One of my kids got to know a Princeton coach at a sports camp for high schoolers. Seemed like kid had an inside track for acceptance , so We went for a visit . I’d been there before, and loved its quaint and cozy beauty. We walked around a bit, including the little strip of stores next to campus. Had beakfast at that famous bustling diner.
The whole school was even more enchanting than I remembered it, and as our visit wound down, I had a big Ivy-wannabe smile on my face and said, “well, what do u think?”. Kid said, “No, I don’t like it.” If I’d been drinking something, I would have done a spit take. “You don’t LIKE it? It’s not OLD enough for you? It’s not PRETTY enough for you?” Kid wouldnt elaborate, but wouldn’t budge . I took to calling kiddo (jokingly) “the person for whom Princeton isn’t good enough.”.
Eventually I got my explanation…kid said as we strolled around the town, we passed.the very same lady (setting up a display outside a store) 3 times. Kid knew that everybody makes stupid mistakes in college, and didn’t want to go to a place that was so small that everybody knew each others business, and that you couldn’t avoid certain people if u wanted to.