Notable Alumni at Princeton

Introduction to Princeton University

Princeton University is currently regarded as the best institution of higher education in the United States. Princeton is in the town of Princeton, New Jersey. This town is on the eastern coast of the United States.

Princeton University was established in 1746, making it the fourth-oldest educational establishment in the United States. The motto of Princeton University is “In service to humanity,” which is an interesting detail about the institution. Serving others, both locally and globally, is important to everyone at Princeton, including students, alumni, teachers, and staff.

Both Jeff Bezos, the current CEO of Amazon, and Michelle Obama, a former first lady of the United States, graduated from Princeton.

At AdmissionSight, we are committed to helping students get into their dream colleges. We can provide substantial guidelines and proper tools and resources to improve the chances of a student being admitted. Our team is comprised of professionals that have extensive years of experience in their respective fields. You can depend on our expertise during the admission season.

If Princeton is your dream college and you’re already seeing yourself as an alumnus of this prestigious college one day, then you should finish this entire article to get interesting facts about the impressive notable alumni at Princeton. Let’s talk about them below.

Acceptance Rate for the Princeton Class of 2025

The acceptance rate for the Princeton Class of 2025 is nearly 4.3%. There is 37,601 applicants total, and only 1,647 are admitted. On the other hand, the total number of enrolled students is 1,345. 51% of admitted students are female, 49% are male, while the remaining number did not indicate their gender.

There’s also an interesting percentage to the total number of admitted students who are the first members of their families to attend Princeton, which is 18%. In terms of financial aid, 22% of admitted students are Pell Grant awardees, and 62% are eligible for financial aid.

With regards to the SAT and ACT scores of the accepted students, refer to the following stats released by Princeton:

Middle 50% SAT Scores

• Math 740-800
• Evidenced-based Reading and Writing: 710-770

Middle 50% ACT Scores

• Composite score: 32-35

Students of the Class of 2025 hailed from 58 different nations and all 50 U.S. states (plus D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). There are 1,345 first-year students this year, including almost 200 students from the classes of 2023 and 2024 who decided to delay enrollment.

Nearly half (48%) of the new student body consists of U.S. citizens or permanent residents who identify as biracial, multiracial, or other individuals of color. Only 13% of the students in this class are native English speakers. The Class of 2025 includes students from a wide variety of countries, including Albania, China, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom. Egypt and the Netherlands are also well-represented.

About 21% of freshmen have said they want a bachelor’s degree in engineering, while 69% have said they want a bachelor’s in the arts. The rest of the students have said they are not sure what they want to do.

Surprisingly, the university’s engineering department has produced several notable alumni at Princeton, such as Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos and Google executive Eric Schmidt.

Some incoming freshmen have the opportunity to participate in a program called the Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI) from June 26 through August 13. This past summer, FSI was held online to provide first-generation, low-income, and minority students a glimpse of Princeton’s academic and extracurricular offerings before the start of the fall semester.

The Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity has many programs, like FSI, to help students succeed in school, their personal lives, and their careers and grow into Princeton leaders.

The Class of 2025 will receive $62,200 in grants and scholarships in a typical year. Low-income students can get awards that are bigger than the cost of tuition, and all educational expenses, including room and board, are covered for students who qualify.

Princeton University has one of the country’s most extensive financial aid programs, and the school is committed to helping all admitted students cover the cost of attending. Most Princeton students don’t have a lot of debt when they graduate because they don’t have to take out loans as part of the school’s financial aid plan.

Those from low-income and middle-income families and students from families with incomes of up to $250,000 are eligible for financial assistance. For many families, the cost of going to Princeton Institution is less than the cost of attending a state university or college.

All undergraduate and graduate students at Princeton who are enrolled in courses or who are physically present on campus during the 2021-2022 academic year are required to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine that is approved for use in the United States and provide proof of vaccination.

How hard is it to get into Princeton?

How hard is it to get into Princeton? It isn’t easy to enter this prestigious institution. The strength of your profile is the most important factor in determining whether or not you will be accepted into Princeton, which is consistently ranked as one of the most competitive institutions in the country. With this, it’s safe to say that all of the notable alumni at Princeton hold strong intellectual prowess and continue to thrive in their chosen career paths.

First, make sure to achieve Princeton’s GPA and SAT/ACT requirements. The Class of 2025 at Princeton has a high school grade point average of 3.92 on average. More than half of the students (59.48 percent) had a grade point average of 4.0.

The SAT scores for the middle 50% of Princeton’s class of 2025 ranged from 1460 to 1560, and 86.15 percent of applicants had scores that fell between 1400 and 1600. And as we mentioned earlier, the composite ACT score for the middle 50% of students admitted to Princeton for the class of 2025 is 32–35, and 92.94% of accepted students scored higher than 30.

Although a student’s class rank is a significant factor in the admissions process at Princeton, the university does not disclose the class ranks of those who are offered admission. It’s a safe assumption that the students making up Princeton’s class of 2025 finished near the top of their classes—59.48% of accepted students graduated with a 4.0 GPA, while 32.05% graduated with a GPA between 3.75 and 3.99.

If you’re currently pondering the never-ending question, “Am I good enough for Princeton?” Remember that the admissions process at Princeton places a significant emphasis on scholastic achievement. The majority of candidates for Princeton are academically qualified, so impressive standardized test scores and grade point averages are not going to be enough to impress admissions authorities with your academic credentials.

Participation in prominent academic programs such as Governor’s School can really set an applicant apart from the competition for admission to Princeton. Applicants can differentiate themselves from the other applicants in a pool by highlighting their experience with academic research and achievements in STEM fields; these areas also make for excellent themes for additional essays. In light of the STEM fields, many notable alumni at Princeton became renowned theoretical physicists and mathematicians. Continue reading to find out who they are.

There are several factors that are extremely important for Princeton, which includes course rigor, class rank, standardized test scores, essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, talent and ability, and character and personal traits. You can also consider doing an interview, which we will talk about in a few. Princeton also looks at whether you are the first person in your family to go to college or if you have a connection to alumnae.

Check out our site for other in-depth discussions about getting into Princeton.

Princeton Alumni Interview

Applicants to Princeton University, like those of many other prominent universities, have the opportunity to conduct a Princeton alumni interview. Nonetheless, traditionally, the institution has ensured that every applicant has the opportunity to engage in an interview. Your odds of being invited for an interview depend on the number of available alumni in your area. Like most other schools, Princeton stresses that applicants who don’t get an interview aren’t hurt in any way during the application process.

The alumni interview is a terrific opportunity for you to receive answers to your school-specific questions from someone who has been in your place and gone through the process of enrolling at the university. This is a great way to show how unique you are during the admissions process, and it’s also a great chance to show off your accomplishments.

These interviews are aimed to make you feel more in tune with the school and last between thirty and forty-five minutes. They are not unduly formal or intimidating obstacles for applicants to overcome. Interviews for admission to Princeton are not done on the university’s campus, but rather in a venue near you, such as your high school or a local coffee shop.

If given a chance to be interviewed by one of the notable alumni at Princeton, make sure to show your genuine self and not attain to become very impressive, which will make you lose your true charms as a person.

The vast majority of these interviews are performed over the phone or via a video chat tool because this allows the alumni to speak with a greater number of prospects. Due to COVID-19, all interviews at Princeton will be performed online, either by phone or via video chat.

Tips for the Princeton Interview

First, undertake extensive research, which involves more than a casual Google search or a one-minute-and-fifteen-second website scan.

Second, take a virtual tour of the campus, consider where you could see yourself fitting in at the college, and investigate the various departments to find out what internship possibilities they offer. If you want to study abroad or join a specific club, make sure you know enough about the program to talk about it for at least two minutes.

Third, you should be ready to ask the interviewer questions that show you want to learn more about their area of expertise and the institution. You should also be ready for side conversations instead of a direct question-and-answer format for the interview.

Lastly, although interviews are taken into consideration throughout the admissions process at Princeton, their weight in the overall evaluation is little. Your grades, references, test scores, and essays all carry far greater precedence.

A successful interview will undoubtedly give you a slight advantage in the process; however, a bad interview will not necessarily exclude you from the applicant pool (unless it is extremely bad, such as if you said anything offensive). Simply conduct some research and maintain your sincerity, and the rest will naturally fall into place.

Others are sometimes expectant to be interviewed by one of the notable alumni at Princeton, but remember that each Princeton alumni is remarkable in their own way, and all of them graduated from a prestigious educational institution that is Princeton University.

How many alumni does Princeton have?

Over the course of more than 265 years, alumni of Princeton University have made significant contributions to the operation of the university as well as to society as a whole. Over 95,000 living Princeton University graduates can be found in all 50 states and 153 different countries today.

It is well known that graduates of Princeton University have exceptional levels of dedication and loyalty. In any given year, there are approximately 26,555 alumni volunteers working for the university in various capacities, including but not limited to class and regional association activities, schools committees, community service, fundraising, and providing opportunities and advice to students and young alumni who are interested in internships and careers. Many alumni also serve in Princeton’s advisory and leadership capacities.

Beyond the walls of Princeton University, astonishing things are brought about by alumni of the university. A significant number of graduates collaborate on efforts to address societal challenges in their local areas and further afield. These efforts include the promotion of educational reform, the improvement of race relations, and the establishment of programs for children in need. In many cases, these kinds of projects were started while the people involved were still in college.

List of notable alumni at Princeton

U.S. Presidents

• James Madison (1809-1817)
• Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

U.S. Vice Presidents

• Aaron Burr (1801-1805)
• George M. Dallas (1845-1849)

United States Attorney General

• John Breckinridge (1805-1806)

First Ladies of the United States

• Michelle Obama (2009-2017)
• Melania Trump (2017-2021)

U.S. Chief Justice

• Oliver Ellsworth (1796-1800)

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

• Samuel Alito (2006)
• Elena Kagan (2010)
• Sonia Sotomayor (2009)

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

• Jerome Powell (2018)

Individuals of the American Revolutionary War

• Philip Johnston (Soldier)
• Nathaniel Scudder (Officer)
• David Mathews (Loyalist)

Astronaut

• Pete Conrad

CEOs

• Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
• Eric Schmidt (Google | 2001-2011)

Administrator

• Lisa P. Jackson (Environmental Protection Agency)

Actors

• Jimmy Stewart
• Wentworth Miller
• José Ferrer
• David Duchovny
• Brooke Shields

Composers

• Edward T. Cone
• Milton Babbitt

Soccer-player

• Theresa Diana Matheson

Writers

• Booth Tarkington
• Scott Fitzgerald
• Eugene O’Neill
• Selden Edwards

Poet

• S. Merwin

American novelist

• Jodi Picoult

Author

• David Remnick

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists

• Barton Gellman
• Lorraine Adams

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist

• Thornton Wilder

Nobel Peace Prize laureate

• Maria Ressa

Principal Chief

• William P. Ross (Cherokee Nation)

Founding editor

• Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Cherokee Advocate)

Theoretical Physicists

• Richard Feynman
• Steven Weinberg (Nobel laureate in physics)

Company President

• Lee Iacocca (Ford)

Mathematicians

• John Forbes Nash Jr.
• Alonzo Church
• Alan Turing
• Terence Tao
• Edward Witten
• John Milnor
• John Tate

Physicist/Engineer

• John Bardeen

U.S. Army general and public official

• David Petraeus

Royals 

• Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco
• Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud
• Queen Noor of Jordan

Each of the notable alumni at Princeton is an extraordinary individual who entrusted their college education to Princeton, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the United States. If you’re eager to enter this college, you should be dedicated to each step of its admission process. Your ideal life as a student at Princeton can become a reality with our professional assistance at AdmissionSight. Contact us today, and we will talk about strengthening your profile to increase your chances of admission.