Agreed. That a handful of American colleges can get away with charging $90,000 a year in tuition while simultaneously rejecting 95% of its applicants, just doesn’t make sense from a supply and demand standpoint. This is Mad Men-style branding gone wild.
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Honestly, the biggest turn off to me are the schools that very bluntly push the demonstrated interest piece and “ED advantage.”
She might like Penn better, honestly. But those don’t really align with the W&M preference. IMO if she hated Swarthmore for any reason other than its size, Princeton is unlikely to be a good fit.
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Shopping for anything based on the salesman’s vibes (rather than the product) is a recipe for regretted purchases/non-purchases.
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It makes perfect sense from a supply and demand perspective - that they can reject 95% of potential buyers means they have tremendous demand and thus can basically charge whatever they want.
The notion that it is easy to replicate the competitive advantage of an elite institution with decades of legacy networks is absurd. They have a huge moat.
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So, its “legacy networks” are what make Princeton so special?
I totally agree with this. However, it’s hard to get a feel for places without interfacing with a bunch of salesmen in the process. We/she didn’t dislike Princeton per se, we just left feeling sort of ambivalent and not getting a good read on the place. Our tour guide was actually excellent and very charismatic, but he almost felt “too perfect” to the point that I worried that she’d probably be out of her league socially if a lot of students were this extroverted and well put-together. I feel like I need a course in college shopping…
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Legacy networks are certainly one big part of the value of Ivy leagues (and similar), yes… is that really news to you?
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No, I’m just happy to see you admitting it.
Sure. Although I was referring to the vibe of the school in general, not just the admissions office. That, in addition to the quality of the education, is an integral part of the “product.”
Yeah, I don’t think there is an obvious approach to making it a perfectly rational decision. To the extent she has an array of peers she can talk to who are there that really helps - but that of course will not exist for many places.
I definitely wouldn’t judge the student body on the basis of the subset who volunteer to be tour guides.
Are there folks who deny it?
Of course part of why you go to an elite institution is to be part of that elite class.
Not sure if there are those who ‘deny’ it, but many of the affluent students at a school like Princeton don’t necessarily benefit from a given school’s network, because they have their own networks.
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Also, it’s just plain odd that a college should be defined by the income bracket of the people who attend it.
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If that were the case, it shouldn’t be Princeton headlining the conversation. We’d have to be talking about Brown, Darmouth and, yes, Wesleyan, where less than 1/2 of the student body receives financial aid, compared to Princeton’s 70+.
OP asked what they are missing. Here is another oft misunderstood aspect of the Princeton of today.
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Oh, I agree. That was why I was mystified by the idea that Princeton should be so anxious to embrace the impression that they are a school full of legacy admits. Most of its peers are trying their best to run away from the idea that they are just a magnet for other rich kids.
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Princeton alumna here. Fully embrace the mystique. Spires/gargoyles/etc. I think Princeton is almost unique in that it has an international brand with a liberal arts college feel. It’s cozier than a lot of other big research universities. Undergrads are at the center of it. And you’re wrapped up in this academic bubble full of possibility. The eating clubs are as Tony described (there’s one for everyone, they are open to non-members, and they seem to me like a healthier alternative to gender-exclusive organizations or a bar scene.) That said…it’s almost impossible to get in. If I had a kid with a 4.0 who had his crap together, I’d push him to apply there and let him discover the mystique on his own time. (Instead I have a kid with a 3.7 who seems kind of ambivalent about school a lot of the time. A generation ago he could have shown up at Princeton and either risen to the occasion or flamed out. Today, legacy notwithstanding, he would not be given the chance to find out if he could hack it.) If your kid is a strong student and the least bit nerdy? It’s worth a regular decision cycle application. She probably wouldn’t get in, not because she’s not amazing, but because most amazing kids who apply don’t get in. But if she did get in, she could go to admit weekend and find out if it feels like a fit. This is when they start selling the school for real. 
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Thank you so much! This is so super helpful. Her position is weird because she does have over a 4.0 unweighted, but that is not that uncommon in her base high school. She also goes part time to a magnet STEM school where grades are a little lower but they get a bump and the work is extremely challenging. She doesn’t have it all together emotionally like some super high performing kids. She does some good EC’s but is not a self-starter or extrovert and can be a little dark. She hasn’t loved high school but is very, very smart. I agree that getting into Princeton (or any Ivy) would be almost impossible and I’d fully expect a rejection letter, but her friends and those who know her keep telling her she shouldn’t sell herself short and should try a reach or two.
I didn’t necessarily get the privelege vibe from P and they made it clear that aid was very generous for the lucky few who get in and make under certain amounts - that was quite transparent. I’m not sure what vibe I got but your answer is great.
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Why would you think that is odd - that is exactly what the history of elite institutions is.
That’s not really true - within affluent circles there are definitely sub-groups and value to being able to demonstrate your membership in those groups (that goes for elite frats and other groups within universities too).
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Ever think that elite might also be defined as knowledgeable and highly skilled? Maybe even, scholarly?
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