<p>There's a Hispanic girl at my school who is also applying REA. And she says she has a relative on the admissions committee at P.</p>
<p>P almost never accepts people from my school (pretty much everyone attends a state school) so I'm worried that they won't accept 2 this year.</p>
<p>Two questions:
1) Does having a relative on the admissions committee really help that much? Everyone is telling her that she's a shoo-in because she has a 2330, is Hispanic, and has a relative on the admissions committee (my SAT is slightly better and so are my ECs but I'm an Asian male with no connections...***)</p>
<p>2) Do top schools such as P compare you to people in your school or state or region? </p>
<p>Sorry if this is in the wrong place. This is my cousin's account</p>
<p>1) If you assume that Princeton’s admissions officers are so thoroughly unprofessional as to favor a relative, then you should reconsider applying to such a warped institution.</p>
<p>2) YOu’re compared with everyone like you – perhaps within your school but not necessarily.</p>
<p>cannedPinapple: "Only reason maybe why she would have a potentially better shot is because she’s a URM. "</p>
<p>But don’t fail to realize that she is NOT in competition with the OP. She will be pooled together with all the other hispanic applicants. Those who meet Princeton’s criteria will then fulfill the unofficial quota for this sub group. If there are still unfilled slots, those slots likely get given to other subgroups although going to the 2nd tier of applicants might be done.</p>
<p>The applicant, a self-identified Asian non-hooked but otherwise high performing candidate-- is in the larger “general” pool – he’s competing with like candidates. If admitted, he’s pushing out another similarly pooled student. If rejected, that spot would have been given to somone in the same pool. In no way is his spot affected by the acceptance of that single Hispanic applicant from his school – or indeed, any Hispanic applicant (or African American or international or recruited athlete, etc.). Frankly, the scenario could emerge where not enough Princeton-deemed “qualified” Hispanic applicants are accepted and more slots given over to the general pool as I mention above.</p>
<p>bgmargate: "Of course it helps. This is the real world, not lala land. " </p>
<p>According to my theory, it helps because the # of applicants in this sub-group are fewer than the general pool. Fewer applicants means better chances, generally.</p>