Pillarsofcreation

Just got an unofficial acceptance email from Princeton for materials science

Princeton just told me I'm waitlisted. Does anyone know how this works? What can i do to increase my chances of getting in?

Undergrad Institution: Foreign (Russia)
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): ---
GPA in Major: ---
Overall GPA: 3.79/4.00
Position in Class: ---
Type of Student: male, international

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 156 (61%)
V: 151 (52%)
W: 3.0 (17%)
S: 820 (85%)
IELTS 7.5

Research Experience:  4 years in computational chemistry, 3 years in organic chemistry, 4 pubs in good journals (1 first author). 5th is on the way. 1 summer of research in the US; 3 conferences (posters)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Intel ISEF winner. Does it even count? I guess not.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 summers as a tutor at science camps in my free time.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: UIC (accepted, 12/11); UMich, Ann Arbor (interview, 12/21); UW-Madison, MIT, Princeton, Columbia (no asnwer yet).
I think I've overestimated myself a little bit. Regarding UW-Madison, my profile is open too. Seems like they have what they want...

Just got into Duke! Still waiting for: UCSB, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Boulder, Princeton, MIT. Have heard that Washington often makes early decisions, but have also heard that they usually do a second wave of later decisions, so there might still be hope on that one... 

Just got an acceptance call from Cornell for their physical chemistry program!

no one freak out about grad schools, I just got into a top 10-15 school with a 3.0

I've applied to similar grad schools as yours, give or take a few! However, I am applying for physical/inorganic materials.
From what I recall, these schools do not make decisions until late this month and most of them stream in Jan so the wait ensues... All the best for you at Scripps, hopefully you get the call for the interview weekend soon!  

I applied to UW-Madison, mine is also "received and will be reviewed by your program". The staff told me that their committee won't start reviewing until late December, but I don't understand if it is like this, why do they say they use a rolling review rule?

Princeton is also just "submitted" for me. Now I'm worried I got rejected ?

I just heard back from USC today! I was thrilled to get my first acceptance. I had been checking the site and my email almost daily since I had submitted. Still waiting to hear back from 8 more.

Best of luck to you, I'm wrapping my last two up today. I applied to 9.