Princeton – an alum, interviewer, applicant’s father’s perspective

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>First, everybody, please calm down. This isn’t life or death. Nobody’s fate is determined by where he or she goes to college. This is as important step, but not as important as the choices children and parents made years ago about emphasis on education, the instillation of good study habits/work ethic or the development of resilience in the face of inevitable disappointment.</p>

<p>Second, please buy and read Lauren Pope’s book, Looking Beyond the Ivy League. </p>

<p>Third, read the book again.</p>

<p>Princeton is a great school. It isn’t for everybody. I had wonderful experiences there. I had terrible experiences there. </p>

<p>Most of my teachers were excellent. Some weren’t. </p>

<p>I would never characterize the place as embracing. It can be downright cold. </p>

<p>I never had a boss mention my alma mater in a performance review. When I went out on my own, Princeton on my resume may have gotten me a second look, but getting an engagement depended on the quality of my most recent work.</p>

<p>I have been an ASC (Alumni Schools Committee) interviewer for almost 20 years. Here are some dirty secrets:</p>

<p>The interview is much more informational (for the benefit of the applicant) than evaluative (for admissions decisions). My guess is that it has elements of Kabuki theater, making both the applicant and the interviewer feel more important and involved than they truly may be. It’s hard for me to believe that a relatively superficial 45 minute conversation in a Starbuck could significantly overshadow years’ long measures of accomplishment and purpose, like transcripts, activities sheets and SAT/AP/IB test results and personal essays.</p>

<p>That said, I always tell my interviews something along these lines:</p>

<p>I’m not here to trip you up, corner you or zing you. This is your chance to get across, through me, anything you feel hasn’t gotten across on paper. You tell me, I’ll be your advocate.</p>

<p>While many of my reports have been unenthusiastic, I’ve written negative reports on only three candidates out of several hundred interviewees:</p>

<p>1) the young woman who giggled for half an hour while telling me she really wanted to go to Harvard.</p>

<p>2) the young man who insisted that Princeton’s business department (which doesn’t exist) was the best in the country.</p>

<p>3) the young woman’s whose biggest concern was whether she would have enough free time to work so that she could keep up payments on her Camaro (while boyfriend proceeded to dump contents of said Camaro’s ashtray onto surface of my office’s parking lot).</p>

<p>Okay, Darling Daughter’s application.</p>

<p>Great. I hope she’s admitted. Princeton is an exceptional school. She would have access to wonderful resources and might well thrive there.</p>

<p>But then again, she might not.</p>

<p>Come April/May, we will put everything on the table, sort through choices and make decisions based on what’s right for her. I hope all of you will do the same.</p>

2

<p>^What prompts you to report out like this? Isn’t it simply a school is what you make of it?
Rather than advise me to purchase and read a book twice – how about you provide me a personal yet executive summary? Perhaps your last two lines sum it all up. Perhaps include a broad definition of “everything.” If so, well done! And thank you for your years of services providing ASC interviews.
Respectfully, Mr. VC</p>

3

<p>My son loved his interview with Princeton. That said, he loved his interviews with all of the Ivies except Yale, whose interviewer did ask odd questions out of nowhere such as, “Why do you think the US entered WWII?” Was this a university interview or an extension of the APUSH exam? Even with the overall strangeness of that interview, we discussed each one and what he could learn from them–about who he is, about what he wants, about how you exemplify grace under pressure, about how you deal with curve balls–really, countless lessons came from these many opportunities. I also have to say that he was left with very positive impressions of each of the universities (Yale, the exception, unfortunately)–of the caliber of alumni, of the personal touch, of their commitment to their alma maters, and of the wondrous opportunities each affords its students. Will he get in any of them? Who knows. He has already received EA for four wonderful universities, so if he achieves Ivy, he will most definitely go, but if not, he’s got great places from which to choose anyway.</p>

4

<p>Yes yes yes. The single best thing that can come out of the college interview process (besides admission, which I’m not sure has any relation to the interview process) is experience being interviewed. The more practice you get (and the more learning you can do from it), the better off you’ll be later when it really matters.</p>

5

<p>dosriveras, perhaps after interviewing for 20 years it is time for you to step down. The ASC Guidelines for Interviewing state outright that interviews are not evaluative. That is NOT a dirty little secret. As a parent of a child who has now applied to Princeton, you have seen just what the application entails: test scores and grades of course, but also two teacher recommendations plus one from a school official, two essays (three if you’re an engineer), plus an arts supplement and/or science portfolio. How is it that you or anybody else thinks a 30 minute conversation during a one-time meeting is going to count as much as all of that? Of course it doesn’t. That’s the news you should have shared with these kids who are understandably anxious about how their lifes will unfold after high school. They should look forward to their interviews with Princeton, not dread them. The Princeton interview should be enjoyable for both parties. If you think you’ve been in Kabuki all this time, no wonder you are jaded. You’re the one who’s not been being real.</p>

6

<p>OP-</p>

<p>Daughter has her Princeton interview next Saturday. Thank you for observations, I will share them her.</p>

7

<p>Your posting doesn’t seem inspirational in regards to the prospective students. At the same time, you are taking interview for 20 years and your daughter is applying there. You are eagerly waiting for positive reply for your daughter. To me it seems like you are looking for payback time for you from Princeton in regards to your daughter. Good luck.</p>