<p>It is so strange to me this concept of connections. I am contstantly hearing about this applicant or that appicant having someone write them a letter to advocate for them at HYP and other schools. Usually the applicants family has a close family friend who has given millions to the ivy league school they are applying to and they claim that person is advocating for them. Sometimes the familiy knows a high ranking faculty memeber or someone high up on the administration. It seems in certain circles everyone seems to have the letter. I totally understand the concept of those lucky enough to have a grandfather or parent who are significant contributors to these schools, and I know of several who are accepted that way and their admission is decided not by advocation by a regional admission officer before the regional committee, but rather decided by the development office and the Dean of Admissions. These lucky applicants were born into privlege and might have the scores and grades but often are missing the something extra to ordinarly gain acceptance, but the connection solidifies the acceptance. But, I am not even talking about these applicants. I am talking about another category. I am talking about those who have friends who are big contributors and rally for their children.
The other day I met a person whose daughter is applying to one of these schools.The mother said that the daughter did not have competitive SAT scores, but the husbands partner gave one of the biggest gifts ever to the school and he was working to get the girl in.
I am curious of how prevalent this is, where connected individuals help lesser qualified applicants take the spots of those who are more qualified?
It seems a little frustrating</p>
<p>I doubt that having friends who are big contributors gets anyone in. I also doubt that simply having a friend who is faculty gets anyone in.</p>
<p>Certainly a well qualified applicant whose parents are big contributors (and "big contributor" means contributing at least $1 million) or who is a faculty kid is more likely than other well qualified applicants to be accepted. However, most of the people who talk about having "connections" don't really have any connections that count.</p>
<p>An applicant's having a letter by a faculty member or politician who happens to know the student isn't going to impress the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Thanks northstarmom. I have been thinking about it since my post. I now see that the development office might take a child of a big contrbutor where they have competitive scores, grades ect, because they hope that parent or grandparent will continue to give and they dont want to alienate them. The development office must realize however that if a big financial contributor to the school recommends a family friend, that if that familly friend does not get accepted it is not going to affect that donor contributing in the future. Perhaps those letters therefore mean nothing. I do agree that having a trustee or faculty memeber write about someone they dont really know cant be too convincing.</p>
<p>northstarmom, would an applicant be more likely to be accepted if her alumni parent doesn't necessarily donate that much money but is active in fundraising and has made a lot of money for the university that way?</p>
<p>I know a student at another high school in my town who has an uncle who is an alumni and gave a $1,000,000,000 a year or two ago. Does that help that student even though it is an uncle an not a parent? That kid is extraordinarlly talented and probably a very compelling candidate anyway. I was just wondering.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant one million dollars</p>
<p>Connections to my way of thinking are tipping factors. They are a way of drawing attention to your application and maybe getting an interview if there is a limited number. Once they look at you however there has to be something on the application that might get you in anyway.</p>
<p>That does sound true. I guess however that the development office has to communicate to the admissions office the connection, for it to have any tipping value</p>
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northstarmom, would an applicant be more likely to be accepted if her alumni parent doesn't necessarily donate that much money but is active in fundraising and has made a lot of money for the university that way?
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<p>even though i am not northstarmom, i have a general idea about how much influence an alumni cant/ can have on the admissions process. it depends how much were talking about here about fundraising. if we're talking $1000 to the annual campaign, then its simply a drop in the bucket of harvard's endowment and wouldnt really significantly increase the chances for an applicant. yes, they will take into account that there is an legacy, but it wont have the same weight as what they deem an "active legacy" (which means alot of money....i know, sad that being "active" means a lot of money) but if were talking about $100,000 and the alumni has a good relationship with the development office, then yes, it will significantly increase the odds</p>
<p>as to how i know this, i have connections (pun intended). just kidding--I have the records of Harvard fundraising for the fiscal year 2006-2007, and have looked at the amounts and the kids that got in</p>
<p>Guppy....I seriously hope you didn't do that for fun...please tell me that at least you're publishing a "finding" or w/e...</p>
<p>lol actually the fiscal year for 2006-2007 is not as long as you think. its just this white little booklet, and they only include donations that are 1000 or more...and i compared the stats for only ten alumni but there were some patterns just from those ten people...haha so i didnt pore over it for hours</p>