Princeton University Class of 2024 SCEA Results

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1

Hi everyone! It’s a little early, but it’s almost time for decision day! Good luck to everybody! Please don’t post if you don’t have your decision yet.

(I copied this from last year’s results thread, look at me, so sneaky)

Remove the “a” in the bold, size, and color of your decision.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

2

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 760 (RW) / 790 (M) / 8/5/8 (Essay)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math II, 730 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): HL History, HL Math, HL Literature, SL Global Politics, SL Chemistry, SL Spanish
Senior Year Course Load: See IB above
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President), Model UN (Secretary-General), Model UN (Head of Education), Research Assistant at CCNY, Human Rights Project, UN Chamber Music Society, String Camerata Violist (Solo and Principal), Competitive Swimming, Symphony Orchestra, New Student + Younger Student Ambassador, Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award
Job/Work Experience: Research Assistant at CCNY, Campaign Intern for NYC City Council, Intern at ChangingThePresent
Volunteer/Community service: Ran a non-profit called the CoCo Project, which helps provide intercultural exchange and educational resources for a Costa Rican school
Summer Activities: School of the New York Times, Harvard Precollege, Human Rights Project, Research assistant at CCNY, Research in Costa Rica on ecotourism/peace

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CommonApp: wrote something super personal, about getting over self esteem issues and body sensitivity problems. Don’t think it was pulitzer worthy, but it was definitely something that showed my personality.
Extracurriculars: wrote about Model UN education LOL. Thought that was a mistake tbh, given that it’s not too uncommon. But I wrote it from my heart, and I was happy with the product.
Summers: just simply wrote about summers and tied everything together with what I wanted to study.
Your Voice: wrote about the culture one, showed my international background (see below) and about cultural understanding.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: (History) known him for three years now, had him as a teacher for that long, he has been my favorite teacher throughout high school and so I think he wrote me a good one. (9/10)
Teacher Rec #2: (Chemistry) only my teacher in junior year, but she was super nice and I got along with her really well. she helped put kids to ivy leagues too, and I think she wrote a pretty good rec. (8/10)
Counselor Rec: Not entirely sure, but we got along pretty well especially since a lot of the other kids were kind of mean to him. (8/10)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went amazing! One of my favorite people to this day, we had a great time speaking. We barely spoke about college, talked abut literature, politics, and self esteem. It was a lot of fun talking to her for over an hour (9/10)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Relations (Woodrow Wilson School)
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant): South Korea
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle Class?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

Strengths: I think my biggest strength was being able to tie everything together. Everything that I wanted to do screamed “international relations”. I came from a pretty interesting background, having lived in Saudi Arabia/Costa Rica/Washington D.C./NYC/Korea, so it made sense why I wanted to study it, which I expanded on through extracurriculars/subjects. Also, even though my resume sounds like some robot who is doing a lot of stuff, I made sure to make all of my essays super personal and vulnerable. Don’t be afraid of doing that :slight_smile:
Weaknesses: My extracurriculars weren’t some national recognized stuff (although, my nonprofit did get registered in the Costa Rican aid industry, if that counts). Also, it could be argued that I didn’t talk too much about my strengths but more of my vulnerabilities which was a risk.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: showcasing honesty, tying things together, interconnectivity
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: N/A, SCEA Princeton was only school. Also applied to Vanderbilt, Boston University, Emory, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD, and U Toronto.

3

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1540
ACT (breakdown): 36
SAT II: Chem 800, Physics 800, Math II 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chinese (5), Chemistry (5), Biology (5), Calculus (5), Lang (5), World (5), Physics C Mech (5), Physics C E&M (5), Calc II (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, APUSH, AP Stats, AP Spanish Lang, Online Health, Jazz band, Symphonic Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): United States Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, National AP Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots of band (in my state’s youth jazz band)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: N/A
Summer Activities: Cross Country Conditioning
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App Essay-9, Supplemental Essays-5
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 5 asked math teacher, nothing super special
Teacher Rec #2: 5 asked language teacher, she was kind of mad I gave her such short notice, was kind of worried she would write a bad rec.
Counselor Rec: 8
Additional Rec:
Interview: 7, was good enough, reiterated my passion for music

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nah

4

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
Decision: Deferred
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t write
ACT (breakdown): 31 composite; 33 Math, 31 Reading, 30 English, 29 Science, 7 Writing (only one sitting)
SAT II: Didn’t write
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Don’t have a GPA system
Weighted GPA: "
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1st (in a class of 22)
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): 42 (HLs: Chem, Bio, Econ; SLs: Math, French B, English Lang. & Lit.)
Senior Year Course Load: All the above subjects + ToK and EE
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

  • Highest IGCSE results in school
  • Recipient of the B1 and B2 DELF/DALF certificates
  • Certified ambassador of the Yale Young Global Scholars Program (YYGS) - not sure if that counts as an award tho

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (leadership):

  • Lead a soccer team training at school (briefly)
  • President of the Senior Student Council (for a year)
  • Councillor representing my school at the Junior City Council (JCC), work under the Mayor (3 years)
  • Leader of a Business simulation project (back in grade 9); created, sourced and sold school merch

Job/Work Experience: Brief stint at the local Cancer Association

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Regular volunteer at a local organisation that tutors children from low-income families and provides them with a hearty lunch
  • Trained volunteer at the local SPCA
  • Active listener on 7 cups
  • Lead writer of the script for the annual secondary drama production; completely original play
  • Participated in various MUN/ Debate tournaments and won a few awards

(Adding a section here) Sport-related achievements:

  • Part of the winning Senior Girls Soccer team in an interschool tournament (Grade 9)
  • Represented school at a soccer tournament in Phuket, Thailand (Grade 9)
  • Represented school at various soccer and basketball meets with local schools, placed top 3 in all of them (Grade 9)
  • Part of the school Netball team; captain and represent school at the local league
  • As Captian of my house team led house to victory at the Basketball, Soccer and Netball inter-house tournaments.

Summer Activities: Attended the YYGS program at Yale University during the summer of 2019; did the Biological and Biomedical Sciences session (BBS)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): CommonApp I’d give myself an 8 or 9 and Princeton would also be like 8-9

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I’m hoping they’re good but I would probably say around 8

Teacher Rec #1: IB Chemisty HL teacher (known me for 3 years)
Teacher Rec #2: IB French B SL teacher (also known me for 3 years)
Counselor Rec: My principal
Additional Rec: Don’t have one yet, but thinking about sending one from my JCC supervisor
Interview: Yes, went well, but don’t think I stood out in any way…

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yup
Intended Major: Molecular Biology
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): India/ Namibia
School Type: Private, International school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Way under $65,000 :frowning:
Hooks (URM, first-generation college, etc.): Not sure

Reflection

Strengths: Strong academics, and doing pretty well outside my comfort zone, living in Namibia, especially since I’ve spent my entire life before the move in India
Weaknesses: I think my essays were a little basic, also I don’t have a prominent talent so have to rely on grades and ec’s
Why you think you were deferred: May not have been the most accomplished/ original applicant I guess
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Haven’t heard back from anyone else yet…applying to 15 other universities

General Comments: I’m not entirely confident I’ll be accepted the 2nd time around, but Princeton wants to see my mock grades (mid-year school report). But yeah, really disappointed with this outcome, sort of defeats the whole purpose of applying early.

5

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 790 EBRW, 760 Math (single sitting)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 World History, 760 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: school doesn’t weigh

Rank: 1/90
AP - none offered
IB - none offered

Senior Year Course Load:
Advanced-level English, Chemistry and Biology; Chemistry in experiments, Biology in experiments, History, Polish language and literature, German, integrated Mathematics

Major Awards:
laureate of Poland’s English Language Olympiad, finalist of Poland’s Geography Olympiad, Ecology Olympiad and Olympiad on Modern World and Poland (basically politics, and social studies), Scholarship of the Prime Minister, Scholarship of the Minister of Education

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, screenwriting and acting in the school theater group, class president, student ombudsman, member of a weightlifting club

Job/Work Experience:
Not a lot, really. Worked as a cashier for a month this summer, and the last summer.

Volunteer/Community service:
teaching English at the local University of the Third Age, I’ve also been translating documents for them, and interpreting

Summer Activities:
Again, nothing remarkable. One month of work, the other month reading both good and not-particularly-great (I love Stephen King!) literature, hanging out with friends and revising a bit.

Essays:
Common App essay - I wrote about the time I had to travel across three countries, because I had to get back home for a competition, but the bus broke down. I think I was able to convey my levelheadedness, interest and knowledge of languages and show that I can handle unusual situatuions.
But it was a bit cringy (I mean, I used the word wow, and while pasting the essay from Word the editing was messed up a bit - and I did not fix that).

For the supplemental essay, I chose “Tell us about a person who has influenced you in a significant way.”
I wrote how my Latin teacher helped me realize just how much I enjoy what I’m doing, and that I should not worry about what others think about my educational/vocational plans, but just do what I feel is right for me.

I had a great time answering the short questions. I answered honestly, not trying to come up with anything lofty.

Recommendations:
I have no idea about my recommendations, but I chose teachers who know me well, like me and (at least I hoped so) could tell a compelling story, or share something personal. Probably good.

Interview:
I think it went well, silly as it might sound - I love talking about what I love.
But I was just afraid throughout the whole thing about how I might come off.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Absolutely

Intended Major: Independent concentration in Linguistics

Country (if international applicant): Poland

School Type: rural, public high school

Ethnicity: Polish. I don’t consider white to be an ethnicity.

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: $20k

Hooks:
Define hooks? Low income mabe, though personally I think that is the opposite of a hook when it comes to international students. Divorced parents? LGBTQ+?

Reflection:
I think I managed to tell a coherent story, and really show my true self during the application process. Sure, not everything was the way I liked, but I believe sincerety was key.

When it comes to weaknesses, well I follow the typical Polish curriculum, so I did not have a chance to really take the most challenging classes, because you don’t have much say. Everyone has to take 3 advanced level classes, and the standard-level ones are obligatory for everyone.
Writing. My writing was far from perfect. Far from good, actually. I would not like to read it aloud. Or in any way, really.
I guess I managed to say what I had to say, but I should’ve polished them more.

6

Decision: Accepted

SAT I (breakdown): 1550+
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: 800, 780, 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: school does not weigh
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesnt rank
AP (place score in parenthesis):
(place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: most challenging courses.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): International award for my advocacy work. National awards for my research. Published research in an international peer-reviewed research journal. Eagle Scout.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Started major nonprofit. started a national advocacy campaign. Wrote for the NYT/Huffpost/etc. Conducted research study at an Ivy League.
Job/Work Experience: didn’t list
Volunteer/Community service: 2000+ hours through my nonprofit.
Summer Activities: Bank of America Student Leaders Program. Research internship at Ivy League.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app was an 8; the version I submitted wasn’t strong enough tbh; the story is compelling but the presentation could have been better. The main princeton supplement was about my advocacy work; it was funny and weird and unique, so I’d give it a 9. The essay about my extracurricular was awful (5?). Summer essay was a 8–nothing super unique.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): All of my recommenders have PhDs and are college professors.

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10. it’s amazing.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10.
Counselor Rec: 9/10. very personal
Additional Rec: 10/10. From a top faculty member at an Ivy.
Interview: 9/10. She said that she thinks I’d fit in perfectly at Princeton and said she would write a glowing review.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Woody Woo
State (if domestic applicant): the south
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: non traditional
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection: (Written before decision)

Strengths: clear passion/commitment in one field
Weaknesses: essays could have been much better!
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My princeton app was rushed for sure. I didn’t have time to make my essays stellar and because of that I am positive I will get deffered (like pretty much all EA applicants).
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments: I’m glad I applied early, largly because I’ve learned all the mistakes I made on the app and can improve it; my essays now are much, much better.

WOW!!! I am absolutely shocked I got in frankly. I didn’t have any major hooks, but I overcame a lot of adversity in high school, and I think my application communicated that clearly. The college application process has been SOO stressful and brutal; I’m still applying to other places, but I’m thrilled to know I have this incredible option!!!
My main piece of advice for students is to be AUTHENTIC: my essays very clearly showed who I am as a person and what I stand for and believe in. I took A LOT of risks in my essays

7

Accepted!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 – 780, 780
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.41 out of 5.0
Weighted GPA: NA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parenthesis): didn’t take
IB (place score in parenthesis): not in IB
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus C and Advanced Math Topics; Physics; Humanities Seminar (double credit); French II; World Issues
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist; mock trial state and national awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): literary magazine editor; volunteer club president; mock trial team captain; chamber choir; civic youth leadership organizations; 3 years of track; playwriting
Job/Work Experience: tutoring Latin and math
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer club president, weekly service
Summer Activities: Outward Bound, kayaking, precollege course; ancient Greek classes
Essays (rating 1-10, details): DS liked them. Others didn’t. About his experience of reading and thinking about major works of literature (Common App); supplemental essay about philosophy and friendship.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): good.

Teacher Rec #1: Humanities Seminar and Drama teacher
Teacher Rec #2: Mock Trial coach and Humanities Seminar teacher
Counselor Rec: Also was Humanities Seminar teacher
Additional Rec:
Interview: went super well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Classics
State (if domestic applicant): Midwestern Red State
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private Christian
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: adequate
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection: DS really stressed his interest in the humanities.

Strengths: honest, wrote what he wanted, not what seemed impressive.
Weaknesses: No APs, SAT subject tests or IB