In 2022, Princeton announced the expansion of their transfer program after years of declining transfer acceptance rates. This is an especially big deal because Princeton paused all transfer programs from 1990 through 2018. Yes. You read that right. For nearly 30 years, Princeton didn’t accept any transfer students — you couldn’t even apply if you wanted to try for the impossible. Now, instead of accepting only a handful of transfer students, they’d accept up to 35.
Ok, well, 35 is still a tiny number. More than Yale or Harvard, but far fewer than Cornell. The reason for the change was strategic. The idea of the transfer program at Princeton was an “access and inclusion initiative,” and “was always intended to be bigger.” To accomplish this goal, they’d realized they needed more than 16 students per transfer cohort.
So, what does this mean for you? Princeton is looking for transfer students who are minorities in the Princeton community. They want students from diverse backgrounds culturally, racially, economically, and geographically. They are explicitly looking for veterans and students from community colleges. If you don’t fit into one — or ideally more — of those buckets, you are probably not a good applicant for transfer to Princeton.
If you’re set on taking a stab at it, first make sure you’re eligible. Then, it’s time to write your essays.
The Princeton transfer supplement aims to separate out the students who know who they are and what they want from an Ivy League experience, and from life. As you work on your essays, remember that there is no such thing as “undecided” or “unsure.” You’re confident. You know what you want. And you communicate it clearly and effectively.
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in about 250 words.)
Princeton says “explore” here, and they do want students who are going to push themselves and be willing to experience discomfort academically, but this isn’t a place to talk about all the wild classes you are excited to take that are totally disconnected from the major you’re supposedly aiming for. Instead, use these 250 words to show the application readers your path to graduation at Princeton. What are you going to pursue academically? And why is that program at Princeton particularly attractive to you. Talk about a specific program, professors you’d like to learn from, or complementary learning experiences that will expand your perspective academically. Take your time doing your research for this answer before you start writing. Showing that you’ve done your homework to understand the Princeton program will demonstrate that you aren’t phoning this in — you know Princeton, and you know you want to be there.
If you are applying to the school of engineering the question is engineering focused, but otherwise similar.
Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words.)
Whenever possible, answer questions like this one with a job. Colleges like to see students who know how to work, and who have experience in the workplace. Why? Because an ability to show up to work on time, work with coworkers, and cater to customers suggests you’ll be able to be a timely and teamwork-centered student. Princeton is looking for new active members of their community, and this is the perfect place to show that you can be that.
If you haven’t had a job that you can write about here, a long-term commitment to a non-profit or community organization would also do. Maybe you volunteer weekly in your local community garden or pick your younger sibling up from school a few days a week. Anything that shows commitment over at least 6 months works well here.
At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? (250 words)
For this question, remember that you don’t know the politics of your application readers. Students all tend to assume, regardless of their political or social beliefs, that whoever is reading their application agrees with them. If they’re conservative, the readers must be as well. If they’re liberal, the same must hold true. This is false. You cannot assume that your application reader shares the same beliefs as you, so you need to be careful about not letting this question get too political. Abortion, for example, is probably not a good topic.
Instead, try to focus on an experience where you held a minority opinion, or where the “difficult topic” was more social than political. A few years ago, we worked with a student to write an answer to a similar prompt about how they confronted a friend they suspected of cheating. Their well-meaning intervention did not play out as planned, leading to them having to reexamine their subconscious assumptions and biases. It was the perfect example of an essay that connected with application readers on a human level without pulling in politics.
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (250 words)
For this question, Princeton isn’t looking for superheroes — they’re looking for real people. Tell the story of a way that you’ve supported your community, and a way that your community has supported you. “I learned so much about myself by giving,” isn’t a winning topic, so focus on more specific ways your life, and your perspective, has been altered by giving.
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
Be short, be sweet, and look outside the classroom for this one. You can be quirky, and you should show a piece of your personality that may not otherwise show up in your application.
What brings you joy?
This is another opportunity to look outside the classroom. Write about something that doesn’t cost money, and that brings other people along with you.
What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
Don’t overthink this one. Trying to be deep or esoteric doesn’t play well. It sounds like a teenager trying to be deep. Instead, focus on picking a song that is authentically you.
Like applying to transfer to the rest of the Ivy League, trying for Princeton is a steep uphill battle. Princeton is clear about what they’re looking for from transfer students, and if you don’t fit that profile, it’s probably not worth filling out the application. If you do check Princeton’s boxes, there’s still a ton of work to do. Consider working with pros to make sure your application stands out from the thousands of others competing for just a few dozen spots.
If you want the best team possible for your transfer admissions process, send us an email. We help students like you defy transfer statistics to find their dream school.