<p>There is someone in my class who is a family friend of a well-known professor at Yale. He is "putting in a good word" for him at the Yale faculty. I know that faculty kids get special attention, but would this give any sort of edge? He's in the top 5% of the class, but a majority of the Yale applicants from my large school are in the Top 1-2% (including myself) with a lot of better ECs/stats/legacies etc. I'm wondering if this would be enough for said person to get in over me or someone else in my class because the Yale rep that came to our school said that they compare us against the people in our class.</p>
<p>Actually, it can give a boost. It all depends on the context- if the professor is tenured and can say something meaningful about the applicant, it can give an already excellent applicant the help he needs to get accepted.</p>
<p>I may have misread the OP. I thought the only connection was “family friend.” If, in fact, the professor can provide a supplemental recommendation that gives specific examples of the OP’s achievements provided from the professor’s first-hand perspective, that could help. Just a good word about character from a family friend, even one who is a tenured Yale faculty member is, IMO, not worth much, and could even irritate the admissions people.</p>
<p>If an important professor says something along the lines of “x is a wonderful kid, x is very intelligent, x would do great at Yale” then the admissions committee would keep that in mind. That being said, a “good word” can only go so far.</p>
<p>I had a recommendation from a well-known Yale prof in the field that I wanted to major in. I worked with him all summer. I got deferred. So I’m not so sure about that.</p>
<p>I agree, I think it just serves along the same lines as an extra rec would. In the end, it’ll be your essays/stats that get you in, not the word of some other professor.</p>