I am a freshman high school student with a 3.73 GPA. I would like to know what should I do to make it into Princeton University. I am taking four honors classes in my sophomore year. All informationis helpful.
Keep getting good grades and participate in extracurriculars that you are passionate about. When the time comes, get an excellent SAT/ACT score and write stellar essays.
What should be my minimum GPA?
There are no minima but you need to stand out and be exceptional. a 3.9 GPA and or a 35 ACT and or EC leadership would be required. Of course many applicants have all three and are still denied.
For example, my school has a program where an A+ is a 5.25 in an honors class contrasting it to a 4.25 in a regular class. If I used my school’s calculations, I would currently have a 4.47 GPA. Can someone explain this GPA to me??
Generally, you want all your grades to be A- and above, and you want to be taking as many honors and AP courses as you can. Princeton doesn’t mess around with applicants that aren’t able to achieve this (unless they also happen to be minorities, have strong alumni connections, or are recruited athletes).
That said, PU and many other colleges cut applicants some slack when it comes to freshman year grades, as the admissions committee is well aware that it is a transitional year for everyone. My advice - work hard in those four honors classes this year and make sure you show that you’ve grown academically since freshman year through your improved grades!
Keep in mind that even with great scores and EC, the acceptance rate is 6% so they turn away more top students than they accept so don’t take it personally if you aren’t accepted. There are many schools that will fit your goals and where you will have a fantastic experience
Although the acceptance rate is around 6% (all-time low), in reality, after all the hooks have been ushered in (legacies, athletes, URMs, development case kids, celebrity kids, faculty and adm kids, politicians and other well connected kids, etc.), you’re looking at somewhere around 2 - 2.5% acceptance rate for everyone else. After the 60% of PREFERRED students are in, the rest QUALIFIED gets in, and that’s how you should look at your admissions chances at a place like Princeton and other highly selective colleges.