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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have a family friend - he went to Princeton UG and he did his PhD there too.

None of his three brilliant children got in and he's been really bitter ever since. One child did Harvard UG and Oxford PhD. Another son became a tech gazillionaire. Youngest child is a senior exec at Gates Foundation.

I mean, clearly none of his sons were harmed by not going to Princeton. But at least one should've attained admission. But that's what happens when you're not a deep pocketed donor or a famous person.[/quote]

Wow- Princeton alum here and that’s pretty surprising. I have no illusions that my kids (who are good but not stellar students) have any chance whatsoever of getting in, but in his case I’d be incredibly pissed off too.[/quote]

NP. What's pitiful about that Princeton dad story is that he felt he was owed admission for his kids. Not that they were owed it. That HE was owed it. That PP didn't say if the dad had contributed loads of money to Princeton with the expectation of getting a kid into the college, but even if the dad did so -- surely, as a Princeton double grad, he should have been intelligent enough to know that donations were not a magical guarantee of admission?

The dad also was so fixated on his own alma mater owing him an admission that he chose to waste his energy on being "really bitter ever since." His kids are all phenomenal successes by the world's standards. He could be celebrating them, and I figure he probably does, but instead of shrugging and saying, "Princeton's loss!" years ago, and forgetting the whole issue, he chooses to be bitter and apparently still talks to friends about how bitter he is, since that PP knows all the details. We've only got so much mental real estate in our heads; if the dad lets bitterness over something that had zero impact on his kids' incredible success take up much of his own mental real estate, that's just sad for him, and for his children too. 
[/quote]

I don’t think you appreciate how big a part of a family’s life and traditions it can be to share an alma mater. For example, at Princeton, reunions are huge and many alumni go back every year, not just every five years. So it can be a big deal and really fun to share that tradition with your kids. I didn’t see pp say anywhere that the dad thought he was owed something. Just that he was bitter that Princeton did not admit any of his kids who were clearly qualified to attend. And I’m guessing that he was probably bitter about missing out on the chance to have that shared Princeton experience with at least one of his kids, which IMO is totally understandable.[/quote]

OP Princeton poster here: this is exactly the alum dad's disappointment. He's incredibly involved with his alumni group, the family had attended P-rade every year since his adult kids were born. The dad now takes his grandkids. The dad has donated a lot more time than money to Princeton.

It was more about wanting to continue the family tradition's w/r/t Princeton for another generation. Those traditions are basically ending with our family friend, given that none of his well-qualified and successful adult children are Princeton alums because none were admitted. [/quote]

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