Princeton is an Ivy League liberal arts university that is known by name around the world. It honestly needs little introduction, but hopefully we can add some detail and color beyond what you may know from prestige and pop culture reference.
The University has 5,590 undergraduate students and a highly-residential campus. Princeton has a highly residential campus, with 96% of students living on the Princeton, New Jersey campus, an hour or so from NYC. At the same, it’s also an international campus. Students have access to 400+ international internship opportunities, and there are nearly 700 international undergraduate students. We’re here to talk about sports, though, and about 18% of undergraduate students at Princeton play a sport. There are 38 varsity athletic teams, and the Princeton athletic program is one of the largest and most successful athletic programs in NCAA Division I history. Princeton even played the first intercollegiate football game, against Rutgers, in 1869. They also have more Ivy League championship wins than any other member of the Ivy League.
Princeton has exceptional academic and athletic facilities, and a stadium that seats nearly 30,000. There are also more than 38 club sports and an impressive intramural program. Getting into Princeton isn’t easy, though. They are pretty tightlipped about their acceptance rate, but it’s estimated to currently be around 4.5%. In this post, we’ll focus on how you can thrive as a student-athlete at Princeton, including how you can increase your chances of admission through the recruitment process.
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What is Princeton looking for in Student-Athletes?
As an Ivy League university, Princeton sets a high bar for their student-athletes. What they are looking for most isn’t the best X player in the country, but rather a match across the board. Students need to be as outstanding in the classroom as they are in their sport, but also proven leaders and committed community members who want to improve the lives of those around them in ways big and small. To get into Princeton, you need to be a top student. You need to be a top athlete. You need to be the kind of student-athlete who will thrive at Princeton academically and socially, and who will contribute positively to their culture and community. Most of all, Princeton wants students who want them, and who have done the work to show it.
Below, we’ll break down the four main ways that you can engage with athletics at Princeton while pursuing a remarkable future.
Varsity Athletics
Varsity athletics at Princeton is the top of the top when it comes to athletic programs at the elite level. Except for in rare circumstances, the recruitment process typically kicks off after June 15 the summer after an athletes sophomore year of high school (so you’d be a rising junior), or in the early fall of their junior year, depending on sport. There are exceptions, though. For example, Men’s Basketball recruiting begins as early as middle school.
As soon as that window opens, you should be proactively reaching out to the Princeton coaches that highlights your performance as an athlete and student. They need to know up front that you are actually qualified to attend Princeton. Don’t reach out to far ahead of the window, as they are likely to lose you in the shuffle and you’ll have to follow-up anyway. But, by the fall of your junior year, you should fill out the recruiting questionnaire for your particular sport to launch a connection with Princeton coaches. Simultaneously, we recommend reaching out to the head coach to let them know you’ve done the form and are interested in joining their team. Treat this like the cover letter of your resume when applying for a job.
One of the reasons Princeton wants to know your academic credentials so early is that, because Princeton is part of the Ivy League, they don’t offer athletic scholarships and can’t give out ‘full rides’ to pull in big name recruits. Instead, they rely on students really wanting to play, and learn, at Princeton — paired with need-based aid. So, start with the questionnaire and then email the head coach as a follow-up or confirmation as if you were applying for a job. For example, here is the football recruiting questionnaire.
Top potential recruits will hear back from coaches pretty quickly, and may have a Princeton coach attend a tournament, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) event, or meet with players and their families. But not hearing back immediately doesn’t mean it won’t work out in your favor. Pairing top performance with resilience and follow-up is key. So, in the meantime, continue performing at your best in your sport and in school, and keep the coaches up to date on any major successes. Don’t pester, though.
If they are really interested in you, you’ll know. This can lead to early review of your application by admissions and commitment to Princeton ahead of the standard application timeline. For some athletes, as early as the fall of Junior year – although that isn’t standard.
Once committed, you still need to get through the admissions process. The coaches support your application, but they can’t hand out acceptance letters on their own.
What about walking on?
Most of the spots in the most competitive teams will be filled through recruitment, but there are often openings on teams that coaches need filled. You could be that person if you are interested in walking on, rather than going through the recruitment process. Walking on comes with none of the perks of recruitment. You don’t have a chance to get to know the team or coaches early, and you don’t have support through the admission process.
But walking on does have some benefits. Namely, you don’t need to commit early. This means that you have more flexibility as you apply to college.
Students successfully walk on every year, but we suggest that you start the recruitment process even if you aren’t positive that you want to play such that the coaches know you exist. So, fill out the forms and proactively communicate with the coaches. If they are interested, you will likely be required to complete a try out or trial period.
Club Sports and Intramurals
In addition to the varsity athletics program, Princeton has 39 Sport Clubs, which are open to all Princeton students of any skill level — including complete beginners! The teams are competitive. Often, highly competitive. So, it’s a high-level athletic experience without many of the year-round pressures of a varsity sport. The club teams include analogs of most of the varsity teams, plus things like ballroom dance, Brazilian Jui Jitsu, Climbing, Ultimate, and Women’s wrestling. In April 2024 alone, Club Tennis competed in nationals in Georgia, Flat Football competed in North Carolina, Cycling competed at Tufts, and Men’s and Women’s Volleyball went to Missouri, and that’s only a taste of what filled the calendar.
Then there are intramurals. Intramurals are the most inclusive way of playing a sport at Princeton, and the most relaxed. The Intramurals run as leagues, with teams made up by students, faculty, and staff playing sports like handball, broomball, innertube water polo, and flag football.
Regardless of how you choose to engage as an athlete at Princeton, they expect a lot of you. All student-athletes at Princeton, regardless of whether they are playing innertube water polo or on the national championship-winning field hockey team, are expected to achieve, serve, and lead. As you approach applying to Princeton, keep this in mind. Your scores and the numbers of the scoreboard matter, but who you are is what matters most.
Applying to an Ivy requires strategy. We help outstanding athletes find, and get into, their perfect fit.