And now a word from an alumni interviewer

 RantWoman will soon hit a major decade anniversary of her graduation from Princeton, just as private colleges with large endowments, #DEI, and campus protest are all over the news. RantWoman has Things to Say.

RantWoman has never considered it likely that she would be in a position to endow even, say, a drinking fountain or an endowed professorship. Maybe RantWoman is thinking too small, possible a thought for future alumni. 

One of RantWoman's ways to give back is to serve as an alumni interviewer for people who have applied to Princeton. Now that admissions results are out, people are making choices among their options, RantWoman has opinions, with thanks to all of this year's cohort of interviewers.

The giant alumni interview machine
who this year collectively interviewed over 500 students
who applied to join the Princeton Class of 2029

RantWoman finds interviewing applicants an extremely rewarding way to give back. Things RantWoman finds rewarding:

"Meeting" young people who will make great contributions wherever they wind up. 

--A lot of the time meetings are on Zoom. So RantWoman sometimes gets to see uneven internet even in WA.

--RantWoman is really direct about her parameters for meeting in person: RantWoman does not drive so applicants get to figure out how to come to RantWoman if they want to meet in person. RantWoman thanks several branches of the Seattle Public Library for space for in-person meetings.

Learning about a lot of different high schools, high school experiences, student opportunities and challenges.

Giving students an opportunity to ask questions. Sometimes something comes up in the Q&A that tells RantWoman the student won't be too disappointed if they do not get admitted to Princeton. Sometimes RantWoman talks to a student who will be the first person in their family to go to college. Many times, RantWoman learns something interesting or easily relates to an experience the student shares.

Imparting such wisdom as RantWoman has to offer. Please listen, especially if RantWoman repeats the same advice in response to multiple questions, for example about realism in coursework choices.

Reassuring students that "because Princeton has an amazing financial aid program" is perfectly reasonable as one factor in their decisions to apply. RantWoman spends a lot of time in Elon's sandbox. PResently it is very fashionable in some corners to scream that no federal dollars should go to schools with large endowments. RantWoman strongly begs to differ. Some students, such as the embattled Secretary of defense go through Princeton on ROTC scholarships. For other students, financial aid includes some kind of campus work study job.If people need financial aid and otherwise qualify to be admitted to Princeton, they darn well should be able to use their federal financial aid at the schools where they are admitted. RantWoman also considers it extremely appropriate that people graduate from Princeton with WIDELY varying views about and approaches to issues of the day, with a further note about all the different ways the country gets its money's worth from Princeton alumni.

Odds of admission are low. Princeton admits 4-5 % of students who apply. This means a lot of students with 4.0 GPA, phenomenal test scores and striking extracurricular activities do not get admitted. RantWoman has a pretty standard set of questions and tries to listen for unique energy the student will bring to Princeton and personal qualities that will help them succeed. RantWoman also tells students she is just a cog in the admissions process, wishes the students success, and sometimes says it would be cool for our paths to cross sometime in the future.

Most of the time, RantWoman has no trouble answering those questions, but some years one or two students pop straight to the top of RantWoman's guesses. In fact, for a while, rantWoman was beating the odds in terms of the percentage of students she interviews who get admitted. Some years, RantWoman's list includes lots of people with something to offer but nothing that massively distinguishes them from other applicants. RantWoman always encourages other interviewers not to get discouraged when that happens.

Ahh, but interviewing is not all daffodils and roses. Here are a few further tips.

RantWoman does the best she can to listen for special family circumstances such as difficulty finding a place to study because of housing challenges or family duties that get in the way of too many extracurricular activities. RantWoman realized it matters to talk about these things after she reckoned with the point that she herself often was the one putting the family dinner on the table because of RantParents' work schedules.

Please try to avoid annoying your interviewer. For example:    

Please respond promptly when an assigned interviewer reaches out.

Please keep enough track of your interviews to NOT ask an interviewer "which school are you calling about."

Do not mention other schools applied to by name, but RantWoman is just fine with comparisons such as "I want to study a specific language available at Princeton" or I am interested in a specific student activity or this aspect of the Princeton campus really appeals to me.

Please do not act entitled. RantWoman has no interest in people's test scores, but other notes of entitlement also peeve RantWoman. Admission rates are widely publicized and "very competitive" is always a standard. Princeton admissions are indeed very competitive. RantWoman talks to about a dozen students a year. Everyone RantWoman talks to brings valuable gifts to wherever they go to college, even if it is not Princeton.

A special note about test scores: RantWoman is not interested in test score details. RantWoman is not even  keeping as much track as might be reasonable about testing requirements. Recently another Princeton alumna spoke about her test scores being only 10 points shy of perfection. Percentagewise, RantWoman's deviation from perfection was bigger than 10 points, but RantWoman's scores were the second highest in her high school, with an asterisk because many students took a different test.

 

If you are interested in a specific topic, maybe use the search bar on the website to see what academic presence there is or is not. RantWoman usually does not say something even if she forms an opinion that Princeton might not be the best fit for a particular program, but RantWoman has a time or two formed that opinion. RantWoman also finds it annoying when a student has a clear idea of a strong interest but has not checked the Princeton website for further information.

 STEM skills and computer science are extremely important in any future workplace. However, RantWoman's life has involved considerable experience working in IT roles with people who have both humanities degrees and more technical backgrounds. Sometimes at receptions for admitees, RantWoman is really tempted just to blurt out "Not everyone here who says you want to major in Computer Science will get degrees in computer science but y'all will have many opportunities to use any technical skills you have.

A large percentage of students graduate with degrees other than what they mentioned when they applied. Get help when you need to. Keep things in perspective.

PS a lot of the advice here applies to lots of other schools besides Princeton.