<p>@gus447 I think you should take @arwarw’s above post with a grain of salt. Yes, he/she is speaking some truth. Princeton’s applicant pool is incredibly diverse, skilled and multitalented. However, don’t lose hope just because you haven’t taught yourself Mandarin. I know a girl who got into Princeton with just the basics. She did a few ECs she was personally passionate about, she did lots of community service at a soup kitchen right next door, played the standard one varsity sport. She was a straight-A student. She tested well; I believe she got something around a 2200 SAT. Good essays. She was white, so not a URM.</p>
<p>The point of this anecdote is to say that for every extreme case like @gus447’s, there is a counter-example. The world of college applications, especially in the HYPSM world, isn’t black and white. You can get into Princeton. Your chances are around 7%. You can get into these schools without being a once-in-a-generation genius. You don’t even have to stand out above the rest.</p>
<p>The odds will never be in your favor no matter what you do, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send in your application. Plenty of people have gotten in that weren’t even conservatory-level cellists or state champion debaters.</p>
<p>That being said, your chances still hover just under seven percent. My advice is, don’t get your hopes up but don’t let them get down either. If you got in? Great! You won the metaphorical lottery. If you got rejected? So what? You lost the metaphorical lottery. </p>