@therealdioxis, I am not sure about the 80% deferred figure. I had the impression that Princeton and Yale were similar at around 60% deferred (56% deferred and 29% rejected this cycle) and Harvard was in the high 70’s. Maybe someone who is more familiar with Princeton can chime in. Also who knows if they got stricter this year. The indicated major may have put you in a tougher comparative pool. Also are there possible anti-hooks, e.g. ORM living in a competitive geographic region, like the Bay Area? You also might want to get another person to take a quick look at your essays. Did you try too hard to write a distinguishing essay using humor or a personal issue that fell flat? Could it have been too polished that it created doubts about who authored the essay(s)? I heard an interesting comment from a Yale AO who said that they will will not infrequently see the voice of a 50 year old lawyer in an essay, and not an 18 year old kid. There needs to be some level of cohesiveness between your essays, academics, EC’s and LoR’s.
With your accomplishments to date, I am sure you will find a fitting home for the next 4 years. It’s what you do with your college experience, not where you have it, that is the most important thing.