I messed up during my Freshman and Sophomore years, and resulted in getting an F in one math class as a final grade. I took all Honors those 2 years. My Junior year I have definitely stepped up my game and will be finishing the year with a 4.1, and an overall cumulative GPA of 3.5. I took 3 AP classes this year (Chemistry, Psychology, and English Lang) and the rest were Honors. Senior year I will be taking 3 APs again (HUG, Statistics, and Biology), as well as 2 self-study APs (Art History and French). I am taking H. Calc and H. Physics and other honors as well. I can speak French and Spanish, and am currently learning Mandarin. I volunteer abroad often and have received scholarships from it. I am going to Girls State, creating a MUN club at my school, on TEAMS, and I am on the track team as well as a club swim team. My ACT score is 30 and my SAT score is about 2000, and both will be taken again. Did the failure screw up my chances of getting into Princeton?
Yeah, probably. Would be shocked if an Ivy, especially Princeton, let in an unhooked applicant, which I assume you are, in with failed classes.
No it’s not that one class. The fact that your overall GPA is only a 3.5 and your SAT is only a 2000 is what’s preventing you from getting into Princeton. You need to set your sights (much) lower.
ignore these two above . they have reputations of negativity around the forums . you can impress schools with how much you improved and aside from academics most top schools look for what makes you unique . The factor of what makes you unique has many things to involve . So remember to sell yourself , show what you can do,what can you bring to their university that will make them look better , and make them see that they will not regret choosing you
@Davidhtx “Negativity” is not the problem. Being entitled, pretentious, and setting your sights too high is the problem. Truth is, it’s almost everyone’s problem. We hold on to our dreams too tightly, and when we ask people to judge us, and we don’t like their judgement, we completely destroy the entire intent of doing so in the first place. People can dream, but reality has limits.
That being said, @haleyc27 I have to agree with soze and jaze. Although it is unrealistic for you to attend Princeton, there are a lot of other universities that would absolutely love to have you. There are other outlets for schools instead of HYPSM, Caltech, Duke, Vanderbilt, and the other Ivies. Try looking at some second-tier schools (no. they are not bad simply because they are “second-tier”, they are excellent schools) and their common data sets. Maybe raise your SAT a little, write some endearing essays, get some nice recs, and improve interview skills for wherever you are applying, and you should be a competitive enough applicant.
For Princeton undergrad- probably not. Tens of thousands of applicants with 4.0’s/2200+ SAT get rejected. If you get rid of that F, I’m pretty sure the UW GPA goes up by a lot, so the 3.5 is not the main issue. The issue is that you failed a class and unless you have a very good explanation for it, you probably won’t get in.
But hey, Princeton undergrad isn’t everything and although you can’t transfer to Princeton, you can certainly go there for grad school. Once you start college, you’ll have a clean slate. Then, you can work super hard those 4 years and still get admitted to Princeton for grad school if your dream is to attend that university.
@haleyc27, you have an interesting background, but the realistic problem you have is that as things currently stand you will probably not make it past the initial screening at top schools.
Top schools are inundated with tens of thousands of qualified applicants competing for 5-10% of that number of slots. Most are competitive. To stand a good chance of getting in somewhere you need to:
- Show that you are competitive.
- Differentiate yourself somehow from all the other competitive applicants.
2 is where so many applicants with great stats fail - which is why people with slightly lesser stats often get picked ahead if them. Ironically, you could do a great job of #2 with your international service and language background, especially if you wrote a good essay that ties it together and highlights it well. The problem you have is getting past #1.
A lot of schools do a quick screen to see if applicants meet #1. Federal FERPA laws have yielded some insight into this. For example, Duke screens 6 factors and rejects 50% who don’t meet a threshold:
Your GPA and test scores put you in the bottom 25% for most top schools. Your curricular rigor is not impressive compared to most - most of your APs are in “soft” subjects (HUG, stats, psych). You need to retake your tests and get into the 25-75th % range AND nail your fall grades. I don’t know what’s offered at your HS, but if you can get your GC to check off the most rigorous box it will help.
If I were you I’d focus on doing those things, and identify a strong set of “match” and “lesser reach” schools that fit your interests and personality. Then by all means apply to a few reaches, but with realistic expectations.