It was 5:45 a.m. when Rakshit Poudel opened his applicable status from Butwal, Nepal.
“When I opened the portal and saw the tiger logo, I just screamed out of my bed, and my parents woke up,” Poudel told The Daily Princetonian.
Princeton admitted its second batch of students to the Class of 2030 through Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) on Thursday. In line with previous years, the University did not release any information on the early action class. The first students of the Class of 2030 were admitted through the QuestBridge National College Match Program on Dec. 1.
Joann Kim, a prospective School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) major from Jonesboro, Ark., described her excitement about his acceptance.
“I opened it and I saw the tiger, and immediately my jaw dropped ... I was just in silence for a few seconds,” she said. “My mom and my dad came rushing in, and then we started hugging, and they started crying, and I’m still in disbelief, freaking out and jumping up and down.”
SCEA — commonly referred to as restrictive early action — is a non-binding process used by select institutions, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the California Institute of Technology. Unlike traditional early action programs, applicants are not permitted to apply to other early action programs. However, all admitted students will have until May 1 to commit to Princeton, the same deadline given to students admitted through the regular decision process.
Mira Gulati, a prospective history or SPIA major from New York City, “had to reload the page three different times because I thought someone was playing a prank on me.”
“It’s still so, so surreal to me,” Gulati said, adding that her “entire house was so loud for a good 30 minutes before we all calmed down.”
The early applicant pool typically includes many of the University’s recruited athletes, who make up 18 percent of the class. In explaining its decision not to release detailed admissions statistics, the University admissions website states that data points such as overall admission rates and average SAT scores “shouldn’t influence a prospective student’s decision about whether to apply to Princeton.” It also states that this information can “raise the anxiety level of prospective students and their families.”
Poudel — a prospective Physics major and Philosophy minor — said he had enjoyed the application process, especially the supplemental essays.
“I have talked about a lot of things in my supplementals,” he said. “I have talked about my grandfather’s partial deafness, and I’ve talked about my favorite foods. The questions are very vivid … It was very fun just thinking about the answers.”
“I did quite enjoy writing Princeton’s prompts, especially one of the ones about service,” said Owen Wang, from Cortlandt, N.Y. “[The service prompt] was an interesting opportunity for me to talk about my experience helping volunteer at my parents’ restaurant as a kind of service to my community, rather than a more traditional form of community service.”
Kim enjoyed the 500-word essay question — first introduced for the Class of 2028 cycle after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action — which 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.”
“I really got to write about my life experience and how it’s shaped my values and my beliefs and why I am the way I am,” she said.
Gulati enjoyed the “More About You” section, which asks three short questions about a new skill an applicant hopes to acquire in college, what brings them joy, and the soundtrack of their life.
“I think that allows you to add a little bit of your personality to the application that you don't necessarily always have the opportunity to,” she said.
As a prospective SPIA major, Kim specifically mentioned the department’s Policy Advocacy Clinic, in which juniors majoring in SPIA take a policymaking seminar in the fall before working with external policy partners to advance a public policy issue. Wang, meanwhile, looks forward to exploring the newly opened Art Museum.
“When I visited this past summer, I didn’t really have the chance to go there, so I’m very excited to see what kinds of things they have on display, what kinds of student activities they’re offering, and it also looks like a very nice place to kind of hang out and study,” Wang said.
Regular decision applications are due on Jan. 1, with decisions anticipated to be released on Thursday, March 26.
Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Benedict Hooper is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Greenwich, Conn. and can be reached at bh3193[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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