What do you think - got a shot or no . . .BE HONEST (I can take rejection)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>First, I am a 17 year old (going into senior) multiracial male from NJ. I put PAcific Islander on the SAT.</p>

<p>PSAT: 209 - C:67, M:62, W:80 (National Merit Commended)</p>

<p>SAT: 2200 - C: 750, M: 680, W: 770</p>

<p>I have been homeschooled up to my senior year. Next year, I will enter a prep school for one year and take: AP Calculus AB, AP English Lit, AP World History, AP Latin Vergil, and Physics Honors. During homeschooling, I had a 96 GPA out of 100 for my freshman, sophomore, and junior years.</p>

<p>I have taken math and science courses at the community college because these subjects are my weakness. I have gotten A's in Chemistry I, College Algebra, and Pre-Calculus. I got a B+ in Intro to Chem, and will probably get a B in Calculus I and Calculus II this summer. I'm not thinking at all of engineering, but I'm taking the hardest math courses available anyway! My GPA at the college has been a 3.88 out of 4.00.</p>

<p>ECs: I have played classical piano for twelve years. I'm not Juilliard material, but I'm very very good. I have accompanied many musical productions, worked in local clubs as a ######## pianist, and placed in many music competitions in Princeton.
I completed three Toastmasters Youth Leadership Programs, public speaking programs, winning best speaker in all three.
I am a member of a Navy program run for youth called the Naval Sea CAdet Corps. Through this program, I have gone to and successfully completed boot camp (two weeks of living hell), advanced training aboard the Battleship NJ, and marched on the Color Guard of my division, the Trenton Division.
Altar server at church for eight years. Play tennis and basketball recreationally, but may play varsity tennis next year at the prep school.
Counselor at camp for youth in 2003.
Completed paid internship at Merrill Lynch in 2004.
As you can see, I've never been abroad or gone to some ridiculously expensive Conference or People to People summit. Will this help me or hurt me? Most of my ECs have been within the local community.</p>

<p>I live a half hour away from Princeton, and this is my dream school. If financially it works out (family of six, upper middle income)I would love to go there. My major would probably be liberal arts, history, or philosophy. (Would love to go law school and eventually become a politican.)</p>

<p>Schools:
Princeton
Columbia
UPenn
Notre Dame
Rice
UVa
UNC-Chapel Hill
Penn State (Schreyer Honors)
Villanova
University of Dallas
St. Joseph's (PA)</p>

<p>PS: Should I play up my musical talents or my military "career"? Should I also play up my background in education (Homeschooling, community college, AND prep school)? Any advice would be great.</p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

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<p>Yeah I think you're good to go for those school. For Pton, try to raise your SAT up more, but other than that, it looks respectable.</p>

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<p>Flavian, man, thanks for commenting. What do you think is a competitive score? My ECs and grades are fine, SAT might be a little low though.</p>

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<p>If you haven't already, take and score well on some SAT2s. That would lend more credence to your homeschooling and CC GPA.</p>

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<p>thanks audiophile. Which SAT IIs do you recommend?</p>

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<p>
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Which SAT IIs do you recommend?

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</p>

<p>Take whichever subjects you are strongest in and your intended major in college.</p>

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<p>yo thanks so much man</p>

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<p>You may actually be required to take more than three SAT IIs (I forgot the exact number, but I know some Ivys do this) because you are a home-schooled student. Check the Princeton website for more information.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

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<p>his sat is fine. it doesn't matter.</p>

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<p>amnesia, what doesn't matter? is my SAT good enough to be considered at Princeton? I know I have a good shot at the others.</p>

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<p>i was just at an info session on monday. the sat is as important as you make it, and quite frankly he said after two shots it's a waste of money.</p>

<p>btw, everything he was talking about was good grades and ECs. he mentioned sats once.</p>

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<p>amnesia, I'm assuming that a 2200 will put me in the running. THanks so much for your input everyone, I really appreciate it. I know Princeton's a longshot, but I'd also be happy at UVa, UNC, or Notre Dame. Wherever I get in. . .</p>

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<p>Speaking of Princeton, I just heard from a friend who works at the university that Princeton may change ED to EA. Just throwing something out there, we'll see come August.</p>

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<p>2200 is a really, really good first shot score. I would try to raise the M by 50+ points though, for Princeton's sake.</p>

<p>You've got a really good chance but you need to write a fab essay. Get some recs from your CC profs.</p>

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<h6># - I've heard that SATs don't matter as much for Princeton as Harvard and Yale. Do you think they'd be impressed with a one-shot 2200? After all, Princeton only takes the whole score - they don't mix and match.</h6>

<p>Thanks for the advice with the CC professors, I'll definitely get some letters.</p>

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<p>Go to p r s t a t s . c o m. It's this rather addicting site with published stats, if you have yet to see it. It's organized by school. The scores on it for Princeton are rather high. I didn't know they refused to take whole scores. </p>

<p>I say it is unecessary to retake the SAT. If you want, take the ACT too. You're bound to do even better on it and I think it counts for SAT II tests but don't quote me on it. FYI people who take it subsequent to the SAT get an average of 150 points higher, according to this Swathmore admissions officer who came to my school.</p>

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<p>a 2200 SAT is perfectly fine, anyone who objects doesnt know what he/she is talking about......work on other parts of your app to make it strong in all areas</p>

<p>you can retake your SAT if you want but at the HYPS levels, youll get rejected flat out even if your SAT is 2400 but youre a mediocre app all-around</p>

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<p>honestly, you have as much of a chance as anybody else who applies, in reality. admissions are a crapshoot...if the adcom didnt have their coffee that day or their kid lost a soccer game that day, they might feel grump and cast you out...yea, a long shot...but im just trying to say that admissions chances are kinda unneeded, esp. for you, because your list is loaded with great things, bill_smear..so dont worry bout it.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your advice, as a homeschooler I don't have a college counselor. I've decided not to take the SAT again, I'm gonna go with what I've got. </p>

<p>Do those other schools look like realistic matches and safeties?</p>

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<p>Haha, my GCs suck. I think I'd be better off without them, frankly. After they screwed up my schedule 1...2...3 times...</p>

<p>Have you visited 'Nova or SJU?</p>

<p>I live five minutes from 'Nova and 10 or so from St. Joe's. Those, along with PSU, seem like safeties for you. St. Joe's admissions is not too selective. My friend's bf got in. Level 2 classes because he's a slacker and didn't want to do honors work. 3.5ish GPA. No noteable ECs really. My friend got into 'Nova last year. She was about 9/275. She took no APs, just honors - she had a 97.1 average and a few fine ECs. Villanova is kinda selective and I hear it's really good academically, from my friend and my cousin, who took classes there as a hs'er to better her app. I visited the campus, too. I find it truly hideous, besides the fact that it's too close to my home. St. Joe's campus is nice once you get deep into it...it's in the Overbrook part of Philly, basically. Honestly, there's not a lot to do in that part of the city. </p>

<p>As for PSU, quite a few seniors from my school are going. And where my year is concerned, it's becoming the hugest safety school. I know it as a safety, not much else. I hear the campus is really awesome. It's like four hours away from me. I was considering applying but I feel the 34,000+ people would overwhelm me.</p>

<p>I see you in at UVA, basically a match, though I could be wrong since you are not in the state. Likewise with UNC. I do know two people who had very fine stats who were waitlisted at these schools...they can be tricky.</p>

<p>Reaches: Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, ND, Rice. I'm 20-25 minutes from UPenn and the campus is very cool. Lots to do, lots of shops that are student friendly. West Philly has a bad rep but within the last few years, I've seen it getting much better. Definitely doesn't detract from the school. These schools are reaches for practically all who apply.</p>

<p>Sorry if I've stated a bunch of things you already know.</p>