When the Professor Is a Tough Grader, and Your Dad – The New York Times

PRINCETON, N.J., May 9 — When Carolina Danspeckgruber, a sophomore at Princeton University, signed up for a course on international diplomacy, she was not worried about handling the class’s heavy workload. But she was a little worried about dealing with the professor — her father.

Never mind that her father, Wolfgang, an expert on international relations, has a reputation as a tough grader.

Her fear was this: “He would bring up PowerPoint presentations on his personal computer, and I could see files of family photo albums across the top of the screen.” She added, “I was always afraid that if he hit the wrong button, a baby picture of me would pop up for the whole lecture hall to see.”

Princeton, like many universities and colleges across the country, admits some children of faculty members, who go through the usual admissions process. Many institutions offer incentives for faculty children to attend — a break on tuition, as at Princeton, or even free tuition.