What Are My Chances of Getting In???

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

I’m currently enrolled in a school that isn’t the best, but certainly not the worst. This educational center has plenty of advantages that students are provided with and the majority of those students take full advantage of them that result in exceptional awards. However, I am still reconsidering whether or not I will be accepted into a school much like Princeton. So based on the following information, what are my chances of getting into this prestigious school.

Unweighted GPA: 4.0. I have and are currently taking as many honors classes as possible. I’ve taking additional science and math classes in place of my electives through out the years in hopes of getting further in my education.
SAT: 2300
ACT: 31
Iv’e just be given awards that won’t really stand out, but are awards that colleges look for. I have always been on the varsity soccer team through out high school and will be captain next year (also got plenty of awards corresponding with sports).
I am participating in clubs.
I also took a few engineering classes in Lee Summit for two years while still acquiring good grades. This class only allows 8 different people from each grade at our school to take it. However, I have tend to change my career path more towards astrophysics ( a branch of science that deals with the physics of the universe) and now i’m afraid that those engineering classes were just wasted. Unless they could still help me get into a school like Princeton??? and if they did would I still have to follow that career path of engineering or could I switch???
Experience Working: Not too much except for a few jobs I have been taking over the years.
I have also had great relationships with my teachers as I was never late to a class, never got a detention and still maintained perfect attendance through out all my years of both Middle and High School.

Thanks so much for any the help.

2

So far your stats look solid although for Princeton you will also need two SAT II tests as well. If you apply to with the intent to do engineering those SAT II’s need to be one math and one science. That’s probably a good call for any of the STEM fields. Students are accepted to Princeton overall and may switch between AB and BSE (and they do) provided they have adequate preparation to be successful so it really doesn’t matter which one you apply to.

Princeton and other very selective schools turn away thousands of very qualified applicants every year. If you are interested in going there, by all means apply but treat it as a far reach being sure to apply to a number of solid ‘safety’ schools as well.

3

Thanks for the response. Do you think an individual can take engineering classes, get into a college like Princeton because of it then switch career paths (in my case, changing to astrophysics) into something else other then engineering ( I don’t hate engineering I just prefer a occupation involving tons of science ) ???

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Absolutely, if you are asking specifically for Princeton. Other schools may have a more involved change process so I cannot answer for those schools. You also might consider simply applying as an AB student indicating astrophysics as your preferred focus from the start, particularly since it sounds like that is what you are most excited about. There really isn’t a benefit to trying for BSE and then switching…Princeton students tend to be extremely diverse and have lots of varied preparation. I think it’s always best to be upfront about what you love the most because that is what shows through.