Hello, I have a quick question, My friend does not think he will be able to get into Harvard, I do, Can you help settle a friendly dispute?
He is a 6? time legacy to Harvard
Father-Undergrad, Uncle-Undergrad and Masters
2 Grandfathers attended, 1 grandmother
Great Grandfather attended as well
There could be more as well.
He gets pretty solid grades and did pretty well on his SATs
But I think he has so much history he is a shoe in.
Thank you.
<p>that's a lot of pressure to get in...</p>
<p>Well He has gotten zero pressure from the family, He just kinda thought about going there recently and does not know if he could get in.
I think he is in for sure but what do I know?</p>
<p>Are they legacies that have given back to the school in the form of $$ or service or did they just take a degree and move on?</p>
<p>I had a friend at school with a similar situation regarding Yale. He and his parents thought it was a done deal there. He had about a 4.4/5.0 GPA and 1480 sats. Thats only about top 20% at our school. But he was a little cocky in classes and there were many kids waaaay smarter and harder working than he was. They deferred him early and waitlisted him in April. How could they take him when there were kids applying with 1600s, 5.1, and great recs. Sad thing was, Yale usually takes one or two from our school and they took none that year, even though some great(?) candidates applied. Some people think they wouldn't pick up anybody so the legacy family wouldn't scream. Who knows what the politics are behind closed doors???? It's two years later and the family is still in shock.</p>
<p>So many people apply to these colleges, Harvard, Yale etc. that even if you are highly qualified, it is hard. But if your family is a "developmental legacy" meaning that they donated a building to Yale or like George Bush's family, their grandfather, Prescott Bush was a senator from CT and was in the Board of Directors' or whatever, then in it is a done deal. Otherwise, a legacy means that the application warrants a closer look than if it isn't a legacy. That's all.</p>
<p>A legacy has many meanings, depending on what your parents did with the status. If all they contributed was a few hundred dollars a year then you are in the second category. But they cannot possibly refuse admissions to someone who is in the Board of Directors or who like Senator Frist's family donated the student center to Princeton. I am not saying Senator Frist did not get in on his own merit, he was reputed to be brilliant.</p>
<p>Well His family has their name on a building there, so I am guessing he would be what you call a "developmental legacy". But who knows, colleges are strange on who they accept. But hopefully he will get in.</p>
<p>Aha...then unless he really messes up the application, he would get in.</p>
<p>Big donations will get him in, but he's technically only a single legacy as his parents are the only family that make him a legacy. The father should contact the development office and start talking about future buildings...</p>
<p>Suze is correct about student being a single legavy. However, if accepted he would be part of the 4th generation to attend Harvard (student, dad, g-dad, gg-dad).</p>
<p>I now understand the single legacy thing now. It only deals with your parents. </p>
<p>So you think that history alone is not enough anymore?
Well Hopefully he will get in anyway on being qualified and playing sports.</p>
<p>Thank you for your answers.</p>