Snowball's chance in Gehenna? (stupid obscenity police!)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>I know I'm probably a long shot, but how do my chances look?</p>

<p>white male</p>

<p>Private Catholic HS</p>

<p>GPA - 3.93 UW
Class Rank: 1, based weighted GPA (am ineligible for valedictorian b/c I transferred in before Junior year)
Class Size 350</p>

<p>SAT I: 1510/2310 (taken October of Junior year; plan to retake this October. The math score should come up, and I tended to score 800s in CR on practice exams. Not that this means anything, of course.)
SAT I Math 730
SAT I Critical Reading 780
SAT I Writing 800 (Essay 12)
(Will probably take one additional SAT II in German)
SAT II U.S. History 800
SAT II World History 800
SAT II Chemistry 790
PSAT 229; will most likely get Nat'l Merit Finalist in VA.</p>

<p>8th Grade:
Hnrs Algebra 1, B+</p>

<p>Frosh:
German 1: A
Hnrs Geometry: A
Hnrs English 9: A
Hnrs World History: A
Biology: A
Symphonic Band: A
Gym: A</p>

<p>Soph:
AP World History: A, 5
Hnrs Chemistry: A
Hnrs English 10: A
Hnrs Algebra 2: B+
German 2: A
Latin 1: A
Gym: A</p>

<p>Here, I transferred to private HS</p>

<p>Junior:
AP US History: A, 5
AP Chemistry: A, 4 (so close!)
Hnrs German 3: A
Hnrs English 11: A (school didn't offer AP Eng Lang)
Precalculus: B+ (I see a pattern here...)
Latin II: A
Religion: A</p>

<p>Senior classes (confirmed):
AP Calculus AB
AP English Lit
AP European History
AP German 4
AP US Government
Hnrs Physics
Hnrs Java Programming (like I was really going to take a study hall...)
Religion</p>

<p>So far all my non-A classes have been in math; does this make the GPA look any better? I'm really going to have to work at calc next year...</p>

<p>Model United Nations. Academic Team. European History Team. Significant Church involvement. German Honor Society.</p>

<p>Leadership positions Captain, Academic Team. Captain, European History Team. Treasurer, Model United Nations (soph. year). Youth Leadership Council at Church (I spend a lot of time on this one). Will hopefully have another leadership position w/ Model UN next year.</p>

<p>Volunteering/service thru Church youth group.</p>

<p>Awards: Summa Cum Laude, Nat'l Latin Exam lvl 1 and 2. Top-10%, Nat'l German Exam, lvl 3. Virginia Governor's School for German, 2007. Numerous Model UN related awards. Numerous academic awards.</p>

<p>I'm not insane; I already have matches/safeties pretty much lined up, but I've become really intrigued with Princeton's overall program, especially in IR and the Wilson School. </p>

<p>Thanks for the input!</p>

2

<p>Pretty good actually -- but see my advice here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4416491&postcount=10%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4416491&postcount=10&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>you have great stats, but your ECs are mundane. You must define yourself accordingly or risk getting lost in a sea of amazing applicants.</p>

4

<p>I see your point, 1MX. I suppose that's where writing ability comes in...</p>

5

<p>3 B+'s and all in math. Rough man! kinda funny too.</p>

6

<p>ECs aren't mundane. Mine were just like that. Good luck. I came from a catholic school too.</p>

7

<p>^Where were you accepted, can i ask?</p>

8

<p>Yep. I was the first to go to Princeton in my high school's history. And my resume is remarkably similar to kcarls. Academic Team Captain, church involvement and service, Mock Trial (instead of Model UN), four years summa cum laude nat'l latin exam, second language (spanish instead of latin), solid board scores, and the same number of AP classes taken. And whatever anyone tells you, kcarls, retake that SAT I. I had a 1470/2260 (770 M, 700 CR, 790 W) and retook for a 1600/2390 composite. It can be done. It was the best decision I made in all of high school.</p>

9

<p>I can believe that! I'm already signed up for the October SAT; I figure if I can get my math grade up significantly, I stand a decent chance of getting near 1600 this time.</p>

<p>Yeah, ivynut, your stats profile does look oddly like mine. Just out of curiosity, where did you go to HS? Anywhere in the WCAC?</p>

10

<p>no, i'm from ohio. And I was an ED applicant, which I think really helped. I only was accepted to Ohio State and Princeton because of an early scholarship due date and the binding ED agreement. I was the opposite, I needed my CR score up. But I used a combination of the blue book and Princeton Review to take all the practice tests I could get my hands on. Try giving yourself five minutes less than normal on each section. It makes the real day seem like you have an eternity to answer the questions.</p>