Former Princeton Admissions Dean Answers College Questions
In 2015 and 2016, Slate’s “Getting In” Podcast with Julie Lythcott-Haims served as a great resource for high school students and parents to ask their burning questions to admissions experts. Steve LeMenager, the founder of Edvice Princeton and former Director of Admissions at Princeton University, appeared multiple times on this podcast as an expert. Consequently, we’ve decided to synthesize Steve and Julie’s answers to admissions questions regarding extracurriculars, AP classes, and FAFSA into one article. We hope that this can serve as a helpful rubric for you as you are thinking about college admissions, and we’ve added information to each answer as well to make sure it’s comprehensive and relevant in 2025 and 2026. Let’s get into it.
How many extracurriculars should students have?
What matters in your application is who you are, not how extensive your activities’ list is. Depth trumps breadth. In fact, Steve recommends to put a lot of effort into two or three activities as opposed to the same amount of effort into seven. You should think about these activities in terms of your college application narrative, and your choice of these activities should be dictated by your interest and talent-level.
What can a student do to show demonstrated interest and what is it?
There are many ways to show demonstrated interest. One way is to go to a college visit (whether in person or virtual), as this shows to the college that you matter to them. Similarly, another way is to go to a college fair and show your intrigue in the college for a specific reason. Maybe you are really interested in schools that have a strong biology program that emphasizes field work. Go up to these schools at a career fair, show that you’ve done your research, and ask important questions that will give you more insights.
You can also reach out to someone at the school that is a part of a program, club, or sport that you are interested in and ask questions. These kinds of actions are, first and foremost, helpful to you when deciding the right school, but they are also important because you can mention these actions that you took in your interview when you discuss why the school is meaningful to you.
Of course, show interest in colleges that you are interested in, don’t just pretend to be interested to increase your chances, because that ends up helping no one.
If a school is binding EA or ED but the parent hasn’t filled out FAFSA and can’t pay without aid, what should they do?
This should not be a worry for parents. You can fill out your CSS profile, where schools will give you a financial aid estimate if admitted. Then, after you fill out your FAFSA by January 1st, you would get an actual financial aid offer. This allows you to apply EA without having to worry about it being financially binding!
Will having fewer AP classes affect my child’s chance of admission?
Generally, colleges look at how students perform in the context of the rigor of the school. Focus on doing your best in rigorous classes if you do think you can do well, but don’t worry about hitting a quota for a certain number of AP classes. In fact, AP classes are generally overrated and over-emphasized by applicants and their parents.
If you get deferred, are you put in the regular decision with everyone else?
Yes you will be put in the regular pool, but you will get a slight preference because the college sees that you made that early commitment.
Interested in how to approach the process with your independent college counselor? Feel free to check out our article 3 Questions to Ask Your College Counselor (And 2 to Avoid).