<p>Alright, so I'm really curious, a good friend of my family is a big FSU alumni and raises alot of money for the school, from what I've been told he's really well connected, the other day I was talking to him about getting accepted and he said not to worry that he would "flag" my application. I know that this is good but what exactly does it mean?
And if it is flagged how much will it help me for getting in. I have good grades but not cream of the crop, 3.6 GPA. Anyway if there is an ex admissions officer on here or anyone with knowledge of this please provide some feedback.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about this (although my family is good friends with a couple big FSU alumni as well), but I don’t get how they can really impact your application. If you application looks good, you’re in anyway, and if it sucks, you’re not in. If you’re borderline, that’s where I guess it might make a difference, but I just don’t get how that really matters.</p>
<p>To be honest, I hope he was joking. Big donors shouldn’t be allowed to pressure the admissions department into accepting students. Maybe I’m just being naive here, but that’s my opinion.</p>
<p>That being said. If your GPA is 3.6, you are probably good anyway, as long as your test scores are decent.</p>
<p>I’m sure he wasn’t joking,since hes done for people in my family before,and its very naive to think that big alumni can’t sway admissions in a certain direction, similar to how coaches can do the same.</p>
<p>When I read this post, my thoughts went immediately to the story Maria Shriver told at Tim Russert’s memorial. Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter was applying to Boston College. Tim Russert calls Maria up and tells her that Boston College is very competitive and you need to have connections in Boston and the Catholic Church to get in. Russert offers to help. Shriver reveals during her eulogy that her daughter was waited listed at Boston College. Shriver’s daughter being a Kennedy, the daughter of a sitting Governor, the great-niece of a sitting senator from Massachusetts, was not admitted to Boston College, even with Tim Russert’s help.</p>
<p>My point in relaying this story is that nepotism may not be enough to get you in. I would wait until Dec. 15th to start buying garnet and gold.</p>
<p>I understand that promising athletes can get into most state schools with ridiculously low GPAs and scores, but that is usually transparent and is regulated by their athletic conference. A regular student receiving special consideration due to a booster pulling strings is different, especially for a public school, is different.</p>
<p>I’m not being naive in thinking it doesn’t happen- I’m quite sure it happens everywhere, but I think you’re being naive if you think that it will be the magic factor that decides who gets in and who doesn’t.</p>