What are my chances at Princeton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

My profile:

Sat score-1560(800 math, 760 writing)
Sat subjects:-
Math 2-800
Physics-800
Chemistry-800

Top 5% in graduating class of 120 members

Awards:-
*State level elocution participation

  • District level debate and elocution 1st place
    *Swach Bharat essay 1st place(conducted by the rotary club)
    *Honor roll
    *Student of the year

Extracurricular activities:-
*President of the student council-10 the grade
*External affairs incharge-9 and 11 grade
*Debate and elocution club president
*Interact club(a ngo associated with rotary foundation) president
*Tech team vice President
*Math team vice president
*Member of soccer club(both girls and boys)
*Model UN

Part time jobs:-
*Receptionist in my father’s clinic during summer
*Volunteer to teach soccer to autism spectrum disordered children and adults at Sai kripa autism home.

Community service:-
Did a lot of it through the interact club . Here are the important few:-
*Collected a lot of funds and items to help the victims of the Kerala , a state in India, floods.
*Dengu awareness campaign
*Collecting funds and volunteering in orphanages
*Volunteered as a listener in 7cups.com , a website which provides support to people who need somebody to hear them.

With some killer letter of recommendations (hope so!)

Yep that’s it. I am an international student from India.

What are my odds at Princeton?

I have a year left to graduate, is there anything I can do to improve my profile?

I am also applying for need based aid at Princeton.

I really want to get into Princeton, my dream school.

If not Princeton, what school you think I should apply to ?( I am financially restricted. My parents can pay minimum $10000 to maximum
$20000 per annum)

And yeah after converting my board marks (95 % )to gpa , I have a goal of 4.0

Thank you for reading

I would really appreciate it if you could reply.

2

Your chances are likely to be lower than the overall 6.5% acceptance rate. It seems as though Princeton accepts about ten Indian students a year. Those students will have stellar everything. You’re a great student, but I’m not sure your activities are compelling. If you can’t convey what Princeton is looking for, your odds are even lower.

3

What do u think I need to do?
Can u please elaborate on the part where u mentioned that my activities are not compellingly?
And how do I make it is compelled enough, I still have a year left.

Thanks for replying

4

Understand what Princeton is looking for. That’s how you get in. Do some research. I can’t give you a laundry list of things to do to make yourself a more desirable applicant. If you can’t figure it out, you won’t get in.

5

I could probably tell a high school kid, if they stand on their head and drink garlic-laced pickle juice, and it would increase their chances of getting into Harvard; the next day, I would see it on YouTube.

Here’s the reality. Chances are around 5% percent for these schools, which gives you a 95% chance of being declined. If there was a way to increase your chances, EVERY kid would do it, nullifying your chances. Even if you got in, there’s a good a chance you couldn’t afford it, not that a 300k bachelors degree is a good value anyway. Just keep your main focus on a good list of affordable match and safety schools you’re serious about.

6

I suggest you stop focusing on one hyper-competitive dream school. As @Lindagaf noted it is exceedingly competitive for an international student from India needing aid to get into Princeton. You need to be among the very top students in your country. By all means apply to Princeton and give it your all but understand that it is a longshot. I suggest you spend less time dwelling on Princeton and more time researching colleges that give generous aid to internationals in the US as well as colleges in India.

7

Princeton is one of the five Need Blind schools for international students. Therefore, applying for financial aid has no bearing on the chances for admission. Having said that, as an international student, one has to be realistic about one’s chances of getting into any of the HYPSM schools, especially if they are from India.