I am a Junior in High School interested in Princeton’s mechanical engineering major. Currently my overall high school weighted GPA is 3.75 and unweighted is 3.67 and my class rank is 152 out 703. I currently am in two honors/AP classes but they are the first i’ve tried and are in subjects i’m strong in. Next year am taking five honors/AP classes. Additionally, I’ve taken the PSAT and am confident that I can get a stronger score. Is there any chance of going to Princeton and if so how else can I improve my chances?
Without standardized test scores it’s not likely you’ll get much of a response in terms of chances of admission. Suggestions - improve both your GPA and class rank if you can and do very well on the SAT and SAT II’s. Demonstrate proficiency in physics and math to be a strong candidate for BSE. And I wish you the best of luck!
Nobody has a good chance of being admitted to Princeton. Your GPA and class rank will make your chances longer than the average applicant. That is just reality.
That being said, if you are different enough and can make the case for what you will bring to Princeton, give it a shot. Everyone applies to reach schools, why not make Princeton one of your reaches.
My daughter is applying to this year. Her grades are good, but not perfect. Her test scores slightly below the published average. Princeton is her first choice, but she is not banking on being admitted. We know it is a long shot.
However, I think she has a reasonable chance because she is different. She won a silver medal at the kickboxing world championships last year. I doubt Princeton has many other female kickboxers applying, and none who have competed at that level (well, at least from the US National team - we know all of them).
Our hope is that they will see that she will bring something unique to campus - especially with the increased awareness around sexual assaults today. She will be nobody’s victim, and she just might inspire the other women on campus.
My suggestion to you is that you work on your grades and test scores - those are obvious. Then spend some time really deciding what you love. Why engineering, for example? What do you want to create in the future? Take that thing that you love and get started on your journey - I am talking, like, next week. Pursue it with passion, beginning now. In 9 months when you apply to Princeton, you just may have a narrative that will make you different enough to get a second look.
Best of luck!
I’ll be perfectly frank, with 151 kids ahead of you in your HS, you have very little chance, no matter what your ECs are. That’s because, first and foremost, Princeton is an academic institution. Even recruited athletes are held to a very high academic standard.
The school has its pick of some of the top kids in the nation, if not the world. If you are not even in the top 20% of your local HS, what would make them believe that you can hold your own with these world class students? Work with your GC to develop a more realistic list of schools to apply to. This way you’re not wasting your time and energy on super high reach schools and you will find yourself in a situation you are suited for and will actually enjoy. Good luck!
I will concur with the words of Falcon. Princeton has released that people’s chances go down from Valedictorian to Salutatorian non-negligibly, not to speak of top ten percent. Unless you have some tipping point, I’d save my money.