I have been approached to consider a faculty position at Stanford (Professor of Medicine). Will my faculty appointment help my children be admitted assuming that they have decent grades and scores on par with the average at Stanford?
Would it be considered a hook at the same level as URM or Legacy?
From what I’ve heard, yes, if you’re on the faculty, that will give your kids an edge, given the assumptions you listed. I don’t know if it would be on the same level as URM—I’m guessing probably not—but probably similar to legacy status.
Legacy applicants get a second essay read on their application. I’m not sure it’s prudent to accept a faculty appointment based solely on that.
There are other things I like about the position of course. However, the idea of being on the same campus as my kids would be an intangible benefit that should be considered. That just is not possible in my current situation.
Most medical schools have separate campuses, unlike Stanford.
@heartburner. You must be a GI. 
Actually…it is much more of a hook than legacy or URM. It is considered at the highest end of a HOOK next to VIP/major donors like the Bings and Arrillagas…you might want to peruse this relevant recent article from Stanford Daily:
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/03/12/connections-to-university-can-affect-admissions-decision/
…and I can tell you…the more important your position and standing as a faculty member (the more prized you are to Stanford)…the more potential “clout” or hook you will receive…
Thanks @gravitas2‌. It’s hard not to have the fantasy of having lunch with my kids between classes on a sunny California day. 3 reality problems with this - 1) I would have time for lunch, 2) my kids would want to have lunch with me, 3) my kids would need to be accepted into Stanford…
I’ll try to consider other aspects of the job outside of the occasional lunch break with kids.
Major downside - dinners at home would be pasta in a $2M 500 sq foot 2 bedroom condo in Palo Alto.
slight exaggeration…but not far off…
…time with kids (if they get in)…priceless!
Also, your kids may not want to go to Stanford. I know of a couple of Stanford faculty kids who wanted a change of pace and ended up in top schools on the East Coast. If you’d want the job at Stanford even if you didn’t have any kids, you should probably accept it, but if it were me, I wouldn’t do so because I expected my kids to end up there. Too many unknowns!
Thanks @Planner‌ – if they get in, they must go! How could they turn down such an opportunity. Lunch with their Dad!
If Stanford is their top choice, then I guess you working there can be a double benefit. One, it helps them get in. Two, you are close to them because they might need some help getting adjusted to university life. But there is also the downside that they might foster different feelings toward a school that their parent is at. But if Stan is not their top choice and let’s say their top choice is a different school, then if they get accepted at their top choice and your main reason to teach at Stan is for your kids to get in. Then, that is pretty bad lol
As noted above, faculty child is pretty darn high on the list of hooks.
Also, as is the case at a number of private universities, Stanford faculty children get a tuition subsidy whether they go to Stanford or somewhere else.
There is also faculty housing on Stanford land . . . still expensive but only faculty can live there, so no bidding wars against ultra-wealthy Silicon Valley types.
This is a perfectly legitimate thing to ask about in your contract/salary/benefit negotiations. They should be up front with you as well. Nothing to be coy about… GL on your job search.
Hmmmm…In the past, there has been a significant separation between Stanford Medicine and The University. Has that changed?
I have a friend who is a longtime Stanford faculty member. He actually lives elsewhere, for his wife’s career, and spends 3-4 days a week there (Stanford). His son initially went to Harvard, hated it, and was accepted to Stanford as a transfer. Before he ever took a class there, however, he was waylaid by a job with a brand-name Silicon Valley company. After a couple of years, the son bought the house in Palo Alto in which he had grown up (until age 12 or so). It has an in-law apartment. He rents it to his Dad for the nights Dad spends in Palo Alto.
that scenario sounds pretty familiar…
one would hope his son would have some empathy for the poor “old” man…I would hope my kids would for their parents 
Oh, it’s great. They both love it. It’s a much nicer apartment than my friend could afford otherwise for his pied a terre (his field not being one of those where faculty are millionaires), and his rent is going to a good cause (even if the kid could get more if he wanted).
I was trying to point out that there are more narratives than one that can emerge from the elements of Stanford faculty position, child applying to Stanford, and ridiculously expensive Palo Alto housing.
let’s just be thankful it isn’t as “ridiculous” as Atherton, Hillsborough, Portola Valley, or Woodside…where many of the Stanford grads (tech titans and venture capitalists) ultimately settle down 
What about distantly-related faculty relatives?
Being a faculty child is more points than being a legacy.
@heartburner At the peer school of Stanford Medicine that I am familiar with, there is a difference between college faculty and med school faculty. College faculty’s kids get a break in admissions, whereas medical school faculty’s kids do not, if the faculty is below the level of department chairman. Being tenured or even holding a named chair is not sufficient.