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Who should be admitted to elite schools?
In a Perspective essay in the April 4 issue, Tamara Sorell ’81 described how she had
advised her daughter not to apply to Princeton and other elite schools, saying she feared
that admission policies “have reached the point where students who don’t have elaborately
financed résumés and top-tier academic preparation cannot compete.” Following are
excerpts from alumni responses; longer versions of their comments can be found at PAW
Online. Add your view by posting a comment at paw.princeton.edu.
Like Tamara Sorell, we both have been
interviewing for the ASC for several
years — but unlike her, we have been
privileged to interview students from
every imaginable walk of life, and one
thing is abundantly clear to us: There is
no “typical” Princeton applicant.
Getting into college these days is
hard, no doubt about it. The odds are
steeper than ever before, particularly at
the top. But Sorell is mistaken if she
thinks that any particular group has an
advantage, and she has done her daughter
a grave disservice by suggesting that
her background makes her worse
equipped to compete than any other
applicant. The odds are certainly tough,
but they are tough for everybody. The
best thing any student can do is to be
true to her passions and to herself, and
to keep trying.
JESSICA BRONDO ’04
Founder and CEO, New York, N.Y.
The Edge in College Preparation
JENNY (SCHANBACHER) MARLOWE ’04
The Edge chief admission counselor
Los Angeles,Calif.
We also advised our daughter not to
bother applying to Princeton, and I’m
still sad about it. She’s a top student,
with grades, classes, and SATs that rival
my own when I was admitted to
Princeton. ... For this well-rounded,
interesting, and interested student, we
knew she wouldn’t have a chance. How
do I know? I’ve served on the alumni
committee and have interviewed
dozens of applicants to Princeton, and
came to the same conclusion. Only
those elite few, many of whom are
catered to or driven by parent “managers,”
are the ones who have enough
accolades to make it in. The mature,
independent students who make their
own way and their own choices, either
by choice or by their parents’ decision
not to helicopter, or by dint of the fact
May 16, 2012 Princeton Alumni Weekly • paw.princeton.edu
“I find it distressing and
disheartening that parents
would tell their children
‘not to bother’ applying to
top schools, no matter
what their circumstances.”
— Melanie Papasian ’03
that their parents are too busy “just
making it,” are overlooked by the elite
schools. It is such a loss for all involved.
KATHERINE CLELAND ’83
Corvallis, Ore.
I find it distressing and disheartening
that parents would tell their children
“not to bother” applying to top
schools, no matter what their circumstances.
By the reasoning you give, the
message that is ultimately conveyed is,
“Due to circumstances beyond your
control, doors are closed to you.” Seriously?
How defeatist is that? I would
worry about any future in which children
are not being encouraged to at
least try to get what they want — and
who consequently are learning that
rejection is always worse than never
having tried at all. How are you going
to prove your hypothesis if you don’t
go through with the experiment?
MELANIE PAPASIAN ’03
Rockville, Md.
As an interviewer with the Alumni
Schools Committee (who has never
seen one of her interviewed students
accepted) and a parent of two young
children, I have increasing concerns
about the quality of admission decisions.
Who decides the criteria for
admission, and could more people,
beyond the admission office, be
involved? Could alumni have a greater
say in this process?
The ASC coordinator in my state
reminds her interviewers that the
admission committee does not just
accept amazing individuals, it wants to
“shape a class as a whole.” But what do
these words really mean, and what do
they obscure?
NOOR O’NEILL BORBIEVA ’96
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Tamara, you write, “I cannot suggest
how the selection process could be
shifted to consider criteria beyond the
constellation of expensive achievements.”
I think the answer here is simple:
Just shift it. Make a decision as an
institution to consider character as well
as accomplishments. Recognize that
some students won’t rise to their full
height by 11th grade, and accept
responsibility for building leaders, not
just burnishing them.
With their relentless marketing,
admission departments all over have so
increased the numbers of applications
they have to process that I can’t imagine
they have time to give thoughtful
consideration to each applicant, their
protestations notwithstanding. Unfortunately,
I don’t think any of this really
will stop until the marketing push does.
SUSAN KORONES GIFFORD ’79
Montclair, N.J.
I have long thought that the best path
for Princeton admissions would be to
accept students by way of a lottery (this
has most likely been suggested by others
in the past). The main function of the
admission office would be to establish
the major pool for the lottery by simply