Portia Nathan, a dedicated admissions officer at Princeton University, takes her job very seriously, ensuring only the best high school students are accepted into the prestigious institution. Her personal life echoes her professional one - methodical and cautiously planned out. Her routine is upended when she visits an alternative high school run by her former college classmate, John Pressman, who believes that Jeremiah, one of his unconventional students, is a prodigy and a perfect candidate for Princeton. The encounter stirs up Portia's predictably managed life, as John suggests that Jeremiah might be the son she secretly gave up for adoption years ago.

As Portia becomes more involved in Jeremiah's academic future, she begins bending the rules, an act that is completely out of character for her. This new investment in a prospective student's life leads her to question the very system she's built her career upon, as well as confront her own past decisions and where they have led her. Meanwhile, her encounter with John and his refreshing worldview triggers Portia to challenge her relationship with her feminist mother Susannah and reassess her personal life, which includes a stale relationship with a colleague at Princeton. Her journey becomes a balance of professional integrity, personal revelation, and an awakening to life's unpredictable turns and the actual impact she has on the future of others.