Today my GC told me that Princeton had called him (I’m not sure how long) before December 15th and told him they were going to defer me. I have no idea what this means, and I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with something similar? Does anyone have any ideas what this could mean?
Why do you think any of us might know the answer? Did you not receive the official update from Princeton weeks ago? That is the only part that matters.
But if you care for an opinion, I’d say that your GC is just full of it!
Are you in a private or boarding school that sends a large number of students each year to Princeton?
You may want to post this on the Princeton board since it is school specific your GC would know better than anyone on this board what it means, if anything. Without any real facts, I’d guess that your high school has a relationship with Princeton and the call was made out of courtesy.
I think your GC was unprofessional telling you this, or full of it as Xiggy said. I’m also disappointed in PRinceton if they did indeed leak the info to your GC. Bad judgement as well as ethics on part of the Princeton admissions office if this is true.
There are some schools that have relationships with some colleges and some info goes back and forth, but I would not have expected this from Princeton. Sometimes there is a distinct affiliation between the high school and the college where it is understandable that there is this relationship. I don’t think this was the case.
In any case, it doesn’t matter. Why your GC would tell you this after the fact is beyond my understanding.
@cptofthehhouse:
I fail to see what is unprofessional about this or why you wouldn’t expect this from Princeton.
@harvestmoon1 My high school is a small religious private school that has gotten a few kids into Princeton over the past few years, but nothing that would indicate a relationship. If anything, I’ve thought that Princeton had something against my school this year. They didn’t send an admissions officer to have an info session at my school, but they did last year.
@xiggi I did hear back a few weeks ago, I was just informed of this information today, and I thought maybe someone non-princeton related on here might have had a similar experience. I’m not exactly the biggest CC-er if you couldn’t tell. I’m not sure how the whole forum thing is set up or what the proper etiquette is.
But I was also surprised that Princeton would call my GC early (then again, I may have presumed it was early…) and tell him, but mostly because, as far as I can tell, there should be no reason that they would call him. I think he told me today not out of arrogance. He seems to be just as confused as I am (he’s sort of the default GC… not anything super legit or experienced at getting kids into elite schools. It’s mostly on us to figure the system out) and maybe he thought that hearing that Princeton hadn’t given us the cold shoulder would pick my spirits up or something??
So I’m just flying blind here, no special insight because I don’t work in the field, but here’s my take.
First off, Princeton is aware of your school and wants to build a relationship with them. Your school has sent kids in the past, Princeton doesn’t want to piss-off the GC staff who might then steer future kids away. So one part is to keep them in the loop working professional to professional.
The 2nd part I sense is an unspoken message. Princeton can’t exactly tell the GC they’ve decided to deny you since they’re on the bandwagon that defers just about everyone they don’t accept. Officially you’re still in the running, no final decision made. But they can imply denial by making sure the GC knows you are deferred. A savvy GC would understand why he’s finding out in December, and turn around and work with the kid to make sure he’s got some other irons in the fire.
Princeton reached out to your school. They tried to help your GC do his job this year, making sure a kid they won’t take gets sufficient GC attention. They are attempting to set up a bridge to the GC staff, hoping for calls from your school in years to come when someone special comes along. All of this only works with a GC staff that is on to the game, which sounds like isn’t the case here.
My 2 cents worth, anyway.
Interesting. I had considered that possibility, and you’re probably right. You phrased it much better than I had been able to in my thoughts. It’s what makes the most sense.
I agree. Often when a small private has a student going to a school ED, the GC will phone ahead, prior to the time the apps go to committee, and reach out to the Regional Rep, ask how the applicant is looking in the group . . . .listen . . . hear what the Rep says, get some feedback & at the same time, strengthen–or develop–rapport. If the applicant were then to get deferred, the GC will have done the groundwork, can now phone back & ask what happened, and listen–hear what the Rep says. The GC most likely will be able to discern the message, after having spoken earlier. If the GC is seasoned, has less than 50 students, and works in a private setting with support, then this would be the norm.
I hope you get in. Like I said, I’m don’t work in admissions so I’d be happy to be wrong :-/ Reply again in the spring and let us know how it turned out.
@mikemac thanks 
these past couple weeks have definitely been a time for moving on and getting exited about my other apps. This just sort of dragged me back into the pain for a bit.
The colleges, as a rule, inform the APPLICANT of their decision, not the GCs, parents, friends, etc. That’s the proper procedure in most cases. To leak that info is unprofessional, except in some cases where it is understood, or permission of sorts is given by the applicant. Usually in such cases, some tacit consent from the applicant is given to check out the status of the applications.
As for Princeton, how fair is it they it tells some people early what the status of someone’s app is? How would that play out that there are such favored ones?
I’m not surprised. Guidance counselors from well respected feeder schools often have collegial relationships with many admissions officers from the top colleges. They exchange phone calls all the time. When questions arise during deliberations, a quick phone call can answer most lingering doubts.
So my guess is that during the course of answering unresolved questions from several students who applied to Princeton, the AO simply let it out that you were being deferred. What is the big deal about this? Princeton wants to maintain a civil relationship with your school and thought it would be wise to let your GC know ahead of time as a courtesy.
In the end, it looks like Princeton is not where you will end up being accepted. Turn your sights somewhere else, and listen to the advice of your GC. Try to find out why you were not competitive at Princeton, and see if you can use this to tweak your application to another school. Good luck
@mikemac @sgopal2 Well, you guys were right. Princeton ended up being a rejection as did Harvard and Penn along with waitlists at Hopkins and WashU. Fortunately, I’ve been lucky enough to get into Northwestern, UChicago, and MIT, so today wasn’t nearly as devastating as it should have been. I’ll most likely end up at MIT.
Sorry to hear about the rejections, but getting into MIT is a salve that will heal most wounds 
No need to apologize. I would’ve felt bad turning down Princeton for MIT after everything I went through with the school. I’m happy to have no "what if"s.