<p>No Harvard legacies aren’t automatic. My older son - double legacy and ranked 8th in a class of over 600, great scores, impressive ECs got in. His cousin, also a double legacy, 3rd in her class, not quite such high scores, hard to compare but strong ECs did not. My younger son also applied, but at only top 6% in the class didn’t think he had a chance, and he didn’t. Which was fine.</p>
<p>That said if the character flaws don’t come through in the application, there will be no way for the admissions committee to know about them. But lukewarm recommendations will not make up for being a legacy unless the parents have millions of dollars to donate. Legacies have a better acceptance rate, but most of them still get rejected.</p>