<p>We all now that sometimes, people have the right connections that enable them to get into the right schools of their choice. What has been your experience with connections, and do you know someone you suspect may have had good connections? How big do you think they play a part if the admissions office knows you know the person, or if they wrote you a rec?</p>
<p>There are folks who can make a phone call & get very strong consideration for a candidate. Often the student is well qualified, but applying to a highly competitive school.</p>
<p>The right connections may garner an under-qualified candidate a “feel good” courtesy place on the Wait List that the candidate will never get drawn from</p>
<p>Now let us say both applicant x and applicant y are qualified in mostly to same ways. They both get recs that are fantastic, but one is from a teacher at the BS, and one is from the applicants current shcool teacher. What I am trying to ask is that if a applicant is qualified, is a rec from a person who has connections giving you an edge against another student who is also qualified?</p>
<p>First rule of having connections is that you don’t talk about having connections.</p>
<p>A girl from my school in my grade is applying to BS too, with average grades and average ECs, but with an extremely wealthy, well-connected Daddy as well as having a family friend in the admissions office of one school. She is 100% sure that she will get accepted and declares that ‘she doesn’t have to do anything, she’ll just get in’, and from my view, literally does not (i.e. transcripts, recs) regarding the application process. BTW, this school is one of the most discussed acronyms in this forum, where ‘everyone applies’.
This quite infuriates me on my side, who’s been working my butt off in the app process yet still struggling with hard conditions such as Asian ethnicity, FA request that will significantly lower my chances.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the rec is one of the most important aspects of the application, as it gives AOs a view of what other people think of the applicant. What will draw an AOs attention is not who writes the rec, but what is on the rec. if an applicant’s rec is constructed with great care, makes the applicant glow, and lets the AO get to know the applicant, then it has done its job. Though this is true, life is not fair and a rec from someone famous/affiliated from the school will score more points if the writing is of the same caliber as the person who wrote a glowing letter</p>
<p>To sevendad, I agree never talk about connections! Because, word might get back to the school, and they would not want to be known as the school who admitted students just because of connections, and they might never accept the applicant.</p>
<p>Exactly. …</p>
<p>By the way - kids who brag like that don’t often get what they want. And the ones who do, tend to continue acting that way on campus — they alienate the students and faculty, can’t keep up with the work, or get caught doing an infraction and often seem to disappear after the first year. </p>
<p>Life has a way of restoring balance to the universe. :)</p>
<p>@sallyfour your frustration is noted but not warranted. The connection that you stated will grant a double take during the admission process but it will not guarantee acceptance. I don’t care if the kid is the Queen of Siam, unless she or he has been determined by the admission team capable of the academic challenges and would prove to be a viable member of the school community then that applicant will not get in. I hear this sort of thing every year from parents with the connections who have plenty of money. The fact is that there are plenty of kids from well to do families who have the monetary means but more importantly the academic ability and character to get accepted. Every Spring there are rejected siblings and alumni kids of parents who have been and continue to be regular annual fund donors. These parents may be ticked off but upon reflection they understand they don’t want their kid attending a school that wasn’t the right fit or where their kid is struggling academically. Hang in there and keep the faith, good luck.</p>
<p>Sallyfour and edujunky, it works out in the end. I always urge applicants to apply to a range of schools. There are no sure things. As ExieMITAlum points out, a student who’s not well matched to the school won’t flourish.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the students you know, who may or may not have “connections.” Worry about the strong students you have never met. The pool of applicants is very competitive. Many applicants apparently ask people to write letters for them.</p>