Yeah, everywhere I have lived an A- (even in HS) is a 3.7 (or 3.67)…It took me a long time to realize that so much of country doesn’t do it this way and was confused for so long how so many kids had a 4.0. I always have to translate my kids GPA in my head…
And remember AOs DO DO look at the actual class by class Letters/Numbers, especially at privates…
Thanks! That GA tech data is very helpful. The admitted student SAT average from her school is 1540! A few questions about foreign language: My understanding was the highest level taken matter and Spanish 3 would be 3 years of language in the sequence. Most univs seemed to have 3 years requirement with only Princeton/Harvard having a 4 years recommendation.
For math rigor, there are no MV calc classes at school and the final year load at the school is photography and following APs: AP Physics C (Mech & EM), Bio, Stats, English Lit, Gov and Economics. However it is very likely some kids may be taking MV calc in community college or online
IME (and to be clear, I am NOT AO), I have heard some schools want 3 (and some experts even say 4) years IN HS, not through level 3, though that is a higher bar, to be sure. Foreign language to many of the more liberal artsy-schools is considered as core as history or science and shouldn’t be considered “other” like art. Now, for sure, not all schools think that and MANY understand context of local districts and norms.. CA seems to not feel this way. It seems to be more typical on east coast IMO. Nobody near me only takes 2 years of foreign language in HS, for example, if going to college, but I see it ALL THE TIME on boards from CA. 
Clearly kids from CA go to top colleges - lol
Just because Princeton says 4 years language, it is not as if you are not going to apply to Princeton and Harvard. So don’t worry about all these things. Apply to as many as you can afford. Spend your time on your essays. They are first order important. Let me give you an example of how important – a) my son did not accept until 2 days before the deadline, and the AO sent him a personal letter saying he read the common app essay, and found it very interesting, and would love to have his perspective on campus – now of course this is his job – so let’s discount that. b) In February when he went to an admitted students’ event, the dean of admissions asked my son’s name. When he gave his name, she said – oh, you are the jazz kid. Because he wrote an essay on how bad he was at Jazz. 800 kids were invited to the event – not sure how many came, but she remembered a random kid. Essays stick in people’s minds. When someone gets up to make a case for a kid at the ADCommitee meeting. Nobody is saying “we need to admit this 4.0 kid”, there are 100s of them. They would say, this kid is interesting, and it would be nice to have him on campus. Or his gym teacher thinks he is super nice. etc. I might even say that your essay should be non-academic, and showcase some aspect of your personality that doesn’t come out any other way.
Thanks, the insight on essays is really useful. We are realistic about top colleges and it is a long shot. We just want to be judicious about our chances and if Princeton seems even lower than the already low chances, we can just move on to the next one in the list
This admission statistic is the accurate one. In terms of paying full price or possibly earning a merit scholarship, it might be worth an application to UW. D27 has high stats, but that doesn’t guarantee a scholarship in. (e.g. D27 could win a full merit scholarship at College A, a tiny merit covering just books & supplies at College B, & nothing at College C) This is true even with a perfect GPA & test scores. College admissions will prefer one admit over another & attempt to entice with lucrative financial aid offers - managing enrollment yields, playing around with waitlists (both in-state & OOS in the case of public), & needing to fill up certain departments & majors that are underenrolled or turning away students in departments & majors that are overenrolled. And in the case of UW, only leadership, activities, and achievements are evaluated for merit purposes.
I read this statement at the UW website. I would submit test scores anyway since UW is technically test-optional.
“However, high test scores (1400 SAT/31 ACT or above) may be considered for a handful of students who may not otherwise be admitted.”
Also, if you are a strong stem kid applying to a top private school, make sure that you signal a strong humanities or non stem interest and strength apart from the stem strength.
These admission statistics are shifting so fast. It seems CS admit rates hit their lowest point in 2024 and have since risen in 2025 and 2026. The UC numbers were vastly different for 2024 vs 2025. In some colleges (UMich) CS is no longer a restricted major. This is what makes it so confusing.
CS declarations at Princeton fell from 200 at the peak (out of a class size of 1350) to about a 100 out of 1500 now. Of course it is an open major for them.
Do you mean: reflect on it in the essays? Overall there are plenty of Aps taken in humanities and social sciences
Yes. Communicate to them that you are not coming just to study CS, but that you also have interests in music or languages or policy or something else. Signal to them that you intend to use and contribute to the full university — not just a narrow part of it. Maybe you write on your school magazine, and expect to continue that in college — show them that you are not just CS, or something else very narrow. Have 2 or 3 narrow things with meaningful interest that you are looking to continue.
Be careful with the terms test-free, test-optional, & test-flexible for each college/university admissions policy for subtle distinctions in meaning. Make sure you & D27 completely understand. For UW, I would strongly recommend submitting SAT & AP scores.
We are looking to submit test scores everywhere they allow it (UCs don’t). It seems to be above median for most schools
BTW there were some time she spent tutoring kids, that would go on the app.
I most certainly would, and especially with a perfect “800” math SAT score.
You & D27 are aware that schools like Caltech, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, & Cornell turn away many (4.0 GPA, 1600 SAT) applicants each year! These stats alone won’t seal the deal.
I looked at this informal survey from Princeton. Adding up the language APs it is close to 53%. Assuming 4 years of FL would culminate in an AP, nearly half the kids seemed to have not taken them. This is a crude approximation
Yes, we are completely aware. 3 years of applying to slective summer programs have prepared us 
Neela’s post is spot on- and something frequently ignored by applicants.
I know that “well rounded” is no longer in vogue-- and kids think they’ve got to shut themselves in a box starting with freshman year of HS- but I think that’s misinterpreting the excellent advice here.
Kid is interested in poli sci? That’s an inter-disciplinary field. Psychology- very important. Statistics (beyond a HS AP class)- very important. Econ, urban planning, history, cultural studies and sociology- all of these come into play.
And you can say the same thing for ALL of the sciences, engineering, and anything humanities oriented.
It is easy to decide “I’m the CS kid”. But so are a bunch of other applications in the pile. The adcom’s don’t know your kid. They only know the application, so you’d better hope that you are among the best of the CS applications. And if you aren’t- you’ve got everything else that makes you a positive contributor to campus life going for you. So be a CS kid who loves photography (and it’s easy in a digital age to explore how radically different photography is today vs. 30 years ago), a CS kid who loves salsa dancing; a CS kid who asked the teacher for help exploring the linkages between linguistics/how the brain controls language acquisition and CS.
Good luck OP!
This is somewhat overemphasized. A handful of liberal arts colleges typically require or strongly prefer four years of a foreign language since language study is typically a required part of General Education requirements to complete a B.A. degree. Ivys like Harvard & Yale require all undergraduates to study foreign language or pass out with test scores. Princeton will prefer this to serve more as a signal to predict placement & as to which whether the student is more likely to pursue a B.A. degree or a B.S.E. degree.
I don’t see anything wrong with D27 not taking AP Spanish if she is not interested.