Last week, sophomores submitted their applications to the Wilson School, Princeton’s only selective major, and now wait anxiously until March when some will learn of their acceptance. Every year, the school turns away scores of students. Though having a major at Princeton from which students can get “hosed” adds to the sometimes unpleasantly competitive campus environment, the main problem with the Wilson School is not that it is selective. The real problem is that many students apply for the wrong reasons, lowering acceptance rates and crowding out students whose primary motivation for applying is the sincere desire to study public policy.
Some students want to become “Woody Woo” majors without understanding the academic requirements of studying public policy, simply because the Wilson School is selective. The Wilson School should consider offering a class for sophomores on approaches to public policy — much like the class offered to prospective history majors. Such a class would introduce students to the study of public policy at its best, complete with rigorously quantitative and systematic methods, helping prospective applicants understand the distinction between the studies of public policy and politics.
Acceptance to the Wilson School is well known to many students as the first step toward an investment banking or consulting job. Often students apply without having a career in public service in mind. The application process needs to be revised to allow the Wilson School to better distinguish between those who are committed to work in the public sector and those who are simply building a resume intended to help them obtain lucrative private-sector employment. Evidence of previous interest in public policy, the submission of thoughtful essays and perhaps even interviews should be made part of the application process. Accepted students should then follow through on this commitment with a required public service internship or public policy research project during the summer between their junior and senior year. Public service is not a hardship for most Wilson School students, who flood the State Department or fly around the world for thesis research each summer, but such a requirement will discourage the pre-consulting-or-banking crowd by asking it to choose between the Wilson School and summer internships at elite private-sector companies.
By showing students what real public policy is and asking for a genuine commitment to public service, the Wilson School will not become less selective. Rather, it will be better able to select students who will pursue careers in keeping with its own goals when they graduate.
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