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Princeton Chances for Hispanic Male?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | June 20, 2007

Question: What are the odds of a Hispanic male student getting accepted into Princeton University under Early Decision?

Hispanic students do get a "hook" in the admissions process at Princeton. Institutions that were known for decades as bastions of white privilege are certainly looking to diversify their students bodies, and thus they are eager to recruit talented minority students--especially Hispanics who are still underrepresented in elite-college applicant pools.

However, some students today overestimate the admissions advantages that come with a minority background. Many other factors come into play when admission decisions are made: high school course selection and grades; extracurricular accomplishments; family demographics, etc. At the most selective schools like Princeton, students from disadvantaged Hispanic households will be granted more leeway when admission decisions are made than those who have enjoyed a more privileged upbringing. However, admission officials also want to make sure that they don't put disadvantaged applicants whose grades and test scores fall below the norm in a position where they are apt to fail. So each candidate is scrutinized quite carefully and judged on his or her individual merits.

It's impossible to estimate the odds of YOUR acceptance without knowing a lot more about you. The statistics on overall Hispanic male Early Decision admission are meaningless since these numbers will vary from year to year based on the strength of the applicant pool.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.