What other universities are you all applying to?
Things that make ya go :-/
http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-yale-princeton-ivy-league-admissions-2017-12
@BigApple2018 To be fair, colleges accept like all their athletes early, so that is probably one of the main reasons the % is so high. And they take in all the shoo-ins that apply early too.
My D is planning to send an update to Princeton as she has achieved state qualifications in ECs. Would it be appropriate to bring up 1st semester results? As she got an 89.3 in one subject but got above 94 in all the other 6. The 89 has impacted her school rank which has dropped slightly. She would like to mention that she continued to work hard during the 1st semester with a full course load of 7 classes but her rank dropped due to that 89.
@Twicemom If the change in class ranking is very significant it might be worth noting, but my thought is that it’s better to avoid anything on the update that might be perceived as making excuses. I would focus on the positive achievements if possible.
I agree with @Cantiger ; there is no way this can be spun to not come off as whining or making excuses. And really, the impact of an 89 on a 3.5 year GPA is akin to a pimple on an elephant’s butt. AOs not need/want to hear the song and dance. Good luck to her.
@Cantiger and @skieurope, thanks for your feedback. I agree we don’t want it to come across as making excuses. The rank went down by 4 and there are 850 kids in her grade. The only reason, I thought of mentioning that is because the transcript uploaded by the school is not by semester or year but instead shows classes taken by disciplines. By looking at it, you can’t make out when she took those classes and that makes it difficult to see her grades specific to 1st semester senior year. The drop in rank is very obvious and that may lead them to think she hasn’t been performing well, even though she is taking 7 classes, all possible APs and multi variable calculus.
@Twicemom I understand what you are saying, but the percentage drop in rank is 0.5%. As I have said many many times on this site, if she gets rejected in the end, I seriously doubt that the significantly insignificant rank drop is the reason
As regards LOI I don’t see any harm in sending one. At worst, they ignore it (and then it affects nothing); at best, they see how dedicated and interested you are. I’m writing mine right now.
Do we send the LOCI through email or through the portal? Also, what exactly do we write about?
@Twicemom - Do you realize you might hurt her by trying to justify an 89? Schools look for resilience, not excuses. An 89 is not bad. Trying to justify it looks ridiculous.
Guys just send it through the portal. In the drop down menu, select “optional supporting materials” and upload your letter of continued interest. I have called with the admissions office to check this.
In addition, if you send it via the portal, you can actually check if your letter has been received and processed. If they have added your letter to your application files, you will see a banner under your application checklist.
Hope this clears up things a little bit @Anonymous1418
You can also, as specified by Princeton, send to uaoffice@princeton.edu. That being said, your letter shouldn’t be addressing to one counselor/dean but the entire office.
@Hephaestion Thank you so much! I also got it verified from the admissions office that this is the correct way to do it.
Quick question. Is it too late to write a LOI? Does it hurt me not to have one? Thanks!
fellow deferral here (obviously). gonna be honest with you guys: i’m relatively unqualified, probably one of the pity deferrals. i’m 1 of 5 princeton deferrals from my school ALONE. don’t really expect to get in RD, but a girl can dream, can’t she? cue langston hughes. anyway, just over a month left 'til we find out our fates. given my current prospects, i’m hoping against hope i get into princeton. sent in a LOCI and another strong recommendation letter. fingers crossed.
16 days left… Honestly, when you think about it, the chances of this thread being my longest lasting internet presence is larger than that of my admittance :-<
Depressing understatements aside, best of luck to everyone in the Regular cycle! CC and the tips and comments on this thread have been immensely helpful; thanks to @skieurope and others who jumped in with their knowledge and expertise. I ended up not sending a LOI, simply because I was hung up on other assignments, and now it’s too late.
I feel like I’m gonna ask other freshmen for their CC usernames if I get in… Sounds like a good conversation starter 
@l3ft3y3 ya don’t have to think that way! >80% or something of SCEA applicants get deferred… Seriously, just from my harrowing experience of turning in a SCEA (and my creds aren’t that good-looking, either), anyone who has enough guts to hammer out and turn one in BEFORE everyone else deserves respect. Whether or not we get in, it’s all gonna turn out fine.
P.S. everyone please find a piece of wood and knock on it for me
Was it critical to write a letter of interest? I just thought we were supposed to update our file if something changed.N Not much has changed since December…
I ended up writing one at the end of February because I figured why not. I just spoke about what I’ve been doing. I actually had a blast doing it even though it was stressful (and late) because I put in pictures to show what I’ve been doing because I was super proud of what I was doing/ excited. Honestly, no idea what a LOI will do for me but I guess we’ll see…