Forgive me for asking this, but I was wondering. It has been stated that one reason legacy ED applicants get an advantage is that they (Penn) want to encourage / boost alumni giving.
Do you think the admissions committee knows if the parent / alum has actually donated money to the school? IOW, should the parent make a donation to the school when their kid is applying? Or is it irrelevant?
Thanks in advance.
I am fairly confident that the admissions committee knows whether the parent(s) are active alumni or not. Whether it makes a difference or not, I really have no idea. I would imagine that it could only help you rather than hurt you.
I don’t think the admission staff knows or cares. We did not donate before our oldest applied. She was accepted RD even though she had legacy and did not apply ED. We donated after she started at Penn. When our youngest applied ED the next year, he was deferred. Both had exact same test scores and all A’s. Their dad is an interviewer so I don’t think that helps much either.
Giving would have to be over a fairly long and consistent period of time and the a flag would have to be sent from the development office to the admissions office. At least this is how it works at most top schools I know of. A donation given in the same year as the application would not help in the slightest unless it was extremely substantial and even then it would have been better to have had the discussions well prior to the application year.
Don’t kid yourself. They know. But you won’t get any traction donating for one year or a hundred dollars a year. Substantial dollars over a period of time gets recognized.
I can’t answer this question for Penn. But I do know what a few other places (all “top” schools) have told alums…
At one, they told the parents that if they expected their kids to get any benefit from legacy status, they should apply ED – they wanted to know that the “favor” of acceptance would be returned by a commitment to attend.
At another, they merely promised that the applicant’s file would get a second reading to ensure that it wasn’t accidentally dismissed by someone on the AdCom having a bad day. They also said that if you have been a BIG donor, the odds would basically improve for your child from 5% to 10%.
At another, the advancement office sends out a letter to donors noting that your child has applied, thanking you for having the confidence in the institution to want your kid to go there, and promising to give your kid’s application serious consideration. And then noting that the school has become extremely selective and that while some single digit # of the incoming freshman class every year are legacies, you shouldn’t assume your kid will be one of them.
The long and the short is that your child will have to have the stats to get in. If you are important to the institution, through your involvement, status, or most important, large donations, it could be the thing that tips the scales in favor of your child. But if your child doesn’t have the stats, the outcome is unlikely to be changed by your affiliation with the school.
@eiknarf is right in that “substantial” dollars – more than most of us will ever have – is what gets recognized.
Shaking down wealthy alums when their kids are applying is one of the dirty secrets of the Ivies. I’ve heard several really shocking stories. BTW it’s apparent that at least a six-figure donation (bribe) is required to affect the applicant’s chance of admission.
Trump got his three children into Penn. Some news reports said that he did not donate much.
Trump’s kids are long out of college and won’t affect OP’s chances.
I think two issues are being confused. 1) major donors. These folks are giving mega dollars, have their own development rep, who can be something of a middleman. If the kid’s not qualified, it can be this rep who finds a diplomatic way to discourage, while not jeopardizing future donations. 2) plain old legacy. If he/she/they are active as an alum rep or in other ways, all the better. But you still need to be a well-qualified candidate and do a good job on the app.