If you landed here, the odds are you’re scouring the internet for anything to give you an edge on your Princeton application. Unsurprisingly, the question of demonstrated interest comes up a lot, because most schools don’t strictly define what their idea of demonstrated interest is or how much it factors into their decisions. Luckily, that’s started to change, and Princeton has made its policy clear.
In their common data set, Princeton lists “level of applicant’s interest” as “not considered.” Like, at all. Also, if you’re an expert researcher (i.e. you googled “does Princeton track demonstrated interest”), you’ll find secret clues on their website, like a mysterious aside on their “Tiger Talks” landing page that says “As a reminder, Princeton does not track demonstrated interest.” We’re not rocket scientists, but it seems like a safe bet that they, indeed, do not take demonstrated interest into account when evaluating prospective students’ applications (and honestly, are we surprised? This is the school that calls its exclusive social organizations “Eating Clubs.” It’s probably best they don’t get a whiff of your eagerness since they seem more into that seersucker and caviar and chic indifference kind of thing).
What You Should Do
It’s understandable if your follow-up question here is, okay, well, now what? While it’s great for equity reasons that demonstrated interest doesn’t sway admissions, it can also make you feel like you’ve lost one way to set yourself apart. But that’s not true!
This means that admissions doesn’t get flooded by a ton of useless data. Anyone can attend a virtual Q&A, so it doesn’t actually indicate the sincerity or strength of someone’s interest in Princeton. That means you don’t have to spend your valuable time going to every college fair you can find in a 5-mile radius and wasting hours doing meaningless activities just because you think it “look good.” Similar to celebrities, admissions officers are just like us! They take out their trash on Wednesday mornings. They couldn’t care less if you signed up for Princeton’s newsletter.
They do, however, care about the quality of your application. They read hundreds in a day, and it takes a lot to get their attention. Do you want to go somewhere “impressive,” or do you have researched evidence to support that this school will help you achieve your goals? Do you know its culture well enough to write persuasively about how you’d contribute to the community and participate in and outside of the classroom?
Here’s the long-short of it. There’s no simple hack to gain you automatic entry to Princeton, so, no, emailing their admissions team weekly to reiterate your lifelong dream of becoming a Tiger won’t get your foot in the door. But, ultimately, demonstrating interest is for your benefit — not admissions. The more time you invest in getting to know Princeton — touring physically or virtually, learning about its social life, researching the scholars and strengths of the department in which you’d study — the more you will know about what being a student there is actually like.
Sometimes, you’ll find that even though you’ve envisioned Northeastern academia and a burnt orange wardrobe since childhood, you don’t think its social traditions suit your personality best or it doesn’t offer as much specialization within your major as another school. That might sound disappointing, but it’s actually a different kind of progress. If you know that, you don’t have to throw away time, energy, and (let’s face it) copious emotion perfecting your application to a school that isn’t right for you. This redirects you toward universities that are a better fit.
Sometimes, this research will only confirm your passion for Princeton. Heck yes, you want to study astrophysics in the classrooms where Albert Einstein once taught! Yes, eating clubs sound like a totally normal and not at all pretentious way of hanging out with friends and building community! If that’s the result of your demonstrated interest journey, that’s excellent, too. None of this is wasted effort just because admissions isn’t tracking it. It all strengthens your application in the end. Your passion and research will show through in a specific, genuine, compelling application, and it will soar far above the apps some students turned in last minute just to throw their hat in the ring at the university currently ranked #1 nationally by the U.S. News and World Report (no pressure, though).
Conclusion
We hope this post brings you some comfort; you don’t have to bend over backward to “prove” you want to go to Princeton. No one is tallying the number of times you’ve visited their official website. But, also, this shouldn’t shake up your plans that much either, thankfully. You’ll go about doing what you had already intended to — putting together the best application you can. And if you want to spend the formative four years of college in New Jersey? We say good for you, good luck, and godspeed.
Wondering how to polish the other parts of your application? Contact us here for personalized help!