What differentiates successful applicants to Princeton from unsuccessful applicants? I have witnessed on this forum result threads stating people with SATS in the 2100 range get accepted, and people with perfect scores get rejected. Heck I even saw a couple result threads of people who were finalists in the Intel science fairs and still did not get in. I have seen threads with people who with the 2100 SAT, have a couple extra curriculars, APs, and no obvious hook get accepted. So it does not seem that it is the major awards. People say the essays but I can not imagine that the intel finalists with perfect SAT scores are writing crappy essays, that does not make sense. Maybe that is the case but I do not get it. Would someone be able to enlighten us?
"People say the essays but I can not imagine that the intel finalists with perfect SAT scores are writing crappy essays, "
You’re 100% wrong. People can come off entitled, selfish, disconnected with fellows – poison to their presentation. Plus, it’s not purely stats. Readers look to fill slots and once the final pool coalesces, the final choosing is definitely is an art and not a science.
Thus, it’s silly to worry about something so diaphanous as this
– the answer being almost nothing. Present yourself as best you can. And not worry about it. You can’t change it – all you can do is hit the “submit” button and live life and enjoy your senior year!
Okay maybe some of the do come out that way, but I am pretty sure that not all or even the majority of applicants with great stats come off that way. It interests me because a decision on something almost anybody wants can be so subjective and can vary so much!
Well, if you like objective more, you can apply to the other 90% of schools which admit by objective data only (GPA and SAT/ACT)
If you don’t like their holistic admissions process and the subjectivity of it, you don’t have to apply there.
You can’t trust everything you see on the internet. Some people will lie about their credentials, lie about their decision etc.
The best way to approach this is to stay true to yourself in your essays, don’t try to be someone you’re not, and just hope for the best in the lottery that is Princeton admissions.
Having read scholarship committee essays (which is only a teeny tiny fraction of what admissions officers read), I can tell you they don’t share universal quality. In the same way how a grandmom, going to darling granddaughter’s 10 year old piano recital – hears Rachmaninov. Whereas anyone with a trained ear can clearly hear a prodigy or another sweet pre-teen pianist.
The same with essay readers…
The very first thing that happens with a Princeton application is that it is scored on an academic and ec index, so the 4.0 student with a 2400 SAT and an Intel title is obviously going to score very high making that application a priority for close examination, and in that sense that student does have an early advantage.
But that is where the formula ends, and no matter how clearly and how often colleges state that they are constructing a class based on factors that go far beyond numbers people still can’t wrap their heads around it and accept it. Life is subjective. Why does someone get elected to a position over someone else? Why does someone get a job over 100 other applicants? Why is that cute girl dating THAT guy instead of you? Why does one musician or one actor get chosen over others? Why did one person win an Oscar or a Nobel prize instead of someone else?
These scenarios play out everyday in our lives, so it should be no surprise that college admissions work the same way. Only in college admissions though are people so adamant that the process should be clear cut and based on a stringent set of criteria.
Because we as a society hope that universities such as Princeton are more rational than a " cute girl dating that guy".
Any other opinions?
@planner03 is correct. After that early review to weed out the completely unqualified, there is no formula that they use. Essays, EC’s, and other factors come into play
So that means that it is not necessary to have to have cured cancer, or win the intel science fair if you write a killer essay?
^^ I’ve always questioned the whole essays can get you in mentality. This is because essays can be heavily professionally “edited”, or frankly, completely ghostwritten. How can this supplant actual achievements that the applicant would have had to earn themselves? Just my opinion.
They can tell real passion from fake
Her decision isn’t irrational-it is based on a set of criteria that may not be obvious to you, just like college admissions. You are missing the point. NOONE is going to be able to “enlighten” you.
@Falcoln1 - I agree completely.
And there are “test optional” colleges that let essays be the deciding factor.
I don’t know why you insist on quantifying a process that’s not subject to it – holistic admissions isn’t science – it’s more of an art. Please listen to this http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134916924/Amherst-Admissions-Process
and tell us what you discover.
@planner03 - My point is that we as a society hopes that the university’s set of criteria is more logical and more thought out as opposed to the girl dating the guy just because he is on the football team. Okay, I guess the term “enlighten”, was a bad idea on my part, but I just was wanting to hear different opinions and perspectives. I obviously was not expecting someone to give me a magical answer that will me finally understand admissions. And yes, I am completely aware that there is no formula, but I was just trying to see if anybody had any hypotheses on what is the small deciding factor that makes the world class debate time guy get in, but the world class scientist to not.
You’re attacking a straw man. Who says the cute girl is dating a guy just because he is on the football team, as opposed to a combination of social and physical reasons?
@Falcon1 Essays written by the applicant himself / herself tend to display similar themes and reflect his / her extra-curricular involvement.
@1golpher1 - Don’t be naive. A good ghost writing “consultant” will make the essay’s themes match the applicant’s interests and achievements.
I don’t think the consultants necessarily get it any better than the average hs kid. There’s lots of pro advice out there to write this or that- which strikes me as way off base. It’s not about an essay matching the kid’s interests. Its how and what is conveyed, throughout.
CC likes the idea there are wild cards that explain why this kid, who shines in his own high school, somehow doesn’t seem all that alert to a highly competitive college’s adcoms.
What bends my mind is kids who have to ask outright. In theory, if you are truly qualified, you have explored what these U’s present and how, to learn what the expectations are.
But because most kids don’t, you get all sorts of pulled together apps, from kids who assume this is all about stats, how your high school teachers like you, Intel, “passions,” “standing out,” the fact they have some ECs and then a host of other irrational suggestions.
Ultimately, the U’s set of criteria IS logical- to the U. Most reveal a lot, in their own words.