New novel inspired by University admission process

So begins “Admission,” a new novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz that is scheduled for release on April 13. Korelitz drew inspiration from her time working as an outside application reader for the Office of Admission to create her fictional main character Portia Nathan, a 38-year-old Princeton admission officer who is coming to terms with a painful secret that threatens both her professional and personal lives.

Korelitz said that, though her time at the University helped spark the idea for the novel, her work is not autobiographical.

“In terms of the specific characters in the novel and the plot of the novel … absolutely none of the book was drawn from my experiences as outside [first] reader,” Korelitz said in an e-mail. “There are no admissions officers over in West College who are the real-life counterparts of Portia and her co-workers.”

Korelitz explained that the internal conflict the novel’s protagonist faces is similar to what she experienced on a daily basis while reading and evaluating applications for the University.

“One of the reasons Portia is so tortured is that she really struggles with the idea of fairness,” Korelitz explained. “As a novelist, I was also curious about what it must feel like to do a job that makes so many people feel resentful toward you.”

Though Korelitz has “long had a fascination with competitive college admissions and the place Ivy League admissions has come to occupy in our culture,” it was only after she spent two years working for the University in 2006 and 2007 that she decided to set her novel at Princeton.

“I did consider creating a fictional Ivy League college as a setting for the novel, but it became clear to me very quickly that this would create an air of satire for the book,” Korelitz explained. “The themes of the novel are entirely serious ... I had no intention of making light of what applicants (and their families) go through in applying to, and preparing themselves to apply to, a place like Princeton.”

Though she decided to use Princeton as the setting for her novel, Korelitz said that the admission process at the University is not unique. “I could have written ‘Admission’ without ever having set foot in West College,” she explained.

What does set Princeton apart, she added, is the quality of its applicants.

“Princeton applicants are amazing people — they’re smart, thoughtful citizens of the world,” Korelitz said. “It makes you humble to read about their lives, and it makes you really hopeful for the future.”

Becca Foresman ’10, who used to babysit for Korelitz’ children, said in an e-mail that Korelitz’ best attributes come through in her writing.

“Jean is an intelligent and very generous woman,” Foresman said. “She’s witty, honest, and down-to-earth.” Foresman is also a former columnist for The Daily Princetonian.

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University spokesperson Cass Cliatt ’96 declined to comment on the book, explaining that “[University officials] really wouldn’t be in a position to determine whether it’s appropriate to comment until we’ve read the book.” She added, though, that the University is aware of its imminent publication.

Korelitz’ previous work includes three novels — “A Jury of Her Peers,” “The Sabbathday River” and “The White Rose” — and a book of poems titled “The Properties of Breath.”