<p>Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm a junior. In addition to having a 3.9 GPA (which will definitely become a 4.0 when I get my report card back in 2-3 weeks), I have an 1880 and 2220 on my first and second SAT, respectively (the latter will obviously be the only score sent, however). I will take the SAT II Math IC and SAT II Physics next week and next October, respectively. I have volunteered at a hospital in the summer for the last two years. When this is combined with my other volunteer works, I will have about 1000 volunteer hours by the time I do applications. I am currently taking AP Physics B, but will take AP Bio and AB Calculus senior year. I intend to join 2-3 altruistic clubs at the start of the school year. I Latin dance, swim, and play judo at different intervals of the year. If it makes any difference, I am also a Caucasian male and plan to become a Radiologist in the future. With all this taken into account, do you believe I have a chance at being accepted?</p>
<p>You seem like a qualified candidate, but there are no guarantees!</p>
<p>With acceptance rates for the unhooked being around 5%, it takes very compelling attribute to be accepted.</p>
<p>Stating you can raise your GPA to a 4.0 implies this is a weighted GPA. A 4.0 weighted isn’t compelling.</p>
<p>Volunteer “hours” aren’t an impressive EC. If you’ve accomplished something remarkable through your community service, that would be compelling, but “hours” won’t be enough.</p>
<p>Joining clubs senior year will add nothing to your profile.</p>
<p>Good luck, and be sure to apply to a broad range of schools.</p>
<p>Supperz, so far my experience on this forum with the phrase “be sure to apply to a broad range of schools” is that it’s the nice way of saying you have very little chance. There’s always someone who seems to say or PM me this no matter what thread I post on. But, if it makes you feel better, your stats are much better than mine and I am still going to apply. And I really admire the jump in your SAT scores from first to second test. Well done.</p>
<p>condor14 - Everyone who applies to a HYP school has very little chance, 1 in 20 to be exact, and no one should take an Ivy admittance for granted. Every student should apply to a broad range of schools, reach, match, and safety.</p>
<p>^^the statement: “everyone who applies to a HYP school has very little chance, 1 in 20 to be exact” is not quite correct as seen by the acceptance rates listed:</p>
<p>Stanford 5.69%
Harvard 5.79%
Yale 6.72%
Columbia 6.89%
Princeton 7.29%</p>
<p>1 in 20 suggests 5% acceptance rate. Only Stanford and Harvard approach that figure at this time.</p>
<p>sherpa- There is no such thing as a hook. It really irritates me when people on this website talk about “hooks.”</p>
<p>I went to an admissions presentation where Janet Rapelye was speaking. She said one year the music department needed french horn players to replace the graduating seniors, so she went through the applications and selected several horn players to bring to committee. She said it was a good thing that the music department had alerted her AFTER the application deadline, because if she had mentioned that Princeton was in need of horn players at an information session, all the parents would have signed up their kids for french horn lessons which completely misses the point.</p>
<p>So I guess you say playing the french horn was those lucky students’ “hook,” but not really because they didn’t know it was a “hook” when they were filling out their applications. They just happened to play french horn and Princeton just happened to need french horn players that year. Any extracurricular/attribute can be a “hook.”</p>
<p>DGDzDad, yes. I hope there was nothing in my post that disagreed with you. I’ve read enough at this point to see that pretty much everyone is told to apply to a broad range when it comes to Ivies, even the ones with perfect scores and gpa, however in some cases, like this one, it meant “not likely,” and in mine, I think I was called a “serious outlander” or something (I forget the word, know I could try to look it up but forget which post it was). Anyway yes, I’ve got that. No one scoots in to the Ivy League.</p>
<p>1Sparkle, I have read that French Horn story on another thread. They must have their admissions speach down to a science. Did you hear this at a campus presentation? Did you go in spring or fall?</p>
<p>1sparkle - I am not sure that the statement “There is no such thing as a hook” is entirely accurate. Officially perhaps not. In reality, being a recruited athlete, legacy, or in certain cases a minority changes the probability of admission significantly. As well, Questbridge applicants have a different scenario when they apply. When Sherpa is referencing “hooks” this is what is implied. </p>
<p>There has been a lot of controversy over the differences between applicants with some arguing that grades and test scores alone should set the criteria for admission. This is not the case, however. If you were to meet and speak with a large number of current Princeton students it would be likely that you would discover many of them do indeed have the implied “hook” that Sherpa referenced.</p>
<p>condor14- Winter. I sat in a room full of my fellow children of alumni. 
(It was Alumni Day.) It was kind of funny though. She asked our parents if they thought they could get into Princeton today and no one raised their hand…</p>
<p>Cantiger- Point taken. I guess I was thinking more of extracurricular hooks.</p>
<p>Interesting! I hope you don’t mind my asking, how many kids in general were there for something like that? My parents went to two different places where I am thinking of applying. It didn’t occur to me to go to anything like that, or even look up an alumni day. Is it a big draw?</p>
<p>It was definitely a lot more intimate than if you went to an information session anywhere else. There were several presentations throughout the day. I’d say there were about 25-30 kids at my presentation, plus parents, and some alumni who didn’t have children at all but have experience interviewing candidates for admission. By contrast, the presentation I went to on Harvard, UPenn, Stanford, Duke, and Georgetown in my hometown filled up an entire hotel conference room. (There were easily 1,000 people in the room.)</p>
<p>Alumni Day is a big deal at Princeton! The alumni community is very active. There was a ton going on all weekend and it was a great experience for me. The professors were giving special talks and I got to meet some students and talk to them about their senior theses. </p>
<p>I would do some research on your parents’ schools!</p>
<p>Also, supperz, I really admire your SAT score improvement. You’ve given me hope!</p>
<p>Cantiger – “In reality, being a recruited athlete, legacy, or in certain cases a minority changes the probability of admission significantly.”</p>
<p>Actually, the admissions person I talked to while waiting around for our info session said that legacy really means nothing at Princeton. They could fill the whole freshman class with legacies if they wanted to, which they don’t. On the other hand, if they are comparing two candidates with 2300 SAT’s and a 4.0 uw GPA and one is an all-state quarterback and the other one is just another French horn player in a year when they are chock full of French horn players, then yeah the athlete probably has a better shot, even if the French horn player’s grandmother went to Princeton.</p>
<p>DGDzDad - that is interesting that you were told “legacy really means nothing at Princeton”. Princeton publishes annually the percentage of students who are legacies within their admission statistics [Admission</a> Statistics<em>-</em>Princeton University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Admission”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/) and while it certainly does not guarantee admission, it is taken into consideration in the admission process. I am also not sure if having a grandmother alumna would be considered a legacy. I thought this applied to mother or father of the applicant but perhaps someone else knows the answer with greater certainty. </p>
<p>Having been through the application/admission process with our son who just finished his freshman year, I can say with reasonable certainty that the athletic recruiting process isn’t actually what is described above. Perhaps the difference is in the understanding of an athlete vs a recruited athlete. Recruits are in active contact with coaches, sharing grades, test scores, athletic rankings/accomplishments etc. well before the application process begins. If the recruit is also being actively scouted by other schools, they are encouraged to apply before Oct 1 so admissions has an advance look at their application. Within this process the coach indicates support of their application. If their application falls within an acceptable range (there is a range issued by the Ivy League in terms of grades/test scores known as an academic index) then they may be given a “likely” letter. This is not a formal acceptance, but failing a significant drop in grades or serious moral breach (criminal conviction, academic dishonesty) they will be admitted in the EA pool. The reason for the likely letter is to dissuade them from committing during the early signing period with another NCAA D1 school. So there is a significant difference between being an athlete (which certainly looks great on a resume) and being actively recruited by the school.</p>