***PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2019 RD RESULTS***

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
21

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1980 (WR-690) (CR-680) (M-610)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II:Literature 770, US History 720, World History 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.66
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/126
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Euro (5), APUSH (5), AP Language and Composition (5), AP Psychology (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus, AP Government, AP Chemistry, AP Literature and Composition, AP World History, AP Studio Art, Ethics IV (Self Study Courses: AP Human Geography, AP Comparative Government)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, Department awards in AP Latin, APUSH, AP Language and Composition, Saint Michael’s Book Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Swim Team (Captain, all four years), Club swimmer (9 years), Pianist (Classical/Contemporary, 10+ years), Senior Core Member of religious youth group, Ancient Greek Club (Founder/President), Bible Club, Extracurricular Latin (unable to take a fourth year of AP Latin due to schedule conflict, teacher created study regimen for me), Harry Potter Club (Founder/President, largest club on campus), two seasons of volleyball at the high school level (after injury became head coach of a local middle school varsity team), National Honors Society Executive President
Job/Work Experience: Swim Aide (Summer)
Volunteer/Community service: Animal shelter volunteer, weekly hospital volunteer, Harry Potter Club (I created it with a community service branch as well), religious youth groups
Summer Activities: Volunteering/Community service, took additional history/math courses for fun
Essays (rating 1-10, details): One was about my passion for reading, I received good feed back from peers, faculty and parents (9), Second essay was about the uniqueness of my name and how that ties into identity, probably 8-9 range. Both essays reflected different sides of myself in terms of tone, attitude, and personality.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: (9-10) Teacher knows me extremely well, we connect through similar interests and love of Classics, history, and ancient languages.
Teacher Rec #2: (6-7) Knows me extremely well, my AP Chem/Honors Chem teacher, Varsity Swim coach, only reason it would be a lower rating is because his writing is not too stellar.
Counselor Rec: Wonderful, she knows me very well ( I go to a small school so she was also my AP Psych teacher, and she loves HP)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Fantastic. We talked about books, history, my intended major (Classics) and everything in between (8.5-9).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Classics, History, Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Small, Catholic
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, I suppose.

Reflection

Strengths: Well rounded, SAT IIs, extracurriculars, interview, essays, grades
Weaknesses: SAT I, Lack of major awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: In all honesty, I am not quite sure. It’s really hard for anyone in my area, or generally my background to even apply to schools at this level. I had a feeling I would not be rejected, but the difference between being waitlisted and an acceptance is a mystery to me. Sure, I could have had a higher SAT I but I know people who were rejected this round with perfect scores so I suppose its very arbitrary.

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: Princeton, Brown, Cornell, USC, Berkeley, Duke, Williams College, NYU, Bowdoin, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Michigan (State, and U of M); Waitlisted: Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, University of Chicago, Georgetown; Rejected: Yale, Dartmouth

General Comments:

22

Decision: Rejected (after Deferral)

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2220 (680 CR, 770 M, 770 W)
[] ACT: 35
[] SAT II: Math Level II - 800, Biology - 800, Chemistry - 790
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[] ELC?: ?
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry - 5, Biology - 5, Art History - 5, English Language - 5
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science, AP US Government, Spanish 3
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist (named USC First Choice)

[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): SADD (Founder / President), School Newspaper (Webmaster), National Honor Society
[] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[] Volunteer/Community service: Red Cross (since 8th Grade)
[] Summer Activities: I did several camps my senior year, including one for economics that’s pretty reputable. Prior to that, I did a lot of volunteering and I did take a few summer school courses.
[] Essays: I think they were really good. Common app was a 8/10 I’d say, talked about my experiences being on one of the top cross country teams in the country. My summer activities one was meh (7/10) because I just tried to answer the question and threw in a few creative bits. I would say my leadership one about my club was pretty good (9/10), and my long response was about disparities. I honestly think it was the best thing I’ve written (10/10) and my English teacher told me it was one of the best he’s read in years. But that’s pretty subjective, I guess.
[] Teacher Recommendation: English teacher that I’ve had every year for newspaper since 9th grade, and for AP Lang and Lit in 11th and 12th. He’s been an awesome resource for me and we’ve had so many talks during lunch and after school… I know he wrote me the best rec he could (10/10). My other rec was from my HOnors Precalculus teacher; she saw me struggle a lot early on but work really hard and become one of her top students by the end of the year (8/10).
[] Counselor Rec: Large public school, probably only talked to her once in four years. Really generic, nothing good or bad probably (6/10).
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview: It went really well… We ended up talking for a bit over an hour even though he said 40-45 minutes. It wasn’t really on topic though since we were both Chelsea fans though haha.
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but not getting anything
[li]** Intended Major **: Operations Research and Financial Engineering[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public, Large (3500+ Students)
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: Don’t want to be too specific, but upper middle class, not enough for good FinAid.
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): N/A

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Stats. I was almost perfect in the classroom and testing, and I’m still really proud of my accomplishments even if they didn’t get me where I wanted.
[] Weaknesses: ECs.
[] Accepted: Cal, UCLA, UCSD, UC Irvine (Campus Honors Program), Washington (Purple and Gold Scholarship)
[] Schools you were rejected from? Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Colombia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Cornell, USC
[/ul]General Comments: Princeton accepted 4 kids from my school this year, and they’re all equally (if not more) brilliant, and I know they’ll do great there. I’m disappointed but I understand. I knew that attending a prestigious Ivy League school was always a long shot, and I feel like I gave it my best effort. Perhaps something was wrong with my Common App because I didn’t get into a single private school, but most likely, I just didn’t stand out enough. I know this isn’t a reflection on me as a student or person, and I have some great options. I’m going to Cal (in-state) next year to study engineering, and I realize now after everything that this probably is the best program for me and my career goals. I feel like it took a lot of time and apps to get here, but I’m glad that I did. So excited to be going to college next year and good luck to all of you applying next year!

23

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): did not send
ACT (breakdown): 34 (E 32, M 35, R 36, S 33, W 10)
SAT II: Biology 760, US History 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/4000
AP (place score in parenthesis): U.S. History (5), Biology (5), Lang (5), Latin (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Microeconomics, AP Calculus BC, AP Literature, AP Human Geography, Physics Honors, Banking Honors, Gym (they made me take this one)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Harvard Club Book Award… there are others but I’m attempting to be brief

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Council (President, Vice President, Executive Board Delegate)
Massachusetts Association of Student Councils Executive Board (Secretary, State Delegate)
~Through this organization, I attended several state and regional leadership conferences, as well as a National Conference in Orlando.
Latin Club (treasurer)
Math Team
NHS
Leader’s Guild (Club Co-Founder and President)
Employment - Food Service at a Hospital (15 hours a week)
School Committee (High School Representative)
Volunteer/Community service:
Special Olympics Massachusetts~ Organized two polar plunges (raising $30,000 to date); organized two state wide Special Olympics Bocce Tournaments for Olympians

Summer Activities:
MASC Summer Leadership Conference
NASC National Leadership Conference
Vacation in the Azores (as is done every summer)
Volunteering

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App- 9/10 about an election for state president I lost and the rebound (spent months writing this)
Princeton Sup- 8/10 about my best friend and my sexuality and all that he helped me through
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP APUSH teacher 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: AP Latin teacher 10/10
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read but assuming it was very well done. I have a very close personal relationship with my counselor. 10/10.
Additional Rec: My School System’s Superintendent 10/10 (it discussed out personal relationship and my involvement in shaping local politics)
Interview: 9/10 This went absolutely amazing. My interviewer wanted me to attend so badly. After the interview, he continued to send me information about the school for weeks and weeks.

Other
Applied FOR FINANCIAL AID?: Yes
Intended Major: Politics
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~180,000… maybe more.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation American (not first generation college)

Reflection:
Cannot wait to attend. I am so excited!!!

Strengths: Essays, Recs, Instead of spreading thin, I did a lot in one area where I am most passionate
Weaknesses: I don’t feel as though I did anything spectacular. I just did what I wanted to do (which some would call a strength)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Rejected: no where
Accepted: Princeton, Brown, Georgetown, Duke, George Washington, Boston College
Waitlisted: Harvard, Yale, Amherst

24

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (800 CR 690 M 780 W)
ACT: 34 (34E 33M 35R 32S Essay:10)
SAT II: Biology E: 740 US History: 800 Literature: 780 World History: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92 UW/4.46 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang Comp: 5, APUSH: 5, Psychology: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, CP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Honors Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Creative Writing, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top 20 in nation for marching band

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Marching Band (Color Guard): Many regional level awards, top 20 in nation and winner of Esprit de Corps award
Fencing (4 years)
Gymnastics (3 years)
Stage Crew (4 years) - co-head of lighting
Fencing Club (3 years) (Treasurer and Founding Member)
Ski Club (4 years)
Peer Mediation (4 years)
some other misc. stuff
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 100-120 hours over the last three summers at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities
Summer Activities: College class in ASL at Rutgers, Volunteering
Essays:
Common App: About how I challenged people’s beliefs about me because as a petite, nerdy girl, I can do lots of push-ups. It was kind of funny, and everyone who read it liked it. I spent a long time on it. 9/10
EC Essay: About performing at nationals for marching band. It was well-written, but nothing earth-shattering. 8/10
Last two summers: About volunteering at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities. I didn’t like it that much. 7/10

Person who has influenced you: Took a big risk on this one. I wrote about how I met a girl freshman year and I decided that even though she ended up being very successful, I knew I DIDN’T want to be like her. I basically said she was kind of mean to everyone around her, and I realized I would rather be less successful and be kind rather than cutthroat.
Teacher Recommendation #1: Not sure. I picked this teacher because he saw me help out other students in his class, but it’s impossible for me to say if he wrote a lot about that in his rec.
Teacher Recommendation #2: I think this one was good. This teacher and I were kind of on the same wavelength, and I gave him a ton of supplemental information to pull from.
Counselor Rec: She likes me, but it was probably kind of bland. She has 239 other kids to worry about.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Not too great. He was an ok guy, but we didn’t have that much in common, and I think he kind of sensed Princeton wasn’t my first choice. Definitely didn’t help me, but I don’t think it seriously hurt my app either.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White, but chose not to respond
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >250k (did not apply for FA)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish

Reflection

Strengths: By Princeton standards? None.
Weaknesses: Course load rigor could be better, bad SAT math score, only one substantial EC, did not save a small country
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It’s Princeton man, and that’s all there is to it. I honestly don’t believe it’s personal, just a numbers thing, although I think I was probably pretty far down on the list of potential acceptances lol.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Rutgers and the University of Alabama EA, accepted to WashU, Oxford College at Emory, BU, and William and Mary RD; Rejected at Pomona, CMC, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, USC, and Middlebury; Waitlisted at American, UVa, and Kenyon

General Comments:

Saw this one coming from a mile away. Congrats to all that got in.

25

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 760 CR, 800 M, 780 W, composite 2340
[] ACT (breakdown): 31 M, 30 S, 35 W, 35 CR, composite 33
[] SAT II: literature 750, Physics was brutal… I wanna say… 650?
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.09 (my class’s GPA is on a 4.3 scale, with an A+ counting as a 4.3 and an A- as a 3.7.)

[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
[] AP (place score in parentheses): not available at my school
[] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[] Senior Year Course Load: Advanced Math Seminar (A+), Advanced Chemistry (A), English 12 (A), 20th Century Social Movements (A), Spanish 7 (A), Art (A, doesn’t count towards GPA)
I’m taking the hardest classes I can take at my school. They do not offer APs or Honor Classes.

[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
No major awards… But I won the highest academic award for my grade in 9th grade, and the highest award for the humanities department for my grade in 11th grade. I was also selected in 10th grade to represent my school at a senior leadership conference. I’m a national hispanic scholar.
[/list]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Honor Council (member), Peer Tutoring Center (leader), Middle School Mentor Program (leader), Varsity Soccer (4 years, captain last 2 years), Varsity Track (3 years, captain this year)
[] Job/Work Experience: internship at the Carnegie institute during 11th grade, internship with MathAction (writing a math curriculum incorporating social studies) summer before 12th grade.
[] Volunteer/Community service: 3 weeks of work mixing cement and digging holes in a rural Salvadorian village
[] Summer Activities: really not much other than mentioned above…
[] Essays: I know this is said a lot, but I really do think that my common app essay was good. My college counselor told me, after reading it, “you are a beautiful person.” Definitely a strange yet adorable thing to say… She is really great. :slight_smile: I wrote about how the rules of mathematics have helped me to shape my life.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I’m lucky enough to go to a small school where I am an attentive student. Teachers know and like me. I think my recs reflected that.
[] Counselor Rec:
[li] Interview: phone interview, the guy asked hard questions… I think it went well! I’ve noticed a large divide in the interviewing styles of universities (Princeton, MIT) and the lacs I applied to. The lac interviewers wanted me to ask questions, while the Princeton and MIT interviewers definitely asked me to explain my interest a lot more, putting me on the spot a lot. But I kind of enjoyed answering the questions.[/li]
[/list]Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: yup!
[] State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: private
[] Ethnicity: hispanic
[] Gender: female
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): 100,000-150,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM[/li]
[/list]Reflection
[] Strengths: good test scores, essay, and probably recs
[] Weaknesses: I didn’t really do anything “amazing”-- and my school doesn’t offer AP courses, which I was afraid would make my application look bad.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I managed to demonstrate my passion for math (along with other subjects) through my essay and my ECs, I guess. Princeton seems to really want more females in the math department.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted: amherst, middlebury, bowdoin, colorado college (ea), haverford, kenyon (science scholarship)
Waitlisted: williams, swarthmore
Rejected: MIT

I was really surprised to be accepted to Princeton. I never saw myself at a University, even a rather small one. I applied because of Princeton’s proximity to home, their math program, and their reputation for excellent FA. Well, they came through on FA all right… It’s my cheapest option along with Kenyon. I’m not sure if I’m attending yet, but it’s going to be hard to say no…
Congrats to everyone else accepted! :slight_smile:

26

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1840 - didn’t submit
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34S, 33R, 34E, 33M)
SAT II: 700 Chem, 640 Math II
Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/230
AP (place score in parenthesis):5 (APHG), 4 (AP Comp, APUSH), 3 (AP Bio, AP Chem)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP English Literature, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Physics I, Economics, Ceramics I
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QB CPS, QB NCM Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, scored in top .1% of Math Contest - attending nationals this month

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swimming (11 x Reserve Conference Champion, 3 x Captain, 2 x School Record Holder, Mental Attitude Award Winner, Most Valuable Swimmer Award), Equestrian (Reserve World Champion, 3rd All-Around at World Show, National Direction of Association, Multiple State High Point Awards), National Honors Society, internship at Notre Dame in the Chemical Engineering department
Job/Work Experience: lifeguarding every summer
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ hours as an assistant swim coach for our middle school, and about 100+ hours for volunteer lifeguarding at community events
Summer Activities: working, competing in swimming and equestrian events
Essays: Pretty good I think! My Common App was awesome IMO
Teacher Recommendation: Both of my teachers gave really good recommendations - I’ve had both for 3 years and one said she “made me sound like a rockstar”
Counselor Rec: Really good. I go to a small school, so she knows me pretty well! She’s very excited about my college applications!
Additional Rec: N/A
Short Answer Questions: I think good!
Interview: This one wasn’t so good - my interviewer kinda made me feel like I had to keep on talking and sometimes my answers weren’t very good, but it was also my second interview, so I was really nervous.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): Indiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Rural Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection:

Strengths: Scores, I think my EC’s
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: I really focused on my hardships from my QB application
Weaknesses: GPA, probably some of my awards aren’t as astounding as some people
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: IU (Honors + Direct Admit to Kelly), Purdue (Honors + Direct Admit), Northwestern (ISP), Notre Dame (Mendoza Pre-Approval), Waitlisted at UChicago and Penn, Denied at MIT, Harvard, Yale
Notes: Awesome job everyone! Keep your head up! You will find your dream college!

27

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:
• SAT I (breakdown): Almost 2300 (one sitting, junior year)
• ACT (breakdown): 35 (one sitting, junior year)
• SAT II: 800, 800
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1%—school doesn’t rank, but one of the top 3 students, possibly the top
• AP (place score in parentheses): Five 5’s, two 4’s (plus will take five more in May)
• Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous possible (and beyond highest AP level in math and one other subject)
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Yes, with very large financial award

Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Two main ECs, one unique and the other typical (both involving leadership)
• Job/Work Experience: Yes, extensive, paid, and unique
• Volunteer/Community service: Yes, extensive and unique
• Summer Activities: One short summer program each year (1-3 weeks), plus work involving unique EC each summer
• Essays: Very good, and main one was unique
• Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t see—probably great
• Counselor Rec: Didn’t see—probably great
• Additional Rec: Yes—great, and from foremost person in the world qualified to address unique EC activities
• Interview: Great—all interviewers were fascinated by and focused on unique EC
• Supplementary Material: Yes—examples of unique EC

Other
• Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
• State (if domestic applicant): California
• School Type: Very large public school
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): Upper middle class
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None (except unique EC)

Reflection
• Strengths: Unique, extremely well-developed EC outside of high school
• Weaknesses: Only a couple of EC’s at high school (little time because of outside commitments)
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Unique EC (with top level of achievement possible, either for a teenager or an adult, in various areas)—know this for a fact
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Harvard, Yale (early), Princeton, and Stanford—chose Stanford

General Comments: I filled this out for my son, who preferred not to have all details posted, including a fifth top-tier private school he was accepted to. My advice: Be yourself; follow your “passion” (if you have one—if not, don’t fake it); take the most rigorous course load you can; get top grades; do well on the SAT and/or ACT (aim for 2250+ on former and 35+ on latter, but no matter what, don’t take either one more than twice!); enter local, state, national, and international competitions and hope to place in some; don’t worry if you’re not an athlete; don’t get your heart set on one or two schools—keep in mind that you can be happy and successful anywhere. My son had several other less-than-top-tier schools he was very interested in and would have been happy to attend—and, because of his EC, we (his parents) actually wondered whether he should put off college or even skip it altogether. But he really wanted to go, and we think he’ll get a lot out of it (though it will slow down his EC career, as high school did). Please don’t private message me asking for further details about his EC, since he would prefer to keep that information confidential. Good luck, everyone—even with his outcome, we found this process very stressful and difficult, right up to and including making the final decision about which school to attend. The good news is, no matter where you end up, you’ll be happy the college admissions process is over!

28

What is this unique EC if you don’t mind sharing?

Cherry mom

29

@Cherrymom He literally said that he wanted to keep the information confidential.
Also these posts should be deleted since they aren’t stat/acceptance/deferral/waitlist/rejection posts.