<p>Since all students have high GPA and SAT score, then how does Princeton choose applicants from this enormous well-qualified pool?</p>
<p>Essays, recs, ECs, significant achievements, hooks, URM/Legacy, recruited athletics, geography (i.e. where you live/went to high school), # of other applicants from your school - I think that's the lot. Did I miss anything?</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I did. Luck (from the applicant's point of view). Inexplicable 'holistic' factor (from the adcom's point of view).</p>
<p>mercurysquad, if you have a 1250 and got deferred, that obviously means that your application is better than a rejection. If you had no chance at all, they would have rejected you.
(I'm still not sure if you have a 1250, or that was just an example. I assume that is your score.) If English is you second language then the verbal score is not a big factor for you. I suppose you had a high math and low verbal.</p>
<p>Yes 1250 is my SAT <em>blush</em> I did not try explaining that in the app, nor do I have an explanation.</p>
<p>English is technically my second language, but considering i've been schooled in english all my life, it's practically a native language to me (plus, I have pretty good grades in English).</p>
<p>The thing is, I have 600V/650M :( And a 710 writing. So scores are a rollercoaster ride, with no plausible explanation. I always get such scores. For example, I got the equiv. of 790V / 760M on the AAT (Indianized version of the SAT, but a bit tougher) with the notification of the test coming a day before it. I suppose SAT was a result of testing under stress (AAT was taken tongue-in-cheek because it's not used anywhere).</p>
<p>But whatever, I know if I had a 1520 instead, I'd be admitted (good to be confident about the rest of my app). If I got deferred, there's no reason I will be accepted RD (I did not retake the test, neither do I have midyears to report [out of school]).</p>
<p>^ the above is all just ranting, I know :o</p>
<p>Thanks a lot...but is this true to all Asians? I bought the book "Crash the Admission" by Princeton Review, basically they said being Asians means no chance or too difficult to get into IVY. They suggested don't attach ur photo and don't fill out the ethnic background if u're Asian.........(Discourage).....</p>
<p>OK Let me guess, they suggested changing your last name too?</p>
<p>The reason it's difficult for Asians to get into IVYs is that they are so overrepresented at these colleges... which means some asians must get in. Still, I think the percentage of asian acceptances is lower. I've heard that even if you don't fill out the ethnic background, they might still be able to tell from your financial aid application, though how, I don't really know.</p>
<p>so what they do is divide the whole pool into different groups and pick the top students from there?</p>
<p>you have to be really special to get in with a not so stellar SAT score. While everyone always says theyre not important and aren't weighted that much, the majority of former admissions officers concede that they put a lot of weight on SAT scores - who can blame them? They want to raise their ranks in the 'all important' US News Rankings, and they can partially do that with a higher median SAT. I'm not saying its impossible to get in without a good score, there are a lot of people who have, I'm just saying that you better be compensating majorly somewhere else.</p>
<p>Thanks for ur great advice.....</p>
<p>filmxoxo17,</p>
<p>would you say a score of 1490 (690 v) is considered a "good score?" i am an international applicant and eng is my second language... i know 1490 is not a "stellar score" but i just want to know after reading the books, if you think 1490 is a score that will actaully hurt my chance at the top ivies.</p>
<p>And also, filmxoxo17</p>
<p>So you mean I have to get at least 2000+ on the New SAT in order to get into Princeton? SAT is always the issue.............</p>
<p>pw, you know 1490 is a great score. :p I think the score range for SAT I score is +/- 30 points on each section.</p>
<p>mercurysquad,</p>
<p>yeah i know 1490 is not a bad score, HAD IT BEEN 740 750 break down.. but not a 690 800 one :(</p>
<p>Of course SAT scores are important! Why else would people with high scores get in at such dramatically higher rates?</p>
<p>maybe because the rest of the application reflect their sat score as well...</p>
<p>pw, i think that your score is fine, especially given that english isn't your first language. sophy, i can't really say what score you have to have to get in, it could be anything - they deny some perfect scorers after all, but you need to have a super strong application if one part isn't as solid as the rest. also, perhaps an explanation of the low scores would help adcoms to understand.. good luck!</p>
<p>YES Sat's are important because it affects Princeton's US News Rankings. But if u come from a disadvantaged background and are minority and stuff they will be easier on u.</p>
<p>
[quote]
also, perhaps an explanation of the low scores would help adcoms to understand..
[/quote]
Well that shows lack of confidence. A good application speaks for itself and an explanation for any negative aspect isn't needed. IMHO.</p>