How old do you have to be to get into clubs in Germany?

Can I get in to Princeton?

• To start with, I go to one of the top two prep schools (boarding schools) in the country, and have maintained an A-/A average there. All my courses this year are freshman level college courses, including ornithology, accelerated calculus and field/personal study German. In tenth grade, I won the school's German prize and a math prize. I have lived in Germany (the past six years), New York (four years before that), Italy (three years) and France (the first four years of my life), and am fluent in German, English and French, and competent in Italian. I got 2300 on my SATs, an 800 on the French with listening and an 800 on the Literature SAT IIs. I row on the crew team, I sing in Glee club, I am the head of three language clubs at my school, and I am part of three different community service organizations. I also have a job as a theater proctor at my school, which I get paid for. I spent my last summer working as a camp counselor in the States, then an 'English teacher' in Italy, and then in a two week exchange program in Austria to live immersed int he German language. (I live in Germany, but I my family speaks English at home.) I am also spending my senior spring term studying at an all German Gymnasium in Germany. Is there anything I could add to my 'resume' at such a late date?

• Answer:

  Obviously you have a great resume! I'm really not trying to be a downer here. I promise. But I figure you want an honest answer, so let us dissect your application. The main thing you have going for you is the international aspect, especially the languages, as well as your competency in a variety of different subjects- you're obviously good at Math if you won a prize, but your SAT scores indicate that you are also good at languages (English AND all you others). Your activites are also great. Basically, you only have one thing going against you, and it may not make much sense: your school. I'm assuming you go to either Phillips Exeter Academy or to Phillips Academy (Andover). If you do, then you will be competing against students who are insanely good at academics/life. These are the kids who get straight As, who are on the board of the community service organizations, who have started their own charities- ridiculously competent kids who are all applying to Princeton/Yale/Harvard/Stanford/Columbia etc. Though you have geographic diversity in the sense that you come from Switzerland, your school is dragging you down. Best of luck applying. It's definitely worth it for you to apply, just remember that Princeton has a 14% admittance rate, so they have to turn down thousands of incredibly qualified candidates for seemingly arbitrary reasons.