<p>No one from my high school has gone to Princeton in 20 years, and consequently we are eager to send someone. My teachers and friends are trying to convince me that I should apply because of our best students I'm the only conservative one, but I think it's hopeless. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>White Male
Public School in Vermont (Which sends several kids to the Ivies every year)
5/320 class rank
4.08/4.33 unweighted (having taken the hardest classes)
SAT reasoning (from a single test date) CR-700 Writing-720 Math-780 (Comp-2200)
SAT 2's: Math2- 800 US history-770 (will take Chem+Physics in fall)
AP stats and Us history scores not yet received (and I'm taking four more APs next year)
ECs:
9-12 Math League (President)
9-12 Student council (officer)
10-12 MUN (I've won numerous awards and gone overseas)
11-12 NHS
11-12 Varsity Tennis
11-12 Scholars' Bowl
I also work, but that's not technically an EC
Awards:
MUN awards, RPI $60,000 scholarship, History awards, national Merit finalist (probably, because I scored in the 99th percentile)
Miscellaneous:
Did a summer course at Brown U. and also did Green Mt. Boy's State</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and help. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Your EC's are pretty run of the mill (except for MUN I guess), but they're all quality. Your stats are right around the average for admitted students--good but they won't have adcoms drooling. It's hard to predict how you'll fare because, although you have a nice resume, it's very similar to what a lot of other applicants will have. It's definitely worth your time to apply.</p>
<p>EDIT: Being conservative won't help or hurt you.</p>
<p>Do your teachers and friends consider Princeton to be super-conservative? That's kinda funny :).</p>
<p>I agree with Weasel: definitely give it a shot, but it's hard to predict. How do you think your essays and letters of recommendation wlil be? It might help you that your school hasn't sent someone to Princeton in so long. Does your school often send to other top-tier schools?</p>
<p>Congrats on the Renssalaer Medal! I received it, too, and it meant a lot to me. As far as awards go, that's pretty good, because only one student each year from your school receives it. What I like about your resume is that you're obviously a strong science/math student, but you're also articulate and interested in international affairs (as evidenced by involvement with MUN). Out of curiosity's sake, do you know what you want to study? or pursue?</p>
<p>By the way, if your work has meant something to you, you can write about it. There is also a section in the application that asks about work experience.</p>
<p>I know it sounds funny, but because I live in Burlington, VT, (picture a watered-down Berkley CA), everyone here thinks of Princeton as unappealing just because you won't have red paint thrown at you for eating meat.
As for my teacher req's., those will be great; I've got my math league coach who I've known for four years and the vice principal of my school/ AP US teacher writing me recommendations.
Fortunately, my school seems to have a good reputation because in the three years I've attended we've sent kids to Wharton, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Amherst, and most likely some I'm not aware of. So we definitely have the potential to get in to top-tier schools.
About my essay, I'm going to talk about when I discovered a passion for medicine and how I've been testing myself since then and learning what I can about the field.This will mention my frequent blood donations, my experience at Brown U. this summer,and my job shadows. Thorough this topic I will hopefully be able to convey my passion for the subject matter as well as my lack of aversion to blood and gore. We dealt with cadavers at Brown and I wasn't at all phased. </p>
<p>Lastly, though, thank you guys for the feedback. I can't express how much I appreciate your input.</p>