<p>a set of twins in my son's high school said it doesn't matter what their grades are since dad/grandfather/uncle all went to princeton. they are assured a spot even though they have few A's and mostly C's. i told my son do not worry what other people have that you can't change, just do the best you can...we can't pick our ancestors!!btw large public school not noted for excellence in much of anything..parents not likely to be contributors of buildings etc...</p>
<p>Highly unlikely.</p>
<p>They can always dream, but I fear they’ll be disappointed.</p>
<p>Parents may not have $$$…what about uncle or gramps?</p>
<p>Two thirds of legacy applicants are rejected.</p>
<p>The university does not release statistics on the quality of the legacy applicant pool, or legacy accepted applicants. You haven’t really given enough information to make an informed judgement, but I wouldn’t bet $1 on an admission.</p>
<p>I know several people admitted to schools like princeton who were simply smart students who came from extremely modest backgrounds. Tell your son to ignore people’s own assessments of their admission chances. It is irrelevant to his chances.</p>
<p>Um, not unless their dad/grandfather/uncle are major Princeton boosters AND are building Princeton a new building. And even not then, not really.</p>
<p>Don’t think they stand a chance…</p>
<p>But on another note…</p>
<p>What do some legacies mean when they do say that they’ve rec’d some kind of paper that assures them that they will get admitted.</p>
<p>I remember awhile back, a student called one ivy his “safety” and many asked how that could be. Then it was said that he had rec’d some paper that assured him of admittance. What was that all about? And who gets those and who doesn’t?</p>
<p>OP: It might be very well true, I can’t say about Princeton but from DD high school every year one student get into Stanford via the legacy road by just plain donation (Stats don’t matter).</p>
<p>I’ve more the reason to believe that it is applicable to Yale, and Princeton.</p>
<p>OP: High school kids have been known to embellish, brag without reason, misunderstand things, and lie. Remind your son of this.</p>
<p>that’s what i said…people can tell you anything but wishing and boasting won’t make things come true
vision without work is just a dream
work without vision is just a grind
work and vision = success</p>
<p>If they are development candidates–major donor legacies–they could have already have been given the nod by the development office.</p>
<p>Some kids get what are known as likely letters. Usually they are athletes, but sometimes a really outstanding candidate will get one.</p>
<p>The non-athletes who get likely letters are typically academic superstars, not students like the ones mentioned in the OP, with few As and mostly Cs. I agree with hmom. The only way the story is true is if these kids are development cases. We’re talking enough money to fund a major academic initiative or build a library or a new sports center. Legacy, even multi-generational legacy, does not guarantee acceptance to schools like Princeton unless it comes with big bucks.</p>
<p>In case of major legacies donor there is no likely letter but it is assured that the children will get in.</p>
<p>IMHO it is in everyone’s best interest if one C+ student gets admitted over one better-qualified student-- if it means all students then reap the benefits of a shiny new building from a doting grandfather.</p>
<p>However, what is more likely going on is that the parents and grandparents are sadly deluded that their progeny is assured a spot simply because they attended Princeton in a very different time.</p>
<p>I can’t count the number of times I have been confidently assured by well-meaning friends and acquaintances that my son (admittedly a fine student, but no cancer cures) would undoubtedly be admitted to ANY Ivy League college of his choosing. I just smile politely.</p>
<p>I know a family now whose kid is applying to a super-selective school (HYPS) and everyone else in their circle of friends keeps telling them the kid is a shoe-in. His dad and both grandparents attended there (no large donations that I know of), he’s an athlete and the coach is intersted, he has a 4.0 and very high SATs.</p>
<p>Now what’s funny is the family (and the kid, himself) see it as a super long-shot… just because, well, it is a HYPS school. I think their circle of friends is very naive to just blithely keep saying, “Oh, it’s a done deal!” – and the family is positioning themselves better by expecting to be disappointed… even if, hopefully, they won’t be!</p>
<p>If, as the OP said, this is not a “development admit” situation where large donations would be involved, I don’t think they stand a chance. The admissions boost for ordinary legacy applicants is not that great, and C students do not get in to Princeton.</p>
<p>Even in the development-admit situation, I wonder whether Princeton would really let them in. With grades like that, they would not be well prepared to do the work at such a rigorous college. Princeton would actually be doing them a disservice by admitting them, but I wonder whether they could express that tactfully enough to appease a family that contributes a great deal of money.</p>
<p>OP- a great book on this topic is The Price of Admission: How America’s ruling class buys its way into elite colleges- and who gets left outside the gate. by Daniel Golden I think there was also a thread on this a few months back.</p>
<p>Our mid-sized (1600), high-performing public hs sends several kids to Ivy schools each year. Without exception, the admitted legacies I know of are students who would have qualified to be admitted even without legacy status. I agree that there’s no way Princeton would admit marginal students on the strength of legacy status alone. The only Ivy admit from around here that I’m aware of who was a sub-par student (for an Ivy applicant) was an athlete with national-level recognition.</p>
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<p>Bingo, Skyhook.</p>