<p>everyone speaks of this on CC but do colleges like Harvard and Yale with multibillion dollar endowments really do this or do they merely choose to admit someone whose parents are famous and/or hold high ranking executive positions. Is it more about fame or money? If the latter does occur, how much do you think it costs to buy your way.</p>
<p>I dunno, but with that spelling, you might want to look into it!</p>
<p>No, sorry, that was mean. I know you can spell "your" correctly, because you did it later on!</p>
<p>Anyway. Yeah, I'm sure there's a little money rubbing going on; that's natural no matter what type of setting you're in. The alumni I spoke with of a few upper-end NE schools said that, for the most part, the student body came from lower-to-upper middle class.</p>
<p>My Yale interviewer said she was in class with Anderson Cooper. Now, he was famous by birthright, but he's also brilliant. So who knows? Most of the time, the famous people at schools like that are fairly well off, cranially.</p>
<p>I don't think any school would admit that students can "buy their way in." They would probably prefer to use the term "developmental admit." And although it's a pretty good hook, at the very top (HYPSM), I doubt that money alone would be sufficient. A loser of a student with crappy stats couldn't get in on money alone. Some decent, but maybe not stellar, academic level would also be necessary. And being famous or well-connected is another similar sort of hook, but again is probably not enough by itself.</p>
<p>The money we are talking about here I'm guessing is in the millions.</p>
<p>If you build Harvard a new gym, they would probably let you in no matter how bad your stats are. Most of us can't afford millions of dollars to give away.</p>
<p>Let's use George W. Bush for an example. Now, he's definitely smarter than many people give him credit for. He got a 1206 on the old, old SAT, which would be the equivelant to a 1280 on the recentered SAT. That's not a bad score. It's obviously not qualified for Yale (and a big stretch,) but when your father's president of the CIA (plus you have one hell of a legacy,) anything can happen.</p>
<p>Probably it is a combination of fame and power plus the CURRENT ability to give the big bucks ... I stress current because my niece would have been fifth generation at a particular school and her ancestors (great-grandparent level and up) were the largest givers in the school history. Two buildings on campus are named for them. She had great stats, good ECs, seemingly everything going for her -- and she didn't get in. I suppose if she had, people might have thought it was because of the family connection.</p>
<p>Yes, not many people have the ability to give millions upon millions of dollars to a school. If you can give money at the current moment in time your chances will be higher. Of course if you have some crazy political connections like Bush it can pull strings. Remember the Bush family also has a lot of money. They were the former owners of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team.</p>
<p>I think with Bush it was more about family connections, but either way, he didn't get in on merit.</p>
<p>I think the Lee family (richest family in China)of Honk Kong donated 100 million dollars and their two sons was accepted at Princeton. So unless you are uber rich like them, dont count on it. </p>
<p>Thats what my ap history teacher told us the other day.</p>
<p>you have to have extreme amounts of money to be able to do that. Bush got in on his family's connections</p>
<p>Also, if your last name is Kennedy then you're pretty much in.</p>
<p>A reporter once asked the president of Harvard once how much money would have to be donated to make a difference in admissions. He said that the president thought for a moment and then said 50 million.</p>
<p>well harvard already has alot of money, 23 billion dollar endowment but im sure at LACs where research money isnt needed, that your money can go alot further.</p>
<p>5 millions will do for schools like Chicago, Northwestern...........................</p>