In April of 2021, shortly after being admitted, I visited campus with my parents for the first time. After grabbing a quick breakfast on Nassau Street, we walked towards campus, warm coffee in hand as I tried to take it all in—I think my parents fell in love with campus before I had a chance to fully process where I was.

We spent the morning wandering around aimlessly, first passing through FitzRandolph Gate and walking by Nassau Hall, then towards Blair Arch and down to the rest of campus. Eventually, we made it to Prospect Gardens, where the beginning of spring had left behind the sweet smell of blossoming flowers and bright colors everywhere.

I remember my mom turning to me and saying, “Odette, I can just picture you reading a book on that bench over there.” (With the knowledge I have now, I can confirm it is a very comfortable bench. I read several excerpts of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America on that bench, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.)

Everywhere we walked, we passed by students talking about the relief of completing their senior theses. I didn’t know it at the time, but we were visiting shortly after many departments had already required submissions of the senior thesis for their students. It was intimidating to think about, but I was also fascinated by how excited they all sounded about their work. When we ate lunch later that day at Proof Pizza, we sat next to a group of students who very quickly transitioned from discussing their weekend plans to debating a topic from their math class.

Back on campus, we started to realize many of the trees were labeled with their scientific names.

“What a nerdy thing to do,” I joked with my parents.

For some reason, this particular anecdote stuck with me the most when I returned home. When my friends and family asked about how my visit had been, I could only reply with “they label their trees up there.” Entering my third year, the labeled trees scattered across campus are still one of my favorite things about Princeton, and although it was something that was merely kind of strange and amusing back then, I think it’s a testament to what Princeton stands for.

Maybe this goes without saying, but knowledge is everywhere, and I mean everywhere on campus.

If you asked me now what it’s like to go to Princeton, I think I’d start with the same response. No mundane fact is too insignificant, no question unworthy of being asked. It is inspiring to be surrounded by thousands of students who are as passionate about learning as I am. I could not count the number of thought-provoking conversations I’ve had over Wawa mac and cheese, or the number of times I’ve left a class absolutely in awe of my classmates.

Curiosity and the quest for knowledge are central to all that Princeton is, and if this sounds like the sort of environment you’d love, then I’d say you’re already halfway home.

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It is easy to say Princeton is beautiful, but real beauty goes beyond appearance and reputation. The heart of a school is the people and the people at Princeton are some of the best you’ll ever meet–they make this school beautiful. Is it easy to make friends? Will I fit in? These are the most common questions first-years ask before entering Princeton’s campus and I think at the root of these questions, it boils down to: will I find a community? Students from around the country and even the world enter Princeton’s orange bubble and hope they’ll find belonging. What does it mean to belong?

In my first year, I didn’t know what to expect. I wish I could say that I worried about the common concerns many other students had coming in. Instead, I was just excited to have a normal college experience, see people face to face, and create connections. My lack of expectations made it easier for me to settle. I didn’t engage in all the opportunities available and never stepped outside my comfort zone. My first year was a learning experience, it was filled with trials and errors and sometimes isolation. While it may not have been the most ideal experience, it highlighted how important it was for me to push myself and seek connections–to find my community. 

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One of the ways I find belonging is in the classroom. My Latino Literature and Film seminar is a class full of Latine students who share similar lived experiences. I resonate so quickly with their feelings and I learn of different cultures and upbringings that influence perception on representation, all within an hour and a half. One of the reasons I love the Latino Studies program is because of Professor Rivera-Lopez. She constantly finds ways to make us question how Latine individuals are represented in film and what authentic stories look like. I previously took a seminar with her in the fall semester called "Introduction to Latino/a/x Studies" and this is where I learned a history that is so often overlooked and forgotten. Many people from the fall seminar decided to continue into the spring semester taking Professor Rivera-Lopez’s classes, these people began forming my community here. 

One of the other ways I find belonging is by demonstrating my support to the organizations that bring joy to my Princeton experience. Más Flow is Princeton’s premier Latine dance company which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. A couple of friends and I went to their spring production “La Fiesta del Año”. I loved seeing my friends and people I had classes with perform on stage, dancing to music that reminded me a bit of home. I tend to look for community with what feels familiar to me, but I also just love catching up with people I work with or friends via quick trips to late meal and USG movie nights.

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I can’t say I am the same person I was when I walked through FitzRandolph Gates during pre-rade but I like that I am still finding out who I am. Belonging does not have to be definite, our identities are complex and growing. The friendships you make your freshman year won’t always last but that doesn’t mean they weren’t meaningful. I love being able to interact with so many people who have interesting and different perspectives. Princeton's campus is a space where you are both challenged and embraced, that is one of the reasons I love it so much.

To the Class of 2027, I can’t ensure that your journey will be easy or perfect by any means but it will be memorable. Worries and excitement are all normal feelings but I hope you won’t allow your nerves to dictate your time here. Make that first step and try something new because if there’s a time or space to do anything, it’s at Princeton. Embrace the new atmosphere and don’t settle for what is within reach, community is most often found in places you’ll least expect it to be. Congratulations on your acceptance and I hope to see you next fall!

It’s that time of year again. My team and I are making last minute tweaks to the incoming first-year class.

We’ve spent the past several months reading, re-reading and discussing the applications that many of you reading this blog put hours of preparation into. We have appreciated learning about your academic pursuits, the activities that intrigue you outside of the classroom and the factors that led you to apply to Princeton. We have laughed at your funny anecdotes, cried (yes, cried) over some of the situations you have trusted us enough to share and thought about how you might add to this vibrant community. And now it comes down to your receiving a decision.

You might not believe it, but this is not my favorite part of my job. Don’t get me wrong, I think I have one of the best jobs on this campus – being able to serve my alma mater in a way that introduces her to prospective students around the world. But in this moment, providing decisions that will exhilarate some and devastate others is not my idea of fun.

So, each year, I try to remind ALL applicants that receiving a decision from a college (whether it’s Princeton or some other amazing institution of higher learning) should not make or break you. If you receive positive news, that’s excellent! Celebrate, decide if it’s the place you can see yourself learning and growing inside and outside of the classroom and base your decision on whether or not to enroll on whether or not the school is a fit for you academically, socially and financially.

If you receive not-so positive news, know that one school’s decision does not indicate anything about your ability to be successful in college. I can only speak for Princeton, but each year we receive applications from many more highly qualified students than we could possibly admit. And, each year we have to say no to many of those same students. I realize that doesn’t take the sting out of receiving anything other than an admit. Still, I hope that you will not let the received decision keep you down. Rather, take a minute to absorb it, and then regroup and put your efforts into your senior year activities. Importantly, remember to enjoy the remainder of your high school senior year, as making those memories are as important as figuring out the next phase of your life.

Whatever decision you receive from Princeton or any other college or university you have applied to, please know that we have enjoyed getting to know you. Your story is unique to you and important. And whatever campus community is allowed to benefit from your presence will be all the better for it.

Good luck with this next adventure!

It goes without saying that every student currently enrolled at Princeton has a unique journey that led them here, but when I was still a prospective student, this is something that was especially important for me to remember. So allow me to say it again: there is no “normal” path to Princeton, and there is no “normal” Princeton student.

Like many other nervous prospective applicants, I spent countless hours during my senior year of high school searching the Internet for answers–for anything that would tell me whether or not Princeton was even remotely attainable for me. Sure, I’d always gotten good grades, but what if that wasn’t enough? I’d been a public school student all my life, and although I greatly valued that education, I knew there would be other applicants that would have gone to different schools that had likely better prepared and exposed them to the rigor of ideas and extracurriculars that Princeton was looking for. In the weeks leading up to the January 1st deadline, my head swarmed with self-doubt.

I almost didn’t apply, but on December 31st, I submitted my application. To avoid getting my hopes up, I told myself that even if I got in, I probably wouldn’t go because it was more than a thousand miles away, and it’d be too hard, and I didn’t want to live in New Jersey anyway, and… 

I believe my first words were, “Oh my God I got in,” and I believe after that (as well as after refreshing the page dozens of times to make sure it hadn’t been a mistake) they were, “What am I going to do?”

Up until that point, I had been ready to submit my acceptance to one of the state schools near my hometown. Maybe the fact I hadn’t yet was a testament in itself that I was hoping for my admission at Princeton, but that didn’t change the fact that I was scared of leaving Florida: all of my friends would be staying close to home; I had never gone so far on my own; and my family–my sister and my parents–and I were all extremely close since my parents had immigrated from Mexico and raised us far from any true support system. Princeton, with its Gothic architecture and ivy-covered walls, did not feel like the place for me–I did not think it was a space made for people like me, even after being accepted.

I won’t lie to you that Princeton was immediately, or even now, all sunshine and rainbows. As I look forward to declaring Politics as my major, as well as applying to law school in the future, I still struggle with these sorts of thoughts. But this is home now, and I’ve learned to embrace the rigor and explore the endless opportunities at my disposal here. If I had given in to the fear and the uncertainty, there is so much that I would have missed out on:

• Every beautiful seasonal transition on campus, including experiencing my first snowfall;
• Amazing friends, including my roommate of two years that I genuinely could not live without;
• Meeting Nobel Prize winners in the middle of class or watching movies get filmed on campus;
• My upcoming internship with an amazing organization in Trenton through the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program;
• Engaging in all of Princeton’s quirky traditions;
• And above all, tremendous self-growth.

Maybe this is a letter to my past self, or maybe it’s a love letter to Princeton. But to you, future applicant, or to you, future student–if there is anything that you get out of this one of thousands of stories, it is this:

You belong here, and sometimes the scariest choice turns out to be the right choice after all.

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I transferred to Princeton in 2020. Most of us can surely recall how odd and challenging of a time it was, and my transition to the University was no different. I expected Princeton to be challenging in a few ways: academically, socially, and logistically. All those things were true. What I did not expect was the degree of mental challenge I encountered, which was likely exacerbated by the isolation of remote learning and my difficulty balancing academics with my personal life. So, after driving from Southern California to Princeton in the summer of 2020, my partner and I packed up and moved back home when I began a leave of absence in the fall of 2021.

I spent my leave trying to be as introspective as possible, recalibrating my mental and physical health after the peak of the pandemic. I spontaneously signed up for a marathon despite having never run a half. I returned to one of my favorite past times: road trips and camping in California. I broke the cliché veteran habit of waking up early every day and allowed myself to sleep in. In sum, I tried to slow down, focus on happiness and health, and interrogate myself on what I really wanted in life.

In this blog, I share four lessons from my gap year. I also share each lesson’s relevance to being a transfer student at Princeton. In doing so, I hope to make future transfer students’ transitions to Princeton easier and to remind current transfers that success at Princeton is not measured purely by GPA.

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In no particular order, her are four insights from my leave of absence:

I. Life is not a race.

A race has a set course and boundaries. There are winners, and there are those who aspired to win. Life is different. What constitutes a “win” in life is highly subjective. Your only competition is against yourself, and the only finish lines are the goals you hope to achieve.
I emphasize this because coming to Princeton as an older student may be at the front of some transfers’ minds. The age gap can be quite salient here—I have been older than many of my preceptors. Yet there is no reward for graduating from Princeton one year earlier. Complete your degree in the time that is best for you and judge your grades not in comparison to other students but against the standards you have set for yourself.

II. You will not regret self-care.

There is a future version of you watching themselves—watching you—through their memories. The more you take care of yourself now, the better that prospective version of you will be. Exercise regularly. Eat well. Put effort into maintaining friendships. Do not strive for perfection. Strive for progress and consistency. But recognize that you will fail. Learn from those mistakes.
Self-care is, of course, important for everyone. I bring attention to it because some of our older transfers have a different relationship with mental health than the Gen-Z students that make up the near-entirety of the of non-transfer student population. (To be clear, I mean that as the utmost compliment to them.) Some transfers—particularly the transfers who served in the US Armed Forces—may think that forcing their way through every obstacle is the best method. Others may fear failure so much that they neglect exercise or socialization. Both, I know from experience, are poor choices. Invest in self-care and enjoy its returns.

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III. Forgive yourself.

There will be times when you pursue a goal and fail. That failure may come because you exhausted all efforts but still fell short (running a marathon under a certain time; finishing Princeton with a certain GPA), or it may be because you neglected to put your best foot forward (planning to exercise in the morning but snoozing the alarm; watching Netflix rather than doing your readings). But we all make mistakes. Forgive yourself for doing so and be introspective about your shortcomings.
Imposter syndrome can be a particularly pernicious and persistent issue for transfer students. This year, we have a population of 59 transfer students in an undergraduate enrollment of 5,548, meaning there is approximately one transfer student for every 94 non-transfer students. These figures can contribute to some transfers’ ideas that they do not belong at Princeton, that their acceptance was a mistake. Thus, I feel it is imperative that transfers forgive themselves. Performing poorly on a test or forgetting a reading is not evidence that you are a fraud who slipped through the cracks. You are human and therefore prone to mistakes. If you were flawless, you wouldn’t need Princeton.

IV. Remember that you can always leave.

If you feel like you no longer enjoy something—a relationship, a job, a path in life—consider leaving. Self-honesty can reveal that you really ought to leave, but it can also show you that your feelings were misplaced or misguided. The thought of leaving may actually make you realize just how much you do enjoy something.
I believe that every transfer should remember that leaving Princeton is a valid option. This may be startling to read—during the transfer pre-orientations that I’ve helped run, it has certainly surprised incoming cohorts. But transfers should know that it is an option, be it in the form of a gap year or dropping out altogether. I say this not to advocate for transfer student departures, but because all of us worked so incredibly hard to get to Princeton that we sometimes forget leaving is an option. Remembering that we are not proverbially handcuffed to the University can actually strengthen and our desires to be here. Feeling as if quitting is not an option can rob one of their agency, but knowing that it is a choice and choosing to continue forward is empowering and builds confidence.

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When I reflect on spending my leave of absence recalibrating my mental and physical health, these are some of the most striking lessons that come to mind. My return to Princeton has been challenging, but it has also been manageable and quite successful because I am mindful of these principles.

Some current transfers or transfer applicants may agree wholeheartedly with these ideas. Some may only like a few, and others may object to all four entirely. That is okay. These are not heaven-descended axioms. They are merely my lessons and what have worked for me. So, experiment and find what works for you. Make the most of this time because you’ve earned it. And know that while you do that, you’ll always be supported.

It still feels unreal that I am a student at Princeton University. Last year, I was in a completely different position compared to a lot of other freshmen. While they were juggling between classes, sports, and clubs in their high schools, I was serving in Korea in the U.S. Army. Back then, I never thought I would be attending Princeton University, let alone any of the Ivy League schools. I knew I wanted to continue my education, but I was quite uncertain as to how to go about the process. Most people around me stayed in the military, so they could not provide any guidance about my academic journey after enlistment. However, I soon found out about the non-profit organizations Service to School and the Warrior-Scholar Project, which support and empower military veterans to successfully transition into the classroom. With their help, I was able to gradually navigate my pathway to find the right school and start the college application process.

I had countless Zoom meetings with many elite universities to learn more about their schools, but my meeting with Princeton's Alex Bustin, senior associate dean and director of transfer, military and international admission, was the most memorable of them all. I was especially drawn to the fact that Princeton was a liberal arts institution geared towards the undergraduate student body. This meant that I could utilize all the academic, research, and professional resources available as an undergraduate student. Moreover, I felt that Princeton was sincerely invested in the success of their students. In addition to the academic resources like the McGraw Center and the Writing Center, Princeton’s commitment to making education affordable and accessible for everyone is truly commendable. Princeton offered an extremely generous financial aid package, especially for veterans, to remove the financial burden of pursuing higher education. After my meeting with Dean Bustin, my mind was set. I believed that transferring to Princeton was the step in the right direction for my academic journey (I took some community college classes after high school, before joining the military).

It is almost March, which means the transfer application deadline is approaching. Crafting the college application can be extremely challenging. You may be overwhelmed with uncertainties and doubts about where you will end up and what your future looks like. Looking back, I remember frequently asking myself if I was good enough to get into any of the schools I applied to. To provide some guidance for future transfer applicants, I would like to share two pieces of advice. First, you have come so far already, so do not give up now! Transferring to a different school is a big commitment that takes a lot of time and effort. It is admirable that you want to be in a different environment that challenges you in every way. With only a few weeks left, you are so close to the finish line. So please, do not give up on yourself. Second, it is not about where you end up, but what you make of it when you get there. If you make the most out of your experience wherever you go, I am certain that you will be able to find yourself at home in any school.

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For prospective transfer students considering Princeton, know that you are not only valued here, but supported financially, academically and personally by systems that were created specifically for you. You can experience a residential liberal arts college as robustly as any other student without compromising your goals and individual needs. Princeton’s incoming transfer students have a supportive cohort within the tight-knit transfer and veteran student body as well as across the greater community. And when it comes to your strengths and achievements – not only academically, but also otherwise, such as in your military service, professional work, etc. – know that these are valued and appreciated in our process not in spite of their difference compared to the average traditional student, but because of them.  The life experience and perspectives you bring from those achievements — and maybe from the learning experiences and tenacity you have shown in overcoming some negative experiences — give us a unique perspective about your ability to thrive and contribute to an environment where academic rigor and exploration are encouraged, and close community relationships are forged.

When presenting your body of work since your high school years — which can be from a range of time and experiences across the transfer student spectrum — we ask for the full range of academic records and non-academic experiences so we can best understand your trajectory, and how you have become the strong and motivated student you are now, and how you’re prepared for the kind of experience offered at Princeton. Academically, your level of preparation will mostly be evaluated on the strongest, most recent academic record in place of maybe suboptimal prior experiences. If there are reasons to explain why past experiences — academic or otherwise — did not meet your current high levels of achievement, it’s helpful to address those extenuating circumstances, regardless of whether they were within or outside of your control. This can be in the form or a resume charting out the road map, or a short paragraph in relevant optional sections of the application.

Whatever the case may be, and whether you traveled the straight and narrow path to this juncture, or a wider, more meandering one, know that you can absolutely be a worthy and highly competitive candidate for Princeton or any similar elite college that values transfer and non-traditional students, no matter how highly selective. Do not be discouraged by statistics of admission rates or academic metrics that are largely comprised of the majority of our applicants in much more linear pathways who do not bring the range of life experiences and perspectives that you might. Instead, show us your strengths as they exist today, as well as the road you traveled that contributed to who you are and why this is the right moment where your goals in higher education and beyond intersect with what a college like Princeton can offer you, and what you can offer to the community in return. Find your greatest advocates in your current community — whether that’s at your college, at your job, in your military cohort, or elsewhere — to support you in this process, and importantly, reach out to us directly, as well as our counterparts in the offices of other colleges you’ll be applying. This process is complex enough for any student, and we’re happy to assist and support however we can on our end as you continue this journey, and prepare for the next steps ahead.

It’s that time of year again. Here in New Jersey, the weather has turned colder, the trees have surrendered the last of their leaves, and my team and I are making last minute tweaks to the incoming first year class.

We’ve spent the past several weeks reading, re-reading and discussing the applications that many of you reading this blog put hours of preparation into. We have appreciated learning about your academic pursuits, the activities that intrigue you outside of the classroom and the factors that led you to apply to Princeton. We have laughed at your funny anecdotes, cried (yes, cried) over some of the situations you have trusted us enough to share and thought about how you might add to this vibrant community. And now it comes down to your receiving a decision.

You might not believe it, but this is not my favorite part of my job. Don’t get me wrong, I think I have one of the best jobs on this campus – being able to serve my alma mater in a way that introduces her to prospective students around the world. But in this moment, providing decisions that will exhilarate some and devastate others is not my idea of fun.

So, each year, I try to remind ALL applicants that receiving a decision from a college (whether it’s Princeton or some other amazing institution of higher learning) should not make or break you. If you receive positive news, that’s excellent! Celebrate, decide if it’s the place you can see yourself learning and growing inside and outside of the classroom and base your decision on whether or not to enroll on whether or not the school is a fit for you academically, socially and financially.

If you receive not-so positive news, know that one school’s decision does not indicate anything about your ability to be successful in college. I can only speak for Princeton, but each year we receive applications from many more highly qualified students than we could possibly admit. And, each year we have to say no to many of those same students. I realize that that doesn’t take the sting out of receiving anything other than an admit. Still, I hope that you will not let the received decision keep you down. Rather, take a minute to absorb it, and then regroup and put your efforts into your senior year activities and any other applications that need to be finished. Importantly, remember to enjoy the second half of your high school senior year as making those memories are as important as figuring out the next phase of your life.

Whatever decision you receive from Princeton or any other college or university you have applied to, please know that we have enjoyed getting to know you. Your story is unique to you and important. And whatever campus community is allowed to benefit from your presence will be all the better for it.

Good luck with this next adventure!

Dear Great QuestBridge Match Class of 2027,

Has it sunk in yet? The fact that you are now an invaluable member of Princeton’s newest class?

It may not fully sink in until you step foot onto Princeton’s campus for orientation and your first day of classes, but regardless, I welcome you to Princeton’s Great Class of 2027!

Not to date myself, but I am a member of the QuestBridge Match Class of 2025. Even though it’s been two years since the fateful day when I matched to Princeton, I remember the process like it was yesterday: I remember the suspicion I first felt as I googled “Is QuestBridge a scam?” I remember the feverish race to submit all of my supplements by November 1st. Most clearly of all, I remember the day I received my match letter. I remember my hands shaking as I opened the email notification and the adrenaline that coursed through my body as I realized that everything I had been doing for the past four months—heck, the past four years—was about to culminate with this. Exact. Moment. 

As a first-generation, low income student navigating Princeton for the past two years, I have grown immensely. I’ve grown, and yet I am continuously grounded my home community and the on-campus QuestBridge community. 

As I write this letter to you right now, I hope to share a core lesson I’ve learned this past semester that may serve as food for thought as you close out your high school career:

A couple weeks ago, I was participating in HackPrinceton, and I went to a team-building event to meet some of the students who had driven and flown in from all around the world.

I walked up to the first person: “Hi, my name is Aminah! What’s your name?”

“Angel,” she said, smiling.

“Angelica?” I asked, echoing back what I’d heard.

“Angel,” she clarified.

Next to me, my friend snickered, incredulous at how I could have misheard the name so badly.

But it gets worse: this happened repeatedly.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Alayna!”

“Allison, you said?”

At this point, my friend was dying of laughter. “Wow, you’re really playing life on hard mode aren’t you?!”

This moment from the hackathon has stayed with me, and I realize that my friend was right. In almost every way, I have always approached life assuming that it would be more difficult than it sometimes actually was. I have always assumed that I would be asked to jump through more and more hoops ad infinitum.

Now, some of this is a product of my low-income upbringing: nothing has been given to me on a silver platter and so I have come to expect struggle and pain as necessary prerequisites to my moving through the world.

What I have as a response is not some grandiose solution or overarching statement, but a question: What if life (or at least some parts of it) is actually simple? What if there are areas in your life right now where you are struggling because you think you have to, not because it is actually necessary?

You’ve done it. You are on track to become a graduate from one of the top universities in the country. You are in great hands. You have an opportunity to end high school hopefully in person, as the ramifications of the global pandemic have begun to recede.

Take this win. You’ve earned it. Congratulations!

 

With infinite love, 

Aminah 

 

There has been much discussion recently about the University’s decision to step back from promoting statistics about admitted students, including a Reactions column this week. As Dean of Admission, I want to provide additional information and context.

First, it’s important to be clear about what we’re doing and why. 

Selective institutions have long made a practice of marking the day admission decisions are released by trumpeting their low admission rates and the impressive credentials of admitted students. For the reasons detailed below, Princeton began stepping back from this approach a few years ago by no longer highlighting its admission rate or the standardized test scores of admitted students. 

We took an important step this year by making the decision to no longer release an announcement about admitted students and to instead highlight the enrolled Class of 2026 — the students who will join the University community in the fall. A number of peer institutions have made similar decisions, including Stanford, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania.

Of course, we recognize that data on admissions and admitted students has value and we will continue to report it to state and federal authorities and include it in our Common Data Set. The fact that Princeton has to turn away many extremely well-qualified applicants each year – despite the coming expansion of the undergraduate class — is no secret and isn’t going to become one. The admission rate is — and will continue to be — available through sources like the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard. 

But neither prospective students nor the University benefit from the admission process being boiled down in headlines to a single statistic like the admission rate.

We know from our interactions with prospective students, families, and counselors that highlighting an admission rate and framing the admissions process through a list of statistics instills anxiety and fear. We do not want to discourage prospective students from applying to Princeton because of its selectivity. 

Instead, we want prospective students to consider if Princeton is the right fit — if the resources we offer, the academic opportunities we provide will allow them to flourish at our residential research university. We want students to find a place of learning wherein their own contributions will be valued. And to know that Princeton’s generous need-based financial aid program might afford them the opportunity to graduate debt-free. This is how we approach our conversations with prospective students. By stepping away from promoting statistics like the admission rate, we are signaling that selectivity is not part of our pitch. 

In my blog post to the newly admitted early action group for the Class of 2026, I highlight our holistic process and the conversations my colleagues and I have around building a class. The Admission Office’s goal is to admit a diverse and dynamic group of students. We think about how students will interact with one another in the classroom and on the field, in the music practice room, and the residential college common room. We discuss how students might approach difficult circumstances, how they would interact with people with different perspectives, and how they might approach the University’s informal motto about the service of humanity. To do this, we read and discuss the essays, the letters of recommendation, interview write-ups, and any other pieces that have been shared with us.

But our work does not end on decision day, as admission statistics might suggest. With the help of our wonderful campus community, we spend the month of April officially introducing admitted students to Princeton — some for the very first time. And when we enroll the next class this summer, we will talk about their many talents as the newest members of the Princeton community.

A version of this blog post was first published as an op-ed in The Daily Princetonian on April 7, 2022.