2022-23 Princeton Transfer Acceptance Rate, Requirements, and Application Deadline

Princeton University is a school that rejects 24 first-year applicants for every 1 that it accepts. The odds are even worse for transfer applicants. However, there is some reason for measured optimism—Princeton has, moving forward, decided to admit approximately twice as many transfers as in the past. The following blog will reveal the Princeton transfer acceptance rate as well as additional essential pieces of information like the Princeton transfer deadline, the requirements/checklist for applicants, the Princeton transfer decision date and much more.

Princeton Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available Princeton University transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

In the fall of 2021, there were 1,350 transfer applicants and 18 individuals were accepted. This means that the Princeton transfer acceptance rate is 1.3%. If we break this down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:

• Male transfer applicants: 1.2%
• Female transfer applicants: 1.5%

When trying to get the complete picture on how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to also look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rates from year to year. Yet, this is not the case at Princeton, which has been pretty steady over the last handful of years.

Historical transfer rates are as follows:

Princeton Transfer Deadline

The university offers both an option for fall transfer only. The Princeton transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 1. An optional arts supplement is due on March 8.

Princeton Transfer Requirements

The Princeton transfer requirements are as follows:

• Completed Common App for Transfer + Princeton Supplement
• Graded Written Paper
• Official high school transcripts
• Official college transcripts
• SAT or ACT scores (optional for 2023)
• College Report and Mid-Term Report
• Two letters of recommendation

Students who have the best chance to gain admission to Princeton have done the following:

• Completed one or two years of transferable coursework.
• Earned exceptional grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
• Served in the US Armed Forces in some capacity. The admission committee has shown a preference for applicants with military service.
• Have incredible extracurricular accomplishments on their resume. For example, publishing a scientific study, earning a patent, founding a national organization, etc. Yes–we recognize those are crazy expectations for a 19-year-old, but getting into Princeton is an absurdly competitive venture.

Princeton Transfer GPA

The is no minimum GPA required to be considered as a transfer applicant at this institution. However, in our experience, you will need a GPA of 3.9 or above to be a truly competitive applicant to Princeton.

Princeton Transfer Writing Supplement

All transfer applicants must respond to the following essay prompts and short answer questions. Frankly, there are an insane number of essays required by Princeton as well as the submission of a graded academic paper. This is going to take you a fair amount of time and effort to complete.

Extracurricular Activity and Work Experience

1. Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in 150 words or fewer)

Your Voice

Please respond to each question in 250 words or fewer.

1. 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?*
2. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.*

More About You

Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!

1. What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?*
2. What brings you joy?*
3. What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?*

Higher Education Experience

1. What are your plans during and after your higher education experience? Please respond in 150 words or fewer.*

Graded Written Paper

Princeton requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application. You may submit this material now or any time before the application deadline. If you choose not to upload the required paper at this time, you may mail, e-mail, or upload your paper through the applicant portal. Detailed instructions for our graded paper requirement can be found here.

Princeton Transfer Decision Date?

The Princeton transfer decision date is in mid-May. You will receive a notice of acceptance or rejection by this time.

Final Thoughts – Princeton University Transfer Acceptance Rate

In the words of the admissions committee, the “admission process involves a holistic review of each applicant’s entire file. No particular factor is assigned a fixed weight; rather, the process involves a highly individualized assessment of the applicant’s talents, achievements and his or her potential to contribute to learning at Princeton.”

If you are looking for information on how to apply to Princeton as a first year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:

• How to Get Into Princeton
• Princeton Supplemental Essay Prompt and Tips

Those searching for application info on other institutions may wish to visit our Dataverse pages:

• Transfer Admissions Deadlines
• Transfer Acceptance Rates