Do I have what it takes?

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
1

<p>Or am I a typical applicant?</p>

<p>I’m a junior at a competitive school in the middleeast. (does that make me an URM? idk just wondering…) I’m planning to apply to Princeton a year from now…so any advice would be great! Tell me if you think I’m on the right track…</p>

<p>Rank: 15/120 (ya, I suck)
GPA: (avg of 4 yrs) 16/20 </p>

<p>Thats an A. I messed up freshman year and got a 14/B- so that got my average down a bit. Now I’m getting 17s (A+). Also, our school dosent weigh GPA so taking a rigorous courseload brings my grades down…colleges would take that into account.</p>

<p>SAT: 1850 June (I’m re-taking it in Dec. right now I’m getting 2000-2100 in practice tests. I’m aiming at 2200+)
SAT II: taking next year Maths IIC, Bio M and either world history or french</p>

<p>APs: Biology, European history, Macroeconomics, English language and composition
A-levels: English language and litreture, Economics, Buisness, Arabic, Maths.</p>

<p>I’m taking the 4 APs and 4 ASs and Arabic A2 this year. Next year, I’ll be taking 4A2s (the second module of the A-level) and a couple more APs. Thats a total of 6 APs and 5 A-levels by graduation.</p>

<p>ECs:
-Head of biomonthly 50page school newspaper (10hs/ wk)
-University support prefect (this probably wont count so much)
-I interned at a publishing office in the summer where I translated childrens books from Arabic to English. I liked it so much that I’m still doing it. The office is a long drive from home tho so with school and all I mostly work from home.

  • I volunteer every weekend at the local autism center. I just started a couple of months ago so I doubt by the time I apply I WONT be one of those people with 1000+ volunteer hours lol. But I guess it will still look good…right?
  • I organized a couple of events in school including an international culture day, a Talent show, a “Brain Scratch” contest and a couple more events for the elementary grades.</p>

<p>So what do you think?
I feel like I’m a bit behind…
what more can I do to get in?</p>

2

<p>You probably need to raise your class rank to the top 5%. Your SAT I score of 1850 is very low for Princeton. Most Princeton admits have above a 2100 SAT I score.</p>

3

<p>Ya, I’m working on those two factors. I’m aiming for a 2200+</p>

4

<p>If you make your essay really stand out and have great recommendations, your SAT score will not be that great of a factor.</p>

5

<p>You should try to raise your class rank and SAT scores by quite a bit.</p>

<p>97 percent of the class of 2012 were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
Their median SAT score is 2220.</p>

<p>Your current SAT score of 1850 and class ranking outside the top decile seriously will hurt your chances. In fact, the average applicant to Princeton has a SAT score of 2100. </p>

<p>Although grades and test scores are only a part of your whole application, they are the weaknesses that I see.</p>

6

<p>on the edge, give a try</p>

7

<p>You appear to be a bit lower than a typical applicant. My guess is you will not make it so make sure to find other options. Now if you can get the SAT up to 2200+ it would be a different story.</p>