<p>Nick--Adult Yale graduate and longtime alumni interviewer here. Having both parents as legacies is not a huge boost, but it might help tip you into the yes pile if you're on the borderline. There have been other threads debating how much legacy status helps so you might want to search the Yale board. Your profile indicates that you're in the range of accepted students so it's worth applying if you want to.</p>
<p>My d is a double legacy (both parents grad school, not undergrad) applied EA last year, was deferred, then ultimately denied. It all worked out for the best though since she is deliriously happy at another university.</p>
<p>Focus on your strengths, talents, and passions, love Yale but keep an open mind and all will be well! Good luck</p>
<p>AA - I think it is always helpful when you give your insight to potential applicants. Nobody knows for certain just how much being a legacy helps, but you have the advantage of interviewing kids and seeing who is accepted - so you have a small sample of sorts.</p>
<p>My advice, Nick, is look at your activities and decide what you enjoy the most and then make the most of your own interest. Build on it. </p>
<p>You may be trying to sound modest, but you are special. I know there is some talk that colleges aren't looking for well-rounded, but overall the males I have known who participated in varsity sports AND music seemed to do well in their college admissions.</p>
<p>Do parents with grad/professional degree count, or just parents who were undergrads? But in any case, to the OP, if you want to go to Yale, it is quite reasonable for you to apply with your qualifications. It's tough for anybody to get in, though, so it needs to be part of an overall plan with reaches, matches, and safeties.</p>
<p>thanks for the helpful responses, I'll add it to my plan and hope for the best. I guess something like legacy is something no one, except
the ppl making the decisions, can assign an accurate value to.</p>
<p>You're hardly average. The double legacy will make you stand out a little, but relying on it would be foolish, and you haven't made that mistake. You've obviously worked hard and your stats seem strong. Keep your extracurriculars strong as well. Good luck next year.</p>
<p>As to whether grad school is considered legacy, I'm not sure it's given the same consideration, but as I recall, on the application it asks that you specify whether it was, say, Yale College or Yale Law they attended and what degree they received.</p>
<p>Definitely apply...your numbers are good and it's worth a shot. </p>
<p>However, don't listen to the posters who say you have an 80-90% chance of getting in. Only 15-20% or so of legacies are admitted, so while your chances are better than average, it is FAR from a sure thing. This is not a reflection on you, but rather on the competitiveness of the applicant pool as a whole. </p>
<p>So, you DO have a strong chance of acceptance, but don't count on it (no one should!) It's absolutely worth a shot, I have lots of friends with numbers like that here right now.</p>
<p>The statistics are actually better than mochamaven states. Around 10-15% of each class is made up of legacies. A few years ago the admit rate for legacies was about 30%. That being said, the legacy pool is very competitive. You are held to a high standard b/c you grew up in an educated household that presumably put a premium on education and was more likely to be affluent enough to afford lessons, camps, etc. As a longtime alumni interviewer, my mind has been boggled by the quality of some of the legacy kids who have not been offered admission. I'm not sure I can point to a specific trend, but the legacies who I have seen be admitted in the past few years have each had an outstanding or highly quirky EC as well as the numbers. It sounds like ECs are your weak point. It is, nonetheless, very much worth your time to apply. You're certainly in the range.</p>
<p>It is higher, I was wrong. I think AdmissionsAddict is right that it's around 30%. (I was told it was about 25% for my year) But it's not this 80%/90% thing that I often see people throwing around.</p>
<p>I was a legacy, but not the 8th-generation/lots of $$ kind. I was told during my admission process that my legacy (my mom, the yalie, was 1st-gen college and we're very much middle-class, from the midwest) would only work as a "bump" in the process...that a legacy would only be a guaranteed in if my parents could donate a lot of money. </p>
<p>So what I'm saying is that it certainly DOES help, but not to the degree that a lot of people think it does. If you're on the edge, it can most definitely give you a bump into the "admit" pile. It ups your odds to, say, a high match rather than a reach, but it is by NO means a guaranteed in!</p>