.07%
The SCEA applicants are also factored in this data. This was for the entire Class of 2019 application season, however, so I do not know if this information can be generalized to this year’s SCEA numbers. Princeton does not release its AB/BSE numbers for SCEA, so this is probably a rough estimate (the SCEA pool, however, is a sample of the entire applicant population, so the 73/27 split between AB and BSE is probably close to the actual percentages).
Source: http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6410/screen/19?school_name=Princeton+University
There is, however, a good way to formulate the numbers for the SCEA round from this CC community. I know that it is statistically flawed to use this thread as a sample, since it wouldn’t be random (convenience sampling is a really bad technique that can result in serious errors). However, since the choice between AB and BSE is pretty much independent of whether or not a person is on CC, I think that a close estimate can be achieved by conducting a brief survey. Here are the basic instructions:
Click LIKE if you applied for an AB degree.
Click HELPFUL if you applied for a BSE degree.
The day before decisions, I’ll come back to this post and make an estimate to your question. I don’t know what’ll end up happening, but this is worth a shot. Hopefully this helps! 
@ivyyhopes Also, do note that although the BSE acceptance rate is lower than the AB acceptance rate (6.76% vs. 7.28%), that is only because BSE has higher standards and many who apply for the BSE often do not have the stats to be considered competitive. For example, Math scores and STEM grades are weighted heavily in the BSE selection process; a person who has a low SAT Math II score or poor physics/chemistry grades may be deferred when he or she could’ve been admitted through AB. Once you remove these people, the BSE acceptance rate evens out with the AB acceptance rate.
Also, this disproves the rumor that it is easier to get in through applying for a BSE. In fact, it is actually much more difficult to get in through the engineering program for a student with mediocre STEM qualifications, since BSE applicants go through an extra reading by the engineering committee. Nevertheless, for the qualified applicant, the chances for admission for BSE and AB are roughly the same (~7%). This makes sense, since Princeton expects students to change majors throughout their university career; this ensures that no one is applying for a major simply because he or she thinks that it is an easier path toward admission.
@manwiththeplan LOL but ummmmmmm it’s a certificate program