<p>I would say that it’s not so much that you are “competing for a spot” because I know of many small schools (though admittedly not as small as yours) where multiple students have gotten into highly selective colleges… a friend of a friend from Rochester had 5 matriculants in his class at Yale, and I think 7 at Harvard–those are matriculants, not just acceptances! </p>
<p>I would also say that while his grandfather being a tenured professor at those schools might be an object of consideration, you will prevail if your application is genuinely the better one… especially with colleges these days trying to cut down on their number of legacy acceptances.</p>
<p>Good luck to you! I’m no admissions officer; these are just gut feelings.</p>