<p>I heard that Princeton practices strategic admissions while other top colleges dont. What exactly is strategic admissions?</p>
<p>Suppoosedly they deny applicants who they feel they would lose to Harvard Yale, and their other competitors. They also have a binding Early Decision policy which they (allegedly) use to increase the overall yield of the school. I don’t know what I think about all this, but these are the allegations.</p>
<p>filmxoxo: Thanks for the explanation; I’ve been wondering about that.</p>
<p>This “strategic admissions”, if practiced, was practiced during the era of Fred Hargadon. They ostensibly looked for the “Princeton type”, with somewhat lower SAT etc. and other things like athletics, leadership, instead. That has now changed. </p>
<p>It is also very important to remember that before Fred came to Princeton, he was Dean of Admissions at Stanford. For a while, Stanford was full of golden-haired kids frolicking on the lawn. After Fred left, Stanford moved towards HYP type of admissions. The same thing is now happening at Princeton.</p>
<p>These colleges are institutions with hundreds of years of history. One dean here or there doesn’t really change the core culture of the school. It will however have an impact on your 4 years there. Same with university presidents. Harvard right now has kind of a lemon of a president in many ways. But Harvard will survive. Princeton, on the other hand, has a fabulous and dynamic president. I recommend you read the President’s website on the Princeton site. The leadership will matter for your time at the school.</p>
<p>For your applications, from what I read, Princeton is no longer aiming for “strategic admissions” and will be looking to get its fair share of the academic superstars, as they always used to.</p>
<p>i am sorry, but in my school 3 KIDS got accepted to Princeton over the Valedictorian and Salud, u wanna know why, 2 were admitted b/c they play an instrument, 1 a recruited fencer, that’s what i called strategic admission, niether of the 3 got accepted to ANY OTHER IVY LEAGUE schools. ENOUGH SAID!!</p>
<p>collegekid, </p>
<p>That’s not what they mean by strategic admissions. Those things, artistic talents and recruited athletes, are hooks. Princeton has traditionally been very strong in fencing and announced that for the class of 2009 they planned to build up their performing arts population.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s high school, the only one going to Harvard was a legacy who rows crew. She was admitted over several other kids with higher grades and stats. That wasn’t “strategic”, Harvard just wanted to foster the alumni relationship and get someone for one of their boats.</p>
<p>It is important for you guys looking to apply that you understand the distinctions.</p>
<p>A “lemon,” huh, Alumother? I like that 
</p>
<p>On another thread here, someone demonstrated strategic admissions by posting a Harvard study pointing out that although HY and P all admitted the superstars (Physics Olympiad, etc.), under Hargadon in the RD round P admitted fewer of the students right below that group, fewer of the ones with perfect boards and super grades and whatnot. The explanation given in the study was that P was looking for students who would be likely to attend, who would not be lost to H or Y. </p>
<p>However, it’s also fair to say that during those years P did not tend to go after large numbers of students who might come across as geeky or intellectually arrogant, favoring instead the one who was also very bright but more well-rounded – the leader who was also a team player. You could see this in the application, many of whose questions sought to get a sense of the student as a person apart from academics. Take a look at the book Getting In, by a Princeton alum and journalist who shadowed Hargadon and several students throughout the admissions process, to learn more. </p>
<p>These days, though, HYP – aside from the difference in the early round, which makes P a great choice if you really want to go there – are all going after the same group of outstanding students, many of whom are “well-lopsided.”</p>