Decision: Deferred
Objective:
- [] SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (750 CR, 800 M, 800 W)
[] ACT: 35 (35 E, 36 M, 36 R, 34 S | 11 E) - Superscore 36
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 UW/4.36 W (one B+ first semester freshman year, all A’s and A+’s since)
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Twelve APs: eleven 5s and one 4 (world history freshman year :P).
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): NMSF, National AP Scholar, State Science Olympiad Chemistry Champion, International Robotics Competition Silver Medalist, State Economics Challenge Finalist
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Symphony Violinist, Pianist, Robotics, 2nd Degree Black Belt, Varsity Tennis, Science Olympiad (event captain), NHS
[] Job/Work Experience: none as of yet, but I’m a certified lifeguard
[] Volunteer/Community service: Elementary School Science Olympiad Coach, Library Website Editor/Updater, Computer Tutor, Food Distributor at Food Bank, Other Community Events
[] Summer Activities: Lifeguard training, music composition, photography, nothing too special
[] Essays: Common App (10/10) - I wrote about my difficulties talking at a young age helped me discover my inner voice through music, art, and writing. It was extremely heartfelt and I really loved it.
Princeton Supplement (10/10) - I chose the prompt about the influential person and focused on how my grandfather fostered my identity and how, through the lessons that he taught me, I realized that he and I were essentially the same person despite the fact that we were from completely different generations. I had this weird structure where I started with an experience I had with my grandfather at a young age and, as the essay progressed, I slowly combined our two selves together until the very end, where I used the same experience at the beginning to finish the essay (although through the perspective of a much older me). It was super inspirational, and my English teacher said that she absolutely loved it and would use it as an example for her future classes. I’m just sad that the adcoms did not see it that way.
Princeton Engineering (8/10) - Probably the weakest of the three, since I redid it the week before I sent in my application. I used a personal experience to explain my love for economics, and how Princeton’s ORFE program would perfectly blend my interests in math, science, technology, and finance together into something that I would enjoy doing.
[] Teacher Recommendations: AP Language teacher (8.5/10) - she actually took the time to actually write a letter specifically for me instead of using a template. She talked about my writing abilities and the qualities I would bring to the college campus. AP Chemistry teacher (10/10) - although he taught me back in 10th grade, my AP Chem teacher was honestly the best teacher I’ve ever had. I love him, and he loves me (got an A+ in that class that year, don’t know how). He wrote about my talents and my passion for helping other people.
[] Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, so I can’t really rate this. I go to a really large public school, so my counselor probably had a lot of letters to write. I do know her well though.
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[li] Interview: (8/10) Phone interview with alumni near my region. She asked me about my extracurriculars, but most of the conversation was me asking her questions about Princeton. I think it went pretty well (41 minutes in length).[/li][/ul]
Other
- [] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Intended Major: Operations Research and Financial Engineering
[] State (if domestic applicant): MI
[] Country (if international applicant): USA
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
[] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): Asian
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: ~70k
[] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): none
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: essays, academics, test scores, letters of recommendation
[] Weaknesses: scattered ECs, ORM (the Asian Male pool is ridiculously competitive), maybe GPA and the fact that I haven’t taken AP Physics C yet, which kind of looks bad since I’m applying for a BSE, but my school doesn’t offer it (although I did take Physics 1 last year and got a 5).
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Princeton is such a crapshoot; I wasn’t lucky enough. Only the admissions officers know why. Hopefully I’ll get another chance during the regular season!
[] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: several state schools
[li] Where else are you applying for RD: Harvard, Yale, UChicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, UPenn (already got into my safety and match, so I’m just playing the lottery right now… :P)[/li][/ul]
General Comments:
Congratulations to everyone who was accepted! You guys are such amazing people, and I am overjoyed that I got to meet a few of you guys this year on CC. Hopefully I’ll get another shot at Princeton in the spring, but until then, I’ll start investing my time into falling in love with other institutions.
Princeton is just one door of opportunity; the fact that you applied to Princeton is a remarkable achievement in itself. Everything will work out in the end, no matter what your decision was.
I cannot stress this enough: don’t be disappointed in yourself if you get a deferral! Your decision is only one part of life; when you look back several years from now, this bad news will only seem like an insignificant experience when compared with all of your other achievements! In the end, you are defined by what you do, not by what college you go to.
I wrote a whole post about this. If you want to read the full comment, click here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19080479/#Comment_19080479
Best of luck to everyone! You’ll all do great regardless of where you go. 