<p>If several people from the same school apply to Princeton who are all at the top of their class, is there a general rule of thumb in admissions that says only 1 from that school(in most cases)? It is a small school at that. :( </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>If you're qualified, you'll get in. If I were an admissions officer, I would never discriminate against an applicant because others from his/her school also applied. It just sounds ridiculous.</p>
<p>It depends on whether or not Princeton uses quotas. </p>
<p>Not all qualified applicants are accepted; in fact, many are not...it's a matter of space.</p>
<p>My high school was definitely not that large, and it accepted somewhere between 10-15 students.</p>
<p>The idea of top colleges using quotas is what spurs this ridiculous cutthroat competition at my school. However, I don't think Princeton uses quotas... or does it...?</p>
<p>Princeton officially says they don't, but 1-2 in a single school is probably the only number you'll ever see. 10-15 is unheard of, and a bit ridiculous.</p>
<p>Thanks, but I'm kind of getting mixed messages. I know that every school goes through the admissions process in a different way, but does anyone know if Princeton looks at applicants by categorizing them: school, city, State, or if it's more general? Seeing several students back to back that are all close to the make/break point with very similar stats (as students from competitive, small, schools that don't offer much variety often are) cannot be beneficial. From a humanist perspective, I can see why they would be inclined to just say, "let's just let one in." ...a nit-picky selection ensues.</p>
<p>Princeton DOES NOT use quotas. 10-15 is heard of, but only from the top prep schools in the nation (Lawrenceville, Andover, Exeter etc.)</p>
<p>The perception that Princeton uses quotas is because of the difference of perception between what the admissions officers see and what you see.
If you go to a good public school (where I went), you look around and you see 5-10 people that you think "Wow, these people are amazing; they're going to be shoo-ins for Princeton if Princeton does not use quotas and screws 4-9 of them". However if you look from the perspective of an admissions officer you see 5-10 people that look very similar and will pick out the ones that do something special or something extraordinary.</p>
<p>Some kid at your school might be an amazing musician, but to tell you the truth, there are SO MANY amazing pianists/violinists/flutists here. The same goes with almost every other talent. So the reason why there is a perception that there is a quota is because while you may think 5-10 people are cut out for Princeton, Princeton thinks differently.</p>
<p>Princeton definitely doesn't use quotas. I asked at an information session because I was afraid since SO many people from my school are applying. Princeton usually acccepts a good number of kids from my school each year, and I know that 10-15 is typical for Princeton High School.</p>