<p>I'm asking this for a colleague. Son is a Junior at H. Other (high achieving and interesting kid) son applying next year. Wealthy family able to pay full freight. Does sibling affect admission decision?</p>
<p>My son applied to Harvard several years ago when his sister was a freshman there. He applied to 11 colleges and was accepted to 10 of them, including Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Williams, and Pomana. The only school that rejected him was Harvard. So, from our family’s perspective, having a sibling attend the school pulls absolutely no weight. Harvard wants who they want.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a simple answer to this question. I have heard that if your sibling is receiving financial aid, Harvard might not give you the slight tip that having a sibling at the school usually affords. The thinking is that they want to spread around their generosity. I have never bothered to confirm whether this is true or not so take it with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>^^ My daughter is receiving financial aid, and we certainly needed it for my son, so that might explain it.</p>
<p>Hmm. That does not bode well. </p>
<p>Our experience was different from gibby’s. Our younger son will be joining his older brother at Harvard in a few weeks’ time. I have some reason to believe that the sibling connection played a small role in his admission.</p>
<p>@notjoe May I ask if your older son is receiving financial aids from Harvard? </p>
<p>@jd7983</p>
<p>Both sons are receiving financial aid, and I was pleased that Harvard takes the idea of Estimated FAMILY Contribution quite seriously.</p>
<p>@notjoe Great. Thank you! </p>