Judgment

The college admissions process is based primarily on judgment. Colleges judge the students on every front possible, from their personal triumphs, to their academic success, to even their athletic achievements, all the while without truly knowing any of the applicants. Seniors in high school judge the colleges based on each of the colleges’ reputations. Pictures, numbers and various admissions officers define each college before the students are able to go and define it for themselves. As an admission’s officer for Princeton, Portia is required to judge each applicant’s character and credibility without ever meeting them. It is her job to decide which individuals deserve the privilege of attending her university. Furthermore, it is her duty to make sure that Princeton receives applications from the most sought after students. She gives a face to the school. However, because of her intense involvement in both the recruitment and selection of students, Portia translates the skills her job requires in to her every day life. Portia judges every person she meets before she knows them because that is entirely what her job is based on.

As an admissions officer, Portia believes that it is her duty to impress the students and parents that she talks to. While she was working on the west coast, she could do this while wearing casual clothing. However, once working in New England, she knows that she is being judged based on her clothing, and immediately takes action by spending “nearly a thousand dollars at an Ann Taylor outlet” (9). Although she herself did not go to Princeton, she knows that people will still judge the school based on their judgment of her.

During her visits to various New England high schools, Portia first judges the students as a whole, based on the reputation of each school, and then judges individual students based on their interactions with her and each other. At Deerfield, a prestigious New England prep school, she already knows what to expect from both the college counselor and the students. They look, sound and act as she had expected. Then, as she begins speaking to individual students, she begins forming what almost seems to be a college admissions “file” for each of them, gauging whether or not they have what it takes to get in to Princeton. She then goes to Quest School, a new high school with an alternative way of teaching students. Although she does not know what to expect, she immediately begins the same process of judgment. Although she is taken aback by the way one student challenges her, she also tags her as one who could potentially belong at Princeton.

Portia brings her work home and continues to judge even those who are not supposed to impress her. During the dinner party with Mark, David, Rachel and Helen, Portia scrutinizes each of Helen’s actions throughout the entire night. Beginning with Helen’s address to the amount of Mark’s work, Portia continues to tear in everything that Helen does. Even Portia’s husband, Mark, recognizes this transgression.