Chance Princeton for rural kid

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
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<p>Thanks for all the great information I find here. My son is a senior at a very small rural school and has no access to AP classes. Princeton is his first choice school and I hope he has a chance, but everyone else here seems to live on a different planet!</p>

<p>Class ranking 1/43
Unweighted GPA 3.93
SAT Math780, CR 720 Writing 640 (I wish writing tested higher. Teachers seem to llike his work better than test readers do.) He took this test Junior year. There are no SAT prep programs in our area
Math II 740
US History 710
ACT composite 32 (not sure of breakdown)</p>

<p>Our school doesn’t have highly rigorous classes available, so S has been taking classes though the nearest state university as a dual enrolled student since his sophomore year, and has all university courses this year.
Senior classes:
Gov & econ
Phys 201-203 plus lab
Honors College History sequence
Spanish 201-203
Math, currently 400 level Networks and Combinatorics</p>

<p>Past university work includes
2 terms comp
Shakespeare A+
Honors Calculus sequence (as a sophomore)
Linear Algebra
Number Theory A+
Oceanography
First year Spanish
Outdoor leadership training
88 term hours university credit accumulated (about 180 required for a degree)</p>

<p>Learship:
Ford Family Community Development project leader
NHS Chapter President
Eagle Scout</p>

<p>Other activity:
Keeps a flock of Shetland Sheep, 2010 State Fair Champion ewe</p>

<p>Mom thinks the essays were very good, especially the Princeton essay which was original and insightful and combined interests in Math, Government and Service.</p>

<p>Teacher letters should all be good. Two letters are from college profs (Shakespeare & Number Theory) who gave A+'s and said he ranked highly among students of any level. Councilor statement was completed by the district superintendent who called him the best seen in 40 years.</p>

<p>Interview was this week with state interview coordinator who told him that he’s exactly the sort of kid who should go to Princeton, and she would give him the highest possible recommendation.</p>

<pre><code>I wish his test score were a bit higher, but he didn’t want to take time away from homework to study material from previous years. So many “perfect” students are turned down, applying seems like writing prayers on bits of paper and tossing them into the air…

Surely his rigorous studies should count for something, as he has taken the most difficult classes available through the university and maintained high (not perfect) grades.

S has also applied to Harvard, The Cooper Union and Harvey Mudd. He also has the option of finishing at Local U where he already has Junior standing and should have full merit scholarships. He and I just see him as a good “fit” at Princeton, and hope they do too.
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<p>Thanks for any thoughts, Mom</p>

2

<p>He looks interesting, and Princeton should see that. Just realise that for no-one is Princeton in any way guarenteed… He is in the ballpark though.</p>

<p>Best of luck</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I hope to get more thoughts as well. Though I suppose the whole “chance” thing is a bit useless, except for soothing nervous kids and moms.</p>

<pre><code>One of the things we like about Princeton is that they seem to look for kids that have really sought for opportunities. While we are solidly middle class and all, Son has had to really strive to find and take the most challenging coursework, driving 60 miles a day to take University honors classes.

His travel, class and homework schedule has meant that he had to give up other activities with classmates, but it has been important to us that he have a chance to be graduated with the same group of kids he has been with since kindergarten.
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<p>Mom</p>

4

<p>If your goal is to have your nerves soothed, posting a chances thread is far from the best way to do that.</p>

<p>All that’s going to happen is that you’ll get a mix of positive and negative responses, you’ll either focus on the negative ones or ignore them, and you’ll be in exactly the same situation as you started.</p>

<p>Your son has turned in the application already. Likely, the decision has already been made. If you really want your nerves soothed, stop thinking about college for a few months.</p>

<p>You can rationalize all you want about how your son has worked very hard and taken all these opportunities, but at the end of the day they’re simply rationalizations, and even if by some absurd twist of fate you manage to convince every single person that reads your story that your son should without a doubt get into Princeton and every other university in the world, that will do absolutely nothing to change whatever outcome the admissions office decides on, and further will do absolutely nothing to change your neurotic and obsessive outlook on the situation.</p>

<p>All that being said, your son has no chance of getting into Princeton, which is unfortunate since it seems that he gave up his childhood.</p>

5

<p>Dearest Newest,
I’ll ignore your last comment, which was clearly just made to be snotty.</p>

<p>You mention that the decision has already been made. I don’t know anything about the application review process, and would be interested to know what happens to our prayers after we have tossed them into the air. Can you share anything about how the applications are handled, and the time line involved, or are you just being sophomoric?</p>

<p>BTW, I don’t think that growing up on a small farm/ vineyard, learning to raise and breed sheep for 100 years, completing and Eagle Scout program, striving to learn about the world at a challenging level, while maintaining friendships that will last a lifetime, has been a total waste for my son. On the other hand, his little sister sure wishes that we lived in a city…</p>

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<p>Hey guys. I was wondering if getting a B- in Algebra II my freshman year will kill my chances of being accepted. It won’t break me, will it?</p>

7

<p>There are actually plenty of implications of my last comment. It was not made to be “snotty” (whatever that means), but rather as a meta-cognitive and ironic commentary on the rest of my post - if you take the time to read many of my past posts you’d realize that this is something I typically do.</p>

<p>I say the decision has likely already been made. And I say that honestly because based on what I know of the admissions process I am probably correct. It has nothing to do with prayer. In short, your residence in a rural area means that there is likely a small number of applicants who are in your “admissions officer region” - that is, a small region of the world that is under the charge of a particular member of the admissions staff who is theoretically more familiar with the landscape there. Given that it has been one month, or roughly 1/3 of the time window for application reading, since your son submitted his application, then even in the most populated regions they would have gone through at least 1/3 of the applications. In the smaller region in which your son is applying, that figure is probably above 50% - hence my conclusion.</p>

<p>As to your last paragraph, you’re doing the rationalization thing again. While it really doesn’t affect me one way or the other, I would highly recommend you save some face before you completely prove my previous post’s analysis.</p>

<p>Although I do find it quite an accomplishment that your son has raised sheep for an entire century.</p>

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<p>Dearest Newbie,
Thank you for your very helpful insight into the application review process. That’s exactly the sort of thing a college applicant’s mom wants to know. </p>

<pre><code>Fortunately since this is a faceless forum, I have no face to save and am therefore not required to be familiar with your meta-cognitive and ironic commentary in order to participate. I find many people here to be very friendly, helpful, and truly interested in advising other kids and parents who are just trying to understand the application process.

The 100 years with sheep does seem to be a bit much. Perhaps it should be reduced by an order of magnitude to seem more realistic? Or should I make it sound really good and say it was 1,000 years…
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<p>Mom</p>

9

<p>A couple comments:</p>

<p>First, I doubt that your “admission officer region” covers fewer applications than average by virtue of you living in a rural area. If you’re in rural Idaho, for example, you might be part of a region that encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. I’d assume the regions are fairly evenly balanced based on historical application numbers. Your son’s app may have been read already, maybe not, there may already be a decision, maybe not, but it’s out of your hands, beyond your control, and you won’t know for a few months.</p>

<p>The kid is the kid, his story is his story, the app is in, the wait is on. There’s nothing anyone can do but wait, wring their hands, gnash their teeth, and post chance threads.</p>

<p>So, what are your son’s chances? Like almost everyone else’s, low. That being said, your son is a good example of a type of applicant elite schools like to talk about finding and admitting. Highlighting accepted applicants with profiles such as your son’s makes good press, gives hope to a lot of prospective applicants, and encourages more applications. Harvard in particular seems to love talking up stories of kids like your son. In his case, neither an acceptance or a rejection would surprise me. As an “unhooked” applicant, his statistical chances are probably around 5%. Given his story, I’d put it higher, say 20%. As you know, of course, that opinion is meaningless. In the end, it will be either 0% or 100%.</p>

<p>Good luck, and try to stay relaxed.</p>

10

<p>The Newb is a beast. lol. </p>

<p>Anyway, mommy dearest, pay him no attention if you want to keep your temper in check. As for your son, he’s obviously very dedicated to academics and a couple of ECs. Being from a rural area, he should also be able to stand out somewhat. Though, if (and this is very likely) he does not get in, it will not be because of his test scores ( the writing section is slightly below the 25th percentile, but the other two are fine). </p>

<p>Now, </p>

<p>

Take this with a grain (or two) of salt; no one, other than the admissions rep, can estimate your boy’s chances, so, as it stands, just assume that he’s in the same boat as everyone else.</p>

11

<p>Thanks to everyone who has responded to my inquiry. It was my hope that Princeton would consider a rigorous course of college classes as an alternative too the usual AP program.
It looks like my son’s application should receive consideration, and that’s all we can hope for. I’ll post the results when announcements are made. Best wishes to all the other parents and hard-working kids out there.
Mom</p>

12

<p>I am a freshman at Princeton. I came from a similar situation–a small rural public school with no APs and no history of Ivy Leaguers. I got in and I love it here.
He certainly has credentials that could possibly get him in, but it is such a vague admission process that it’s hard to really know ahead of time. I hope he also applied to other top-tier schools, because I only got into one out of four Ivies to which I applied (despite 34 ACT, 9 varsity letters in 3 sports, various other leadership positions/academic clubs). Granted, Princeton was my best application and the one I spent the most time on.</p>

<p>Rural areas are certainly an under-represented demographic here. The sheep thing will help, as will Eagle Scout. It seems like the “rural kids” here are the most extreme cases (no running water at home, etc) so it all depends on how they think a student’s personal interesting background can contribute to the diversity and dynamic of the class. The key is that if you are unique (appears to be the case), try to convey that as much as possible on the application to use the “humble beginnings; overcoming odds” thing to your advantage.</p>

<p>Best of luck. Don’t let anyone discourage you, but don’t take anything for granted either. And don’t put too much pressure on your son. Remember that it is his education and his life. So many parents of students here still seem to be trying to control their kids’ lives.</p>

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<p>Honestly I would say his “chances” are quite low. An unhooked 2140 doesn’t bode well.</p>

14

<p>I just checked in after a few days and found your nice note. Since app’s are in and we have two months to wait, I’m determined to be cool, but hopeful.</p>

<p>It would be difficult for any mom to control this kid’s life, he’s very self directed, and very confident about his college applications. I wish he had put in time studying for higher SAT grades, but he decided to just go with the test he took junior year and spend his time on course work. He thinks the work he’s done in number theory and combinatorics, plus his work in other fields, will make up for sub-perfect test scores.</p>

<p>Only time will tell. I’ll post when results are in. Thanks for the support.
Mom</p>