<p>Hi, to keep it simple, I have a father who graduated from Princeton ('76). Now, the school has asked him if he would like to begin volunteering as an interviewer for undergraduate applicants in the Bay Area, and he's agreed. Does this mean my chances at Princeton will become much higher, since my dad could just strongly recommend me?</p>
<p>My SAT range is 1850 and my GPA is 3.56 UW, though I'm living in California and my calgrant GPA is 4.00. I'm also African-American and have good EC's, like being involved in a summer program in Ethiopia that helps doctors and nurses take care of and test AIDS patients and playing JV Football and soccer.</p>
<p>Well, if your dad recommended you, I am sure that admissions would disregard the recommendation because it would be biased. If your dad recommended you and hid the father-child relationship, that would be unethical. In any case, admissions assigns the interviewer to the prospective student, and it is unlikely they would assign your dad to you, so it would be a moot point. Also, interviews do not play a huge part in admissions and not everyone even gets one.</p>
<p>Your URM status notwithstanding, your stats seem a bit low for Princeton - but good luck anyway.</p>
<p>At the Ivy I went to alums can't interview anybody in the year they have a child applying; so your dad might want to make sure he can interview if you are applying.</p>
<p>No, it clearly states in the ASC guidelines that there can be no conflict of interest of that sort by the interviewer. That means that yes, an interview between you and your father would be discounted. </p>
<p>I would know because my father is also an ASC Alumni Interviewer, and he is also Class of '76.</p>
<p>Go Bicentennial Tigers!</p>
<p>P.S. My father has been an interviewer for about 5 years now, and he was able to do interviews in my area even while I was a candidate for admission. However, I'm not sure if it is because at the time I did not attend school in our local region.</p>
<p>^That's odd. I thought they wouldn't be able to interview because of the fear that they'd give everyone they interviewed terrible writeups in hopes of knocking out some of the overall competition for their child. :)</p>
<p>Also, due to cultural reasons, my dad and I have different last names. We were thinking that we can cut off obvious father-son connections for this interview, to increase my chances. I really don't give a darn about ethics, because, quite frankly, the admissions process is not completely fair in and of itself. They give undue emphasis to the SAT, when it's really nothing but a "how well you know the test" test. Sadly, colleges think it's a good predictor of academic success in the future.</p>
<p>if the SAT is just a "how well you know the test" test, why didn't you just take the time to "learn" the test? please don't try to justify your mediocre SAT scores by criticizing the test.</p>
<p>i'm offended by your plan to "cut off obvious father-son connections", and I'm sure that the Princeton Admissions Office, if they ever found out, would be too.</p>
<p>cybershot--As an alumni interviewer, we are told that we cannot interview if our child is applying to the university that year. I find it hard to believe that your father would show such a lack of principle as to lie about your relationship, but if he were to write you a "recommendation" and the university discovered your relationship, I believe that it would be a definite mark against your application. Also, being an alumni interviewer is not such an exalted position (there are hundreds of us) and I doubt that even a strongly positive recommendation would have much of an impact.</p>
<p>That said, frankly, I am appalled by your own lack of ethics--Princeton doesn't need students who are dishonest.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the SAT...[is]...nothing but a "how well you know the test" test
[/quote]
I'm sorry, that's utter crap. Granted, experience with the test does affect a person's scores, but not a lot. You're not going to see someone jump from a 1000 to a 2200 just because he "learned the test." The fact of the matter is that people can and do get perfectly acceptable scores without "learning the test."</p>
<p>And I agree with midatlmom - Princeton doesn't need people like you. If I am accepted (as I can hope!) I would be appalled to know that someone like you was also accepted.</p>
<p>Ok, as disheartened as I am for hearing all this, I don't think its helpful to continue scolding Cybershot. The person's intentions are obviously incompatible with the ASC, and Princeton will discover that if it is undertaken. I have two points to make:</p>
<p>1.) Even if your father was not your father, you should be warned that the things Princeton ascertains from ASC Reports are likely not what you think they are. </p>
<p>2.) Alumni interviewers do not have a great deal of clout (in fact, they have very little as noted before), and the interview is not an integral part of your profile as a candidate for admission. The interview is 50% informative, meaning for the student's benefit, and 50% a chance for admissions officers to get a clearer, more holistic picture of you, with information that really cannot be gathered remotely or through a paper application. </p>
<p>Exploiting this system, and removing the objectivity, could possibly distort Princeton's image of you quite negatively, without you even realizing it.</p>
<p>wow...an applicant who "doesn't give a damn about ethics" applying to a school renowned for a strong honor code...also, your comments about SATs aren't convincing either.
your dad won't be the one interviewing you anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They give undue emphasis to the SAT, when it's really nothing but a "how well you know the test" test.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yet another kid trying to give himself excuses for a very low SAT score... not to mention a GPA that is too low for Princeton. You already have the URM boost.. it's very unethical of you to try to get an advantage by having your father interview. If you were a normal applicant without the advantage of legacy and URM, you wouldn't get into Princeton. Frankly, considering how you were born with the virtue of two hooks, you are luckier than thousands of non-legacies and non-URMs applying to Princeton who work their little butts off to get high scores on the SAT which in your opinion "is nothing but a 'how well do you test' test." Maybe if you channeled the energy you are spending trying to game the admissions system into boosting your GPA and SAT, you would have a better chance at Princeton. Yet you complain about the admissions process being unfair! I would watch out for your little plan backfiring on itself. If you do this and get in, it won't have been on your own merits anyway.</p>
<p>I don't get how you can put Dad's name down on app to show that you're a legacy but think no one will notice that a person with the same name is your interviewer...</p>
<p>You don't care about the ethics of the application process? Do you think you are smart enough to play the system? Do you think identifying your city area, and the fact that your dad is an URM alumni interviewer might not just spell out exactly who you are to the Princeton administrators who regularly visit this site?</p>
<p>Wow, I'm really apalled by your discriminations, especially krazykool's last post. =S I'm also bothered by kwu's annoying need to pester me everywhere I go/post. He's been attacking my SAT scores and, quite frankly, I really think he deserves a ban to put him in his place.</p>