<p>Princeton is my dream school for either undergraduate or graduate, without a doubt. I didn't feel too sad when Cornell rejected me so it's probably not for me anyways. I was hesitant about applying to Princeton because my application is rather uncompetitive by its standards. Even though I will most likely get rejected, I will still apply. I will feel bad if I don't. I know some of you will think that I'm silly for applying to Princeton with these records but I know I will feel better if I do apply, even if I get rejected. I will apply there for graduate school regardless.</p>
<p>Note: Princeton does not take into consideration freshman year grades.</p>
<p>Anyways, here's my profile:</p>
<p>Schools
Princeton University
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles (UCLA)
UC San Diego
UC Santa Cruz
University of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon University
Tufts University
Colgate University
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Boston University
(?) Grinnell College (?)
(?) University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (?)</p>
<p>Applicant
Asian Male
Originally from China. Then moved to NY. Then moved to CA.
First generation
Intended Major: Astrophysics</p>
<p>Academics
Note: I currently have all A's in my classes and I expect to maintain those grades. The following (except UC GPA) are calculated as my projected GPA including the 1st semester of my Senior year.</p>
<p>9-12 Academic UW GPA: 3.57
9-12 Academic W GPA: 3.83
10-12 Academic UW GPA (Princeton GPA): 3.94
10-12 Academic W GPA (Princeton GPA): 4.28
10-11 a-g UC GPA: 4.17</p>
<p>Rank: As a result of my freshman year, let's just say I will be very happy if I end up in the top 25% after this semester.</p>
<p>Freshman Year: Absolutely terrifying. I was professionally diagnosed with depression and certainly depression had dire effects on me up until recently. I was barely motivated to do anything. Ended it with a 2.4 academic GPA. No honor/AP.</p>
<p>Sophomore Year: I decided to try for once, with encouragement from a friend. I ended up with a 3.8 academic GPA, but had no honors/AP still.</p>
<p>Junior year: I went gorillas. It was like as if an epiphany had struck me and woke me up from a nightmare. Towards the end of Sophomore year, I decided to challenge myself a bit and take 1 AP and 2 Honors for Junior year. By then, however, I realized that the courseload that I was having still wasn't living up to my potential. Therefore, I made a rather weird decision: I decided to prepare for 10 AP tests to 1) show that I do in fact have intellectual abilities and 2) to make up for not putting in effort during my previous years. See below for AP scores.</p>
<p>Senior Courseload (currently all A):
AP Statistics
French 3 (doing some AP work and plan to take the AP test - French teacher can mention in her recommendation)
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics B
AP Microeconomics / Honors Government
AP English Literature
Dual Enrollment Biology / possibly Dual Enrollment Astronomy in Spring</p>
<p>Test Scores
These, along with my exponentially upward trend, are my saving graces.</p>
<p>SAT: 2300 (750 CR, 800 M, 750 W)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry
AP: 4 Art History (the only AP I took a class for at school)
5 Biology
5 Calculus AB
5 Chemistry
5 Comparative Government
5 English Language
4 Human Geography
3 Macroeconomics
4 Psychology
5 US History</p>
<p>Subjective
Extracurriculars: Because of my initial hesitation and lack of motivation to do basically anything, I didn't start ECs until last year.</p>
<ul>
<li>Astronomy Club - VP and co-founder this year. I practically run the club... the President is a freshman who has not yet acquired leadership experiences...</li>
<li>Infinity Club (math) - member last year and Activities Director this year (I practically run the club and am currently trying my hardest to get more people to join... the other officers are rather unmotivated about doing stuff. I plan to take the AMC test this year)</li>
<li>French Club - member last year and Secretary this year</li>
<li>JSA - member for 2 years</li>
<li>Quantum Physics Club - member this year. I will likely be on the Science Olympiad team of the school</li>
<li>Astronomy activities: I frequently attend lectures and I use my telescope often.</li>
</ul>
<p>Volunteer Work: 150+ hours: tutoring, teacher assistance, library assistance.
Work Experience: Saturday tutor at a private educational institute. Few months so far.</p>
<p>Essays: Not horrible, but I don't expect them to be spectacular. I wrote about my recent changes in personality, motivation, ambition, and aspirations.
Recommendations: The teachers and counselor like me, so I trust that they are good.</p>
<p>Special Circumstances: I was professionally diagnosed with depression back in sixth grade. Throughout my childhood, I had to deal with it along many other problems. My depression carried over to CA and it was through advice from a friend and my developing motivation from my regrets that I was able to push most of my depression aside and focus on getting myself back on track. I explained this among other personal issues in my essay.</p>