Chances for Princeton

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
1

Regular local public school grades 9 and 10
Rigorous STEM public magnet school grades 11 and 12 where I take all college classes senior year

Grades and Classes:
I was a straight A student taking all honors classes I can (some classes are only offered A level like freshman world history) at my old school.
I did not have the opportunity to take APs but my current school’s junior year program is as rigorous as AP classes. I got all As except in my science fair project class in which I got my only B.
As a senior I will hopefully be finishing calculus and taking linear algebra and a math modeling class for math classes. I am taking two computer science and two robotics/engineering classes for sciences. My humanities requirements are met with a few English and writing classes as well as a micro econ class.

Test Scores:
New SAT 1: M 770 R/W 680 essay 7-7-7 – I will be retaking in Oct to get an 800 in math and 750+ in r/w
SAT 2: Chem 790 Physics 800 Math 2 800
AP: AB Calc 5 Physic C E/M and Mech both 5

Rank and GPA:
Leaving my old school I had a weighted GPA of 4.8. Given my straight A’s that would be 4.0 unweighted. I was 4th in my class of over 400. I do not get ranked at my current school, nor do I get a GPA as a junior. I am 98% sure I will have a 4.0 unranked GPA from senior classes.

EC:
Freshman year I did varsity alpine skiing at my old school and would have continued it if it weren’t for an injury sophomore year.
I also did row crew as a freshman, but because it was a one time thing that I did not fit me, I will probably not be writing that on my college app.
I was on my schools newspaper for 9th and 10th grade.
I had a math internship as a sophomore and also coached the middle school Math Olympiad that year.
Starting 10th grade I have been on an FRC team and starting 11th grade I have been coaching and FLL team.
Next year I am required to do an independent study project, for which I plan on doing ASL.

Leadership:
I was chief of awards, spirit, and the overall junior co-captain on my current FRC team. I can only be senior co-captain this upcoming year.
I am on school council which is a two year position, so I will have it senior year as well

Volunteering:
As said previously I coach FLL, I also volunteer at FIRST competitions in my free time. I also do a lot of outreach with FIRST and other STEM outreach organizations.
Outside of FIRST I volunteer at the local museum of science as well as some counseling at camps.

Additional stuff and awards:
I have participated in the science fair as part of my school curriculum 9th to 11th grade. I made it to the regional fair freshman year, I was an honorable mention at my school fair sophomore year, and this year did not go too well, but I still got a lot out of it.
I am an FRC Dean’s List finalist.
I have done John Hopkin’s CTY for two summers.

Thanks to everyone who has put the time into reading all of this and giving your best opinion on my application stats.

2

Do you meet the desired academic requirements for Princeton?

  • including 4 years of one foreign language?
3

Your rank, GPA, and scores are awesome (assuming you do really well when you retake the SAT 1), and it seems as though you are very involved in robotics/STEM field- not extremely standout but still very committed and involved which is great. I have the opposite problem of being spread across too many different EC’s (am also applying to Princeton) so your focus of EC’s is definitely a plus. I am unsure as to how standout Johns Hopkins CTY would be considered so maybe someone else could elaborate on that but otherwise I think you are a strong applicant

4

Your resume is impressive. See if you can get that SAT up to 1500, which is just about average for Princeton admits.

Princeton is a reach school for everyone who is not very heavily hooked, though, so make sure you pick a few more reaches (if you are interested in any other reach schools) and add some matches and at least one safety. Research them for fit (academic/social/environment) and run the NPC to help make sure you and your family can afford them.

5

@ClarinetDad16 Yes. My school has had Princeton alumni and if there was a course issue my college counselor would have notified me.

6

@seaotter17 out of curiosity what are you applying for?

7

I think @prezbucky gives great advice here. Nothing really to add - I agree you’re qualified (along with the many other thousands of PTon applicants). Add more elite schools to your list. With your accomplishments, I’m 99% sure you’ll land one of them if your essays speak and you present your narrative ideally. Go for it, kiddo.

8

have you considered taking the ACT? Your SAT 2 scores and AP scores are great for a BSE applicant.

9

@JasonMath the ACT reading section is just not for me. Without much studying I got a 680 on SAT but with loads of studying I got a 28 and 29 respectively on reading and writing. Also ACT science and essay aren’t my jam.