The movie centers on Samantha "Sam" Montgomery, a 18-year-old girl who is daily exploited by her grim stepmother. On her attempt to realize the dream to attend Princeton University, Sam meets and befriends on the internet with Austin Ames who says he has the same will. They decide to meet personally at a school Halloween dance and soon fall for each other, but the two totally different worlds they are living in is the keeping them apart.