Demographics Hispanic origin and culture. White/Asian parents.
US domestic * US Domestic (from US territory)
State/Location of residency: Puerto Rico
Type of high school (current college for transfers): “International” High School in Puerto Rico
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Male, Puerto Rican
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): Legacy at Harvard and Princeton.
Intended Major(s)
Applied Math/Economics
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.95
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 3.95
College GPA (for transfers): NA
Class Rank: NA
ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 720 Verbal, 800 Math
Coursework
5/5 on 3 APs taken last year. Taking 4 APs this year across diverse subjects. A on 2 econometrics research elective at local university. Native fluency in three languages.
Awards
National Hispanic Recognition Program
Research Awards
Extracurriculars
-Started consulting firm with clients including local and state governments.
-Software developer with most popular app achieving 10M Daily Active Users
-Lots of volunteer activity working with rehoming rescue dogs displaced during Hurricane Maria
-Surfing, SCUBA (mostly hobby)
-(Small) Gallery representation as contemporary visual artist
Essays/LORs/Other
I write well. My teachers like me (I hope).
Cost Constraints / Budget
NA
Schools
Considering SCEA at Princeton
Also interested in Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Carleton, MIT, and NYU.
Thoughts on chances particularly at Princeton and Stanford and why? Thank you very much.
You will almost certainly be in a pool of “well qualified candidates” at those schools, and your background will help your chances.
This likely means your chances go from the general “very slim” of all applicants to merely “unlikely”, given that the majority of highly qualified applicants are rejected.
As Princeton considers legacy in admittance, SCEA there seems to be a good idea. While still in a statistical “unlikely” pile, you are probably more likely than a vast, vast majority of applicants.
Why is your weighted and unweighted gpa the same ?
While you are a great candidate you will be one of a zillion so you may get in somewhere or may go 0 for. All are reaches. So your list needs to skew down level as well.
Also since Harvard is not on your list, legacy does not matter. For Princeton it only matters if a parent went. Not sure it is a game changer though.
Your odds at either Princeton or Harvard are far better than the average candidate, as your stats are well in-line and you enjoy double hooked status (legacy and Hispanic). Actual cultural diversity from living in PR will also help a little (even granting that your experience there is far from typical).
It’s impossible to say if your odds are 25% or 50% even if we could see your entire application, but you are definitely not in the group that will see sub-5% acceptance rates for either school.
If Harvard or Princeton is a top choice, I’d give it my best shot using SCEA and hope for the best. (Harvard only if one of your parents is a graduate of Harvard College.) I don’t see any relative admissions advantage for Stanford. If you love Stanford, go for it early, but I think I’d play the odds at Harvard or Princeton, again assuming that either is a top choice for you. My guess is that your odds at Stanford would be much more in line with the average reported numbers for the applicant pool as a whole.