Wendy Wang ’28, an international student from Shenzhen, China, told the ‘Prince’ that her initial reaction to receiving her acceptance to Princeton was, “AAAAHH!!!!!!!! Princeton is a dream.”
On Thursday, Dec. 14, the University offered admission to students who applied to the school through Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA).
This comes two weeks after the first students of the Class of 2028 were admitted through the QuestBridge National College Match Program on Dec. 1.
SCEA, a relatively rare alternative to the Early Action (EA) or Early Decision (ED) processes employed at many universities, is a non-binding admissions process. Unlike traditional EA, Princeton's single-choice early action admissions round prohibits applicants from applying to other early programs at any other U.S. private college or university. Admitted applicants have until May 1 to make a decision — the same deadline that students admitted through Regular Decision are bound by.
For the class of 2024, 43 percent of accepted students were admitted through SCEA. Applicants for the class of 2025 didn't have the SCEA option due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Neither the University nor Questbridge has released data on the number of students who have been accepted thus far, as part of Princeton's recent trend of refraining from releasing admissions statistics. Admissions officials have highlighted a desire to shift away from the allure of selectivity. These acceptances come at a time when college admissions offices across the country are strategizing to recruit diverse classes following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn affirmative action in June.
Over the summer, the University introduced a new essay prompt that asks applicants to “reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces.” Princeton's Board of Trustees also established an ad hoc committee led by Jose Alvarez ’85 that was charged with assessing the effectiveness of new admissions policies for upcoming application cycles.
Additionally, the University is experiencing big changes to its infrastructure, with 11 construction projects currently underway, including the construction of Hobson College, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and an expanded University Health Services.
Construction of these buildings is in part intended to better accommodate an initiative put forth by the Board of Trustees in 2016 that seeks to increase the undergraduate student body population by 500 people; the Class of 2028 is the third class featured within this plan. The Class of 2026 was significantly bigger than previous classes — larger than the University had predicted by around 75 percent, and as such the Class of 2027 marked a decrease from the prior year.
The Daily Princetonian spoke with some students from the Class of 2028 who have already committed to attending Princeton next year.
Wang told the ‘Prince’ that she “wants to join a sports team to defeat Harvard” and is “looking forward to singing ‘Old Nassau’” when she arrives on campus next fall.
Wang, a prospective English major, initially applied to Princeton citing the school’s “beautiful and safe campus, various student publications,” and the University’s informal motto, “in the service of humanity.”
Anastasia Rudyak ’28, from Chicago, Ill. told the ‘Prince’ that she had to “hold back tears” following her acceptance.
Rudyak, a prospective Comparative Literature or Astrophysics major on the pre-medical track, described Princeton as the “perfect school” for her.
“It has always been my dream school. Everything from the beautiful campus to the incredible resources,” Rudyak added.
Both Wang and Rudyak look forward to taking courses that fit their academic interests and finding community.
“We’ve already started texting in the Princeton 2028 [group chat], and I’m so excited to meet them in person,” Rudyak said.
Regular decision applications are due Jan. 1, with decisions to be released in late March.
Justus Wilhoit is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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