In 2025, Princeton received the largest number of applications in university history, and the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was only 4.4%. This continued a trend of a “sub 5%” acceptance rate at Princeton.
Princeton also has a strong tradition of waitlisting applicants, putting them in a limbo between an acceptance and a rejection. Some students feel dismay at a waitlist decision, and are unsure of whether to even keep trying. Others feel confident. The waitlist can’t be that long, right? Well, you shouldn’t feel dismayed but also the waitlist is very, very long.
For Fall 2024 admissions, Princeton offered a spot on the waitlist to 1,734 students — more students than the entire enrolled first-year class. Of that group, 1,396 students chose to accept that offer and join the waitlist. Princeton does use their waitlist, but there is no way for them to accept a statistically significant portion of the 1,396 students waiting hopefully for a spot. That year, they only eventually admitted 40 students, or 2.86%.
There is no defensible reason for Princeton to have nearly 1,500 applicants waiting for a few dozen spots, but there is a strong reason for why they need more students in the wings than they may ever really need to call up. The waitlist is unranked. There isn’t one student at the top who will get the first offer when a spot opens, and there aren’t students at the bottom. Instead, Princeton chooses to waitlist a wide variety of students with different passions, academic interests, personal experiences, and geographic origins. This way, they can identify where there may be gaps in the new first-year class as it is forming and find students on the waitlist who will round things out. Every department needs new students, and if there are too few potential, say, philosophy majors, committing to the new class the waitlist is the place for Princeton to find them.
The best way to get off of the waitlist, then, is to show Princeton that you are still interested, still awesome, and still super engaged in the subject you love. Below, we’ll break down how to do all three.
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The process of getting off of the Princeton waitlist can be broken down into three key steps. These aren’t rocket science, but playing this right is critical if you want to end your admissions experience with an offer from Princeton.
Step One: Join The Princeton Waitlist
First, you need to actually get on the waitlist. Most students who are offered a spot on the waitlist at Princeton do accept that offer (over 80% for Fall 2024), but there are always a couple hundred who have other offers they are excited about or are simply over Princeton after all the waiting they’ve already been doing. If you are still in love with Princeton, though, and want to see the admissions process all of the way through to a final decision, you’re going to need to actually accept the waitlist offer.
Doing it quickly doesn’t matter — again, the waitlist is unranked — but that doesn’t mean you should delay. When you’re certain you want to be on the waitlist, join it.
Step Two: Commit to a College
Next, you need to line up a back-up plan. This can be awkward. You want to be able to celebrate with friends where you’ll be going in the fall, and now there will be a big asterisk next to the name of the school you are registered to attend. Sure, it’s where you are signed up to go, but you really hope that’s not how it pans out.
That awkwardness is, unfortunately, part of the waitlist game. You can’t bet on Princeton, so you need another option ready to go in the wings. Pick your second choice college, confirm your spot, and submit any required deposit (which you will lose, by the way, if you get into Princeton and decide to attend). Losing a deposit is much better than not getting into Princeton and having no other option.
Step Three: Update Princeton
After you have a school to go to in the fall if Princeton doesn’t work out, you need to remind Princeton that you are awesome and would be an amazing addition to their community. You’re going to do thing with a LOCI, or Letter of Continued Interest. We guide strong students through the waitlist process by keeping the LOCI focused and short. This is not the time to bombard Princeton with information and supplemental recommendations. They will not appreciate a 20-page PDF about your upbringing, nor the full text of a research project. Not only will they not be appreciated — Princeton admissions won’t even read them. They don’t have time, and they already know enough about you.
So, what’s the point of a LOCI?
The LOCI is an opportunity to provide a brief, one-page update that shares information about things that have happened since you submitted your application to Princeton. You’ll also want to remind them what you value most about Princeton, and where you see yourself contributing to the Princeton community. Most importantly, you must state that you will attend. Princeton really cares about their yield rate, the percentage of admitted students who end up attending, so you need to reassure them that you will attend if accepted. All of this, again, needs to fit on one page. Below is the structure you should follow.
Opening
This is a letter, so start it like one. That means “Dear Princeton Admissions,” and then three or four sentences introducing yourself, your status as a waitlisted student, your prospective major, and your intentions with this letter. Remember that your language should be formal, not conversational. This is more like applying for a competitive job than writing to a friend.
Update
Next, you need to share 2-4 brief updates. These could include a marked rise in your grade in a particular course, an impressive outcome in a competition or extracurricular, a success in a club, or a leadership experience. At least one, though, should be academic. Often, these will build upon activities that Princeton already knows you are involved in, so you don’t need to give lengthy descriptions. However, this is also the place to write about something that didn’t make it into your application at all initially either as an oversight or because you hadn’t been involved in the activity, group, or academic program at the time of submission.
Reinforce
The update should take up the largest portion of the letter, but remember to leave room for a brief, 4-6 line paragraph reminding Princeton what you want to do as a student academically. You can also include details like a professor you’re especially interested in, a course that is exciting to you, or a program you’d love to take part in. Do not repeat any details here that were in your Princeton application. This should be all new information, but still tightly related to your prospective academic path.
Close
Close the letter with 2 sentences thanking the admissions officers for their time and reiterating that you will enroll if accepted. Sign off with “Sincerely,” or your preferred equivalent. Remember, this is like a job application. End as formally as you began.
Then edit, share with a mentor or family member, edit again, and submit.
Step Four: Wait
Once you’ve submitted your LOCI to Princeton, there’s only one thing left to do: wait. Remember that you will not hear from Princeton until after May 1, and possibly well into summer. In the meantime, you need to keep your grades high and continue doing the activities you love. This isn’t the time to slack off, but to double down on closing out your senior year strong.
It is extremely hard to get into Princeton off of the waitlist, but it is possible. We help students make it a reality.
If you want personalized next steps for the Princeton waitlist, email us to learn more.