Would I have a chance here?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Im a junior from Canada. I visited Dartmouth last month and I loved it and really wanna go there! (as childishly flippant as that sounds)</p>

<p>SAT: 2170 (800M, 710CR, 660CW)
SATIIs: Took yesterday; MathII and Bio. Taking French in november.</p>

<p>GPA: About 92/100, but has been improving. I'm looking at more towards 95/100 this year. BADD freshman year.</p>

<p>I dont' have my AP Bio mark yet, but I wrote it this year (self-study).</p>

<p>ECs:
President and Founding Member, GIVE Club (human rights + environmental issues)
Assisting Editor and Writer for school newspaper
3 month exchange to France
6 week intensive research camp this summer (I get two high school credits)
Lead role in Odyssey of the Mind, won first in our division at provincials
Top 25% Fermat math contest? lol, sounds lame
MedQUEST, one week medical camp, worked in the hospital and helped out at sleep clinic
Enrichment Committee, planned workshop for younger kids
HOPEFULLY will actually start up a science program to introduce younger kids to more stimulating science. Two hour weekly sessions. Been trying to start this up since december lol.
30 hour science module on morality
Blackbelt in tae kwon do
Fluent in french, in French Immersion? If that means anything to adcoms</p>

<p>Work:
10-15 hrs a week at video story
~5 hours a week at my dads chiropractic clinic as receptionist
Worked ~10 hours a week at a local public library for about 10 months in freshman year</p>

<p>Any thoughts? Do I have a chance? I get nervous seeing how impressive everyone else looks, and people say oh you really don't have a chance...</p>

2

<p>Yeah, some people on here are unrealistic in terms of dismissing those people. I suppose they’re just disillusioned by the number of seemingly qualified applicants that get rejected.</p>

<p>Let’s tackle this topic by topic:</p>

<p>GPA: Princeton doesn’t consider your freshman grades, so your GPA should improve.</p>

<p>SATs: On the low side. You really would want a 2250+ (coming from a guy with a 2250, haha). Your math is solid – I’d focus on studying primarily Writing and some CR. As long as you improve those, you can superscore with the 800 Math. But just to be realistic, Princeton admits 11% of kids with 22-2300, and 28% of kids with 23-2400. Source: [Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/)</p>

<p>APs: Just Bio? Any IB? I don’t know what the schooling system is in Canada, but the top schools usually want the most rigorous schedule (usually 8 to 12 APs).</p>

<p>ECs: Seem scattered… I need more information. What’s your common thread here? What could you write an essay about? What’s your passion?</p>

<p>Work: I dunno.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for all your thoughts!</p>

<p>I realize my SATs are relatively low for schools like Princeton. I play to rewrite them in October, and I heard Princeton looks at your top score in each section individually? So that might work in my favour if, say, my math score goes down 20 points, but my other scores go up ~50-60 points. </p>

<p>My school does not offer APs, IB, or any advanced curriculum. I wrote the AP indepedent of my school (although I did write it at my school, it’s not part of the curriculum and doesn’t show up on my transcript). </p>

<p>I know my EC’s are diverse, but I think I could write a convincing essay, and I plan on writing it this summer so I can devote more time and effort to it.</p>

<p>Do schools really care about work experience btw? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance :)</p>

4

<p>im gonna have to bump this :)</p>

5

<p>Don’t panic about your SATs, they are good (way to go on Math!!), I got a 2130 and was accepted. Your ECS are impressive. Schools will look positively on work experience because it shows you can manage time and do well in school even if you are busy outside of school. Best of Luck!!</p>

6

<p>Thanks! But I don’t really think my ECs are that impressive. It seems there are so many people doing amazing things and its hard to compete! Lol. </p>

<p>Any other advice? :)</p>

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<p>Just out of curiosity, why, instead of saying you took the SAT or AP tests, do you say that you wrote them?</p>

8

<p>Because he’s Canadian.</p>

9

<p>I noticed one of you said Princeton doesn’t consider Freshman grades…what about Pre-frosh grades? (I took Algebra I and Geometry in Middle School) Would those also be dismissed?</p>

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<p>I actually did say take twice in my first post. Does it really matter? lol.</p>

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<p>No I was just wondering. I’d never heard it said like that before.</p>

<p>As for your actual post, based on my somewhat limited knowledge you definitely have a chance. You’ve got some interesting stuff with the exchange program and research camp.</p>

12

<p>Well thanks:)</p>

<p>P.S. Update:
SATIIs: 750 Bio, 790 MathII (just got these scores today…i was annoyed with bio haha)</p>

13

<p>Why were you annoyed with bio? A 750 is great…</p>

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<p>Try taking the ACT once if you’re scared about a low SAT score. I had a 2160 SAT, took the ACT once and got a 35. I think it helped a lot.</p>

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<p>I was annoyed with Bio because i took junior, senior bio this year plus I wrote and studied for the AP exam and have spent almost this entire year learning bio and preparing for that exam and then I get a lower score than math, even though i didnt even know much of the math material until a couple weeks before the exam. </p>

<p>And I really dont wanna take the ACT, it just seems like extra effort that I’m not up for lol. I’m just gonna retake the SAT because I know I can do better.</p>

16

<p>It’s really not that much harder…it’s like the SAT but just a different style test. If you’re going to retake the SAT anyway, I’d recommend taking the ACT because you might score considerably higher. Best case would be to retake SAT and also take ACT.</p>

17

<p>Yeah, I got a good SAT and considered not even taking the ACT. Turns out I got the equivalent of 70 points higher and didn’t do any more studying, it’s worth it as long as you have the 40 bucks or whatever, which most people do.</p>