@nikuedu i come from a low income household (my mother is my soul provider and earns less than 20k a yr) and im attending one of the lowest ranked public schools for my state. Not many students from my school are accepted into an ivy league, in ten years i think fewer than ten students have been accepted to a school of a similar caliber. Students (including myself) wouldn’t even study for the SAT until junior year but most senior year. SAT and AP exams are just not discussed enough and so the students do not know how important those scores are. in fact i would say maybe less than one percent of the entire school is even aware of SAT Subject tests.
Adversity has always been a part of my life. My older brothers are high school dropouts, ex gang members and one is currently locked up. i never had a typical childhood because drugs and violence were present (due to my brothers). And through all that maintained a 4.0.
However, i always took advantage of any opportunity that was available to me. Since school was the only controllable factor in my life i would focus my time on my education. i learned very quickly that education could enable me to be successful so that i could have stability and set an example for my younger nieces and nephews.
But as far as getting in, i believe those have been some of the factors that played a huge role in my acceptance (i mentioned it in my essay). Apart from that, i had letters of rec of Princeton alumni and have attended two Princeton summer programs. im also female and Mexican American. i wouldn’t consider myself too religious but i did ask for friends to pray for me as well.
Even though i had such low scores and some people advised me to not apply SCEA i decided to believe in myself. For a long time those scores haunted me. i would always blame myself for not doing better, for not being able to attend another school where education is of a greater value. Now i understand that some things were outside of my control and that i didn’t have as many resources as other people (didn’t have my own laptop until sophomore year but even then the internet would be cut off because my mother would fall behind on payments).
i had to make the most of what little i had and that is why i always encourage everyone to dream big. As hackneyed as the phrase is, if i could do it, then you could do it!
side note: if PU didn’t accept me the fight wasn’t going to be over, i would have worked extra harder on my other apps (that i hadn’t even started yet) and try to get in contact with other ivy alumni for letters of rec/help (i know a few from networking, something i consider one of my strengths).
@jkfs123 I find your story very inspiring and I appreciate your dedication and motivation in life :’) I didn’t realize how much I took for granted until you explained about the place you lived in, your brother, the lack of internet at home, and the lack of support within the rest of your community. Great, great job with overcoming those many hardships and being accepted to one of the most prestigious universities in the world. I truly believe you will come to do amazing things in life. Good luck!
@MissAnthropy thank you. not much has changed but im hoping for the better. i cant decide anyone else’s choices but my own so the rest is honestly up to my family members.
@DreamforIvy thank you! Unfortunately there are other stories from other students that are similar to mine (if not worse). it is a humbling experience and has taught to me be compassionate. Yet it does teach you that life can be cruel and indeed very unkind.
But overall i have learned to be more open about life. Now at school i don’t mind discussing with other students my experience growing up on food stamps or any other disadvantage. My teacher for AP Calc used to be such an awful person to me, she would tell me that one day i would be smart and to let my friends have their own path (which according to her would be more successful than mine because they passed the exam). Now that i have been accepted she is much more kinder but it still sucks that she didn’t believe in me, it even put a strain on those friendships. But this time ive improved on my math skills and im certain that if i retake the AB exam i can pass with a 4 or if i take the BC exam pass with a 3. The chem exam on the other hand… i wouldn’t be surprised if i get a 1 or 2 :))
Sorry for posting the direct link to realtalk princeton. Mea culpa, I get it. For those interested, it can be found on tumblr if you search for “realtalk-princeton”, although it’s really more for accepted/attending students imo and not applicants. Good luck to all of you hoping to be future Tigers (or the parents of them)!
