First-Year Application Checklist

 

Submit

 

  1. A Completed Application. You must submit your application online through the Coalition Application or Common Application. Princeton's CEEB Code: 2672

  2. Princeton-specific Questions. In addition to the questions provided by the Coalition Application or Common Application, all applicants must submit the Princeton-specific Questions. You should submit the Princeton-specific Questions online through the Coalition Application or Common Application website. 

  3. Application Fee or Fee Waiver. You may submit a fee waiver one of two ways: 1) Select the fee waiver option on the Coalition Application or Common Application. Your 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 application: Princeton-specific, ACTCollege Board or NACAC. All low-income students are eligible for the Princeton-specific fee waiver. In addition, all applicants who are serving or have served in the U.S. military are eligible for the Princeton-specific fee waiver. If you use the Princeton-specific fee waiver, you do not need to get approval from your college counselor or academic adviser.

  4. Graded Written Paper. A graded written paper is required, preferably in the subjects of English or history.

 

Request

 

  1. Transcript. An official transcript must be sent by a school counselor or school official.

  2. School Report (SR). The SR form is available from the Coalition Application or Common Application website. Please ask your school counselor or other school official to complete and submit the SR form. 
     
  3. Counselor Recommendation. Please note that the SR and the Counselor Recommendation are separate items. Be sure to “invite your school counselor or academic adviser to complete both items.
     
  4. Two (2) Teacher Recommendations. Please ask two of your teachers who have taught you in higher level courses (e.g., AP, IB Higher/Standard Level, A-Levels, etc.) in different academic areas of study to complete and send the teacher recommendation forms, available on the Coalition Application or Common Application website. The subjects should be in core academic areas, such as English, language, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences or math.
     
  5. Midyear School Report. Please ask your school counselor or other school official to complete and submit this form when your midyear grades are available. 

 

Report

 

We are extending our test optional policy for first-year and transfer applicants for the next three admission cycles (that is, for applications due in the falls of 2023, 2024, and 2025).

  1. SAT or ACT. If you choose to submit testing, applicants should take the SAT or the ACT by the October test date for single-choice early action and the December date for regular decision. When registering for the SAT or ACT, use the following codes to ensure your scores are sent to Princeton: SAT: 2672 and ACT: 2588.
     
  2. SAT Subject Tests. Princeton does not require SAT Subject Tests. If you chose to sit for a Subject Test (prior to January/June 2021 when the College Board eliminated the test) and wish to submit the score, you may do so.
     
  3. TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores. If English is not your native language and you are attending a school where English is not the language of instruction, you must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System Academic (IELTS Academic) or the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic). You are not required to take the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic if English is your native language or if you have spent at least three years at a secondary school where English is the primary language of instruction. Please have your scores sent directly to Princeton: TOEFL: 2672

 

Optional Application Components
 

  • Arts Supplement, if applicable. If you've excelled in architecture, creative writing, dance, music, music theater, theater or visual arts, and would like us to consider your talent, you are welcome to submit an optional Arts Supplement. Early action applicants must submit digital arts materials by Nov. 6 and regular decision applicants by Jan. 8. On the Coalition, Common or QuestBridge Application, please indicate your intention to submit an Arts Supplement in Princeton’s member questions. You will be able to submit an Arts Supplement through your Princeton Applicant Status Portal. Please keep in mind that you need to submit your application to Princeton University before you can submit your Arts Supplement. Given the timeline, students who are participating in the QuestBridge National College Match will be unable to submit an Arts Supplement.

  • Interview. Princeton offers optional alumni interviews. Interviews take place after the Admission Office has received your application. You may choose to opt out of the interview in the Princeton Supplement, 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 Alumni Schools Committee. If so, we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. The interviews are 30-45 minute informal conversations, where you can discuss the things that are important to you and also ask questions to someone who attended Princeton. We cannot guarantee that every applicant will receive an interview. This will depend on the availability of alumni in your area. Our dedicated alumni do manage to contact the vast majority of our applicants every year; however, if you do not receive an interview for any reason, it will not put you at a disadvantage since the interview is optional. We do not offer on-campus interviews. These interviews must not be recorded in any way, either by the interviewer or the applicant. Given the timeline, students who are participating in the QuestBridge National College Match will be unable to complete an interview.

 

Application Confirmation


You may log in to Princeton's Applicant Portal to verify whether we have received all your required application materials. You will receive a confirmation notice when we have received your application. The confirmation notice will arrive approximately 24-48 hours after you submit your admission application. If your application is incomplete, we will let you know which pieces are missing. Beginning in mid-October, you also may track the completeness of your application online through the Applicant Portal. Please note: You cannot apply for financial aid until you apply for admission. Please review our application dates and deadlines.

If a student has submitted an application on three separate occasions, the Office of Admission generally will not review subsequent applications. In these instances, if an application fee was submitted, it will be returned.


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. Please see the Joint Statement on Common Ivy Group Admission Procedures for more information about admission policies.

Princeton-specific Questions

Review the additional essay questions of our application.

Review

Graded Written Paper

The graded written paper will help the Office of Admission assess the student’s written expression in an academic setting.

Review

Optional Arts Supplement

The optional Arts Supplement is for students who have devoted a significant amount of time and energy to one or more art forms and who wish to have their work considered as part of their application.

Review

FAQs


As part of the application process, Princeton University collects from its applicants certain demographic information covered by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This information may be collected through graduate and undergraduate application materials, including the Common Application. You are not required to provide this information. If you choose to provide this information, it will not be shared with any University faculty members, administrators, or others who are involved in evaluating your application for admission and will not be considered in the admissions process. In addition, your refusal to provide any of this information will not subject you to any adverse treatment.

The University uses this information to help prepare certain disclosures regarding students required by state and federal law, and to enable the University’s Institutional Research Office to conduct analytical and policy studies that support University planning and decision-making. Aggregate applicant data may be shared with academic departments or admissions officers only after the admissions process has concluded to facilitate analysis. Any information that you share is subject to the University’s Data Privacy policies (available at https://registrar.princeton.edu/student-and-alumni-services/policies/data-privacy).