My Beloved World: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

The film Love Story sucks Sonia in, like it does for most young people, and introduces her to Harvard, where the movie is set. Harvard looks like a wonderland to Sonia—and she doesn’t find out until much later that the movie was filmed at Fordham University in the Bronx. In the fall of Sonia’s senior year, Kenny calls from Princeton and describes his experience at school. He tells Sonia to “try for the Ivy League” and rattles off a list of schools; Sonia has no idea what the Ivy League is. The following day, when the guidance counselor asks Sonia if she’s interested in Fordham, Sonia says she’d rather apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Stanford. The guidance counselor does nothing else to help Sonia. Cardinal Spellman mostly pushes kids to parochial colleges; Kenny was the first to go to an Ivy League school.

Sonia fills out the applications, writes her essays, and takes the SAT without knowing what exactly she’s supposed to do. She notes that, at the time, if a kid didn’t go to an elite prep school or have parents who attended college, then they were naïve just like her. Financial aid is easy; no one in Sonia’s family even has a bank account. Now, she’s glad she didn’t know anything, as she believes she would’ve hesitated. In November, Sonia receives a postcard from Princeton. There are three boxes—likely, possible, and unlikely—and “likely” is marked with an X. Sonia has no idea what this means, so she takes it to the guidance counselor. Surprised, the counselor says it’s likely that Sonia got in.

A few days later, the school nurse asks Sonia to explain why she got a “likely” and the two highest-ranking girls in the school only got “possible.” Sonia can’t answer, but she sees that the nurse wants her to feel ashamed. Later, she comes up with the perfect comeback: that she does more than those girls do with the forensics team, student government, and her job, and she’s still in the top 10. Sonia explains that she’d have to answer this question time and again over the next few years, as she went to college right as affirmative action was being implemented in Ivy League schools.

The acceptance packages pour in. Sonia decides not to pursue Columbia, since it’s close enough she’d have to live at home, while Stanford is too far away. She schedules her visit to Radcliffe, Harvard’s sister school, first. She’s immediately disappointed that Radcliffe isn’t set away from the town of Cambridge, and her interview is a disaster. A woman with a tall hairdo shows Sonia into an ornate, elegant office with a white couch, something Sonia has never seen. Suddenly, two yapping dogs appear, bark at Sonia, and then join the woman on the couch. Sonia can barely speak in the interview and leaves before touring. Once back home, she tells Mami she doesn’t belong there. Mami accepts this without question.

Yale is different. Two Latino students pick Sonia up at the train station and invite her to come protest with them. Sonia declines and goes for a walk instead. She thinks that New Haven looks depressing and threatening. When her guides find Sonia again, they join a group of Hispanic kids. Sonia spends two days with them and listens to them talk about revolution and Che Guevara. She finds their “down with whitey” talk embarrassing, since most of her classmates and teachers are white—and though she’s experienced bigotry, the narrative of perpetual class struggle doesn’t appeal to her. She can’t imagine being at Yale, especially while dating Kevin, who’s Irish.

Sonia has to take the bus to Princeton. Kenny greets her and introduces her to a small group of quietly radical kids. Kenny wisely declares that there’s nothing good to say about the social scene and the students at Princeton are odd, but Sonia will be able to hold her own intellectually. Sonia’s admissions interview goes well and Princeton offers her a full scholarship, finalizing her decision. Sonia doesn’t understand the power of Ivy League schools until she sees people react to the news that she’s going to Princeton. Everyone at Prospect Hospital congratulates Sonia, which she finds confusing—many of her peers are also going to good schools.

At the end of summer, the hospital staff gives Sonia money they collected and beg her to buy new shoes for college. This is nothing new; everyone hates Sonia’s shoes. She plans to buy a new raincoat, however, and Mami takes Sonia shopping. After a long search, Sonia falls in love with a bright white raincoat with toggle buttons in an expensive shop. It’s the first garment she ever falls in love with, but it’s too small. Mami asks the saleswoman for help ordering a larger one. The woman ignores Mami and then is condescending until Mami mentions that Sonia is going to Princeton. The woman’s demeanor changes immediately and she orders the coat. Mami later comments on people’s reactions to Princeton and says she doesn’t know what Sonia got herself into.