What do you need to be admitted to Princeton University? See requirements for undergraduate and graduate degrees from one of the best universities in the world.
Princeton University is the seventh best university in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, in addition to being a member of the renowned Ivy League, a league of the most important universities in the United States located in the northeast region of the country.
With Princeton’s international reputation, you might think the admissions process is nearly impossible. While it’s really strict and super crowded, you’d be amazed at all the ways the institution facilitates the process for international students.
How hard is it to get into Princeton University?
Firstly, University selection involves a holistic review of each candidate’s entire educational background. No particular factor is given a fixed or greater weight. Instead, there is a highly individualized assessment, considering a student’s talents, accomplishments and potential to contribute to learning at Princeton.
In addition, the university makes a number of concessions. For example, you only take the SAT or ACT if you want to, if you believe the score will help your selection, because standardized tests are optional at Princeton. Even when asking for the SAT, Princeton didn’t require the Writing part, because they knew it would increase the value of the test.
International applicants’ documents that are not officially in English need to be translated, but there is no need to pay for a certified translation. And if your country’s educational system doesn’t work with a GPA – general average used in the United States -, you don’t need to provide it.
Even Princeton University’s recruiting team is familiar with all sorts of education systems in the world, so you won’t need to pay for a qualification matching service .
Pretty cool huh? But, having said all that, it is important to consider that, even inclusive, Princeton University is one of the best universities in the world, which, consequently, means that it only selects the best candidates. See below if you have what it takes to get admitted to Princeton!
Studying at Princeton University: Undergraduate
Princeton University accepts applications from around the world and reviews them in the same manner regardless of an applicant’s citizenship or country of residence. Similar to the assessment of US students, Princeton will consider each foreign applicant’s immediate context and the educational system in which they are enrolled without giving preference or advantage to any particular system or country.
Application is made through Common Application, the centralized service for university selection processes in the United States.
Do you have adequate academic preparation?
The institution understands that each high school offers different opportunities for learning and development. With that in mind, here is a suggested academic preparation that will make you a good candidate for princeton:
- Four years of English studies (with continued practice in writing)
- Four years of math studies (including calculus for students interested in an engineering degree )
- Four years of native language studies
- At least two years of laboratory science (including physics and chemistry for students interested in an engineering degree)
- At least two years of history
- It’s not a requirement, but Princeton advises that most applicants also have some experience studying the visual and performing arts.
The university encourages students to challenge themselves during high school and take the most rigorous courses possible.
School Records
Princeton evaluates transcripts (or your academic record) within the context of your educational system and school curriculum. Your academic record must include any available internal grades from your classes, grades obtained on external exams (for example, national high school leaving exams), or a combination of both.
A school project in English
Princeton asks each applicant to submit a written assignment completed in a school subject with the following characteristics:
- The written work must have been produced for a subject at your school, preferably English, social studies or history, during one of your three years of high school
- You can send a work, essay, research or dissertation test of one to two pages, but that is expository and not creative writing
- The work must contain the teacher’s grade and comments
- The work must have been originally written in English (and the teacher’s comments too) – not in your mother tongue and then translated into English.
English proficiency
All applicants who are not native speakers of English must take one of the following official tests to purchase an appropriate level of proficiency:
- TOEFL
- IELTS
- PTE Academic
You can only waive this entry requirement if you studied three years of high school in a school where English was used as the official language of instruction.
Standardized University Admission Tests
For now, Princeton still maintains a test -optional policy due to the pandemic. That means you only take the SAT or ACT, standardized US high school leaving exams, if you want to.
“Standardized tests are just one element of our comprehensive and holistic application evaluation process. We do not employ minimum test scores for admissions; rather, we consider the entirety of a student’s education within its context,” explains the official website.
If the candidate decides to take the ACT or SAT, Princeton advises to take the test until October to be considered for early action (early action ) and until December for regular decision ( regular decision ).
School reports
Application through the Common App has specific sections that must be completed by a school guidance counselor. One of these is School Report .
If your school does not work with a guidance counselor or counselor, Princeton advises asking the principal, vice principal or dean to complete your online application report.
The university requires submission of a final high school report from all students selected and intending to enroll at Princeton, even those who applied while still in their senior year of high school.
Recommendation letters
Within the Common Application, you will find the official letter of recommendation form that must be completed and sent directly by the person who writes it.
Princeton asks for a recommendation from a school counselor in the Counselor Recommendation section and two recommendations written by professors in different subjects, as long as they are fundamental, such as English, Portuguese, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and mathematics.
Translations into english
If the person who wrote your recommendation or who will fill out the School Report on your Common App application is not comfortable writing in English, they can fill out the forms in another language.
However, you will need to have the forms officially translated before submitting them to Princeton. Translations can be provided by a staff member at your school or a third party, but there is no need to pay for sworn work.
Extra Materials
Applicants who believe they have special talents or experience with architecture, creative writing, dance, music, theater or the visual arts may choose to submit an optional Arts Supplement.
Princeton Supplement
In addition to the completed Common Application application, all undergraduate applicants must submit an additional supplement to Princeton (which will also be completed by their Common App application).
The questions you will be asked will depend on the course you choose to apply to at the university, but will typically include:
- A 250-word response to a specific Princeton question related to your field of study
- A 150-word summary of your extracurricular activities, hobbies, or work experiences that were important to you
- Your voice: two responses of 250 words each to specific questions about representativeness, community work, civic engagement, etc.
- More about you: three answers of up to 50 words to specific questions about your personal/school life.
In this last section of the supplement, one of the selection questions for the 2022/2023 school year is “Which song represents the soundtrack of your life at the moment?”. The idea is that there is no right or wrong answer – the university just wants to get to know applicants as individuals, not just a grade.
Studying at Princeton University: Graduate
To apply to Princeton University Graduate School, applicants must first hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent of at least three years’ duration from a recognized college or university.
Interested candidates can apply only once a year.
Admission to a graduate degree at Princeton University largely depends on the course chosen and the faculty or department that teaches it. Therefore, before enrolling, Princeton advises you to visit the official course page to find all the necessary information about requirements and selection criteria.
The selection itself is made by each of the departments and faculties, although the Graduate School coordinates the entire process and sets minimum standards for admission.
In general, postgraduate applicants will need to provide:
1. Academic objective statement
In this essay, the candidate highlights his plans for the future, previous experiences and goals with his studies at Princeton.
2. Curriculum
The candidate’s CV must demonstrate their previous experiences, including community service, academic career, among other activities.
3. Recommendation letters
Letters written by teachers or other authority figures from your work.
4. Academic record
The upload of your school/academic record, which tells your trajectory at other colleges and universities. If possible, provide your final semester averages of your last academic course (what Princeton calls Fall Semester Grades ).
5. Entrance exams
Check which standardized entrance test you must take: GRE, GMAT and an English proficiency test (TOEFL or IELTS).
6. Written work
A sample of work in your field of study that demonstrates your English writing skills. The number of pages and requirements depend on your Princeton course of interest.
7. Declaration of financial resources
Financial requirements for admission to a Princeton graduate school.