Princeton “relaxes” Admissions Policies for Class of 2025
Princeton is “relaxing” its admissions policies for the class of 2025. We use quotations here because, as you will see below, the updates boil down to promising to be more lenient on applicants given the impact of COVID-19. This is similar to the “changes” announced by Harvard, which we have covered in a previous post.
AP Exams
While this is addressed at the end of Princeton’s announcement, we want to start here given that it may have a dramatic impact on many students’ college plans. No official decision has been made, but Princeton’s academic departments are reviewing their policies with respect to giving college credits for Advanced Placement (AP) Exams administered in May 2020. Explaining the rationale behind the review, Princeton states that that “changes in coverage and format could affect the relationship between these tests and the material covered and assessed in analogous Princeton courses”.
In particular, Princeton’s language and science departments will likely now rely on a Princeton test for placement into sequence courses. However, Princeton clarifies, “Other departments, including economics, English, and history, have determined there will be no change in the credit policies for tests in these areas.”
Under normal circumstances, with high enough AP scores (usually 5’s), students can skip intro-level courses at most universities, including Princeton. This new policy could put that boon in jeopardy.
Grades
Many high schools have opted to switch to a pass/fail grading system for the Spring 2020 term. Still others have decided to keep letter grades, albeit with more leniency. Not surprisingly, Princeton “will accept whatever grading format your high school used to end this school year.”
Subject Tests
Princeton has not required the Subject Tests for several years but still has recommended that applicants submit Subject Test scores. The recent announcement emphasizes that “applicants who do not submit subject tests will not be disadvantaged in our process”.
However, this does not mean that students who submit Subject Test scores won’t benefit from doing so. Let’s face it, this is Princeton — an extremely selective school with one of the smallest student populations, even among the Ivies. Students who do not go above and beyond what’s “recommended” don’t stand a chance in getting accepted.
SAT and ACT
This requirement is also essentially unchanged. Princeton acknowledges that students will have fewer chances to take or retake either of these exams and emphasizes that “SAT or ACT test scores are only one part of our holistic review”.
Sure, but don’t expect to see a significant drop in average SAT and ACT scores among applicants.
The full announcement can be found here. We have discussed the latest changes to the SAT, ACT, Subject Tests, and AP Exams due to covid-19, including test cancellations and what’s in store in the coming months.
