In Response to: The Alumni Interview Endures
I have read with interest the letters published in the latest issue of PAW on the above subject.
In 1972 or thereabouts I interviewed about 40 applicants. None I thought worthy of admission were accepted, but several I thought would make no contribution to the community did pass through the admissions portal.
This experience was discouraging to put it mildly. I did not continue interviewing. My conclusion was that using alumni to interview was just a device to keep Princeton in the consciousness of graduates.