FAQs

No. We consider all of these measures, but only within the context of each applicant’s school and situation. In general, our most promising candidates tend to earn high grades and have comparatively high scores on standardized tests. These criteria, while important, do not by themselves provide a complete picture of each student’s academic accomplishment or potential. We evaluate all aspects of a student’s academic preparation.

No. We offer interviews off-campus by the Princeton Schools Committee. If there are enough volunteers in your area, you will be contacted by an interviewer after you submit your application. If you do choose to visit campus, you will have the opportunity to attend an admission information session, a campus tour or an engineering school tour.

We try to offer each applicant the opportunity to have a conversation with an alumnus/a volunteer. This is a chance for you to learn more about the Princeton experience and for us to learn more about you. Interviews take place after the Admission Office has received your application. You may choose on the application to opt out of the interview and this choice will not put you at any disadvantage in the admission process. If you do not opt out, you may receive an email inviting you to interview with a member of our Princeton Schools Committee in your area (if available). The alumni interviewer will contact you to arrange a convenient meeting time. Alumni interviews for the 2023-24 application cycle may be in person or virtual depending on the availability of the alumni. The Admission Office has no preference between these two options. We include the interviewer’s comments in our review of your application. Interviews aren't required as part of the admission process, but we encourage candidates to accept the invitation. Do not be concerned if interviews are not available; we will give your application full consideration without an interview. Given the timeline, we will not be able to offer an interview to students who are participating in the QuestBridge National College Match as well as the Transfer Admission Program.

Yes. We receive and consider applications from home-schooled students every year.  In fact, the valedictorian of the Princeton Class of ’02 was home-schooled before entering Princeton.

You should begin reviewing Princeton's application requirements and materials after the spring of your junior year and plan on beginning your application in the summer before or during the fall of your senior year. The online Coalition and Common Application and the Princeton-specific Questions are available in mid-August Learn more about applying for admission.

You may request a fee waiver one of two ways:  1) Select the fee waiver option on the Common Application. Your college or school counselor must approve your fee waiver request online or submit your fee waiver form by mail or fax.  2) Select one of the following fee waiver options on the Princeton Supplement: Princeton-specific, ACT, College Board or NACAC. All lower-income students are eligible for the Princeton-specific fee waiver. Students named QuestBridge Finalists should select the QuestBridge fee waiver. If you use the Princeton-specific fee waiver, you do not need to get approval from your college counselor.

Yes. Read more information about our transfer admission process.

We cannot reconsider applications or offer individual explanations for our decisions. Most of our applicants are well qualified for Princeton. Since the admission staff must select a first-year class from an abundance of highly able and accomplished candidates, and since all applicants are compared to the entire applicant pool, it is extremely difficult to explain why any one student is refused.

Yes. Students who wish to take a year off from their studies may request to defer their enrollment for one year (and sometimes for an additional year). If you pursue this, you may not enroll full time in a degree program at another institution during the deferral period. In recent years, the activities of students taking a year off have included work, community service, travel, military service, arts training and religious studies. We recommend students request a deferral only after they decide to matriculate and before May 15. Deferral requests are not guaranteed and must be approved by the Office of Admission.

Though you are welcome to indicate on your application if another relative attended Princeton, you are considered a “legacy” applicant only if your mother, father, stepmother or stepfather attended Princeton.  

Since we don't know until after May 1 how many students will accept our offer of admission, we invite a number of our applicants to stay on our wait list in the event we have remaining spaces in the first-year class. The list is unranked; if spaces become available, we will review the entire group of candidates on the wait list.

We require two academic teacher recommendations, and request, but do not require, a letter from your school counselor, college adviser or another school official to accompany the School Report.

You may request a fee waiver if you are from a lower-income background, or if the application fee is a hardship for your family, and you are applying for financial aid. Please note that applying for a fee waiver will not disadvantage your application in any way. You may learn more about fee waivers on our Application Checklist.

On the application we ask you to indicate the degree program (A.B., B.S.E. or undecided) and the departments that most interest you. These choices don't affect your chances for admission, nor do they commit you to a particular course of study. We look closely at the math and science background of students interested in the B.S.E. program, and we consider every applicant’s abilities across the academic subjects. Princeton engineering students choose a major after one year and liberal-arts students after two years. 

We are not able to remove scores from a student’s record once they’ve been submitted, however, we will note your request in your file.

Please note that the University's admission process involves a holistic review of each applicant's entire file. No particular factor is assigned a fixed weight; rather, the process involves a highly individualized assessment of the applicant's talents, achievements and his or her potential to contribute to learning at Princeton. No single factor is decisive. There are no minimums, cut-offs, or quotas in this holistic review.