<p>A lot of people say legacy (especially at this school) will help a lot. While it may be true to a degree, is it really any different from say a legacy at ummm like Cornell or UVA? For example, if a guy has the grades and test scores and some relatively decent ECs (never has held a patent, didn't take AIME, etc) and is a legacy, does he/she have a shot?</p>
<p>They definitely would have a better shot, I'd say.
Different schools take legacies in different ways.
For example, public schools don't care too much about legacies.</p>
<p>they say that P'ton is almost shamelessly attracted to legacy applicants. it makes sense, considering the fact that its strong alumni network is an important component to the institution. it has the highest alumni giving rate= 61%. (harvard-44%). legacy students=money.</p>
<p>hmmm i see and also parents like pay class dues and have the oppurtunity to donate 1000 dollars to the school for several years prior.</p>
<p>yeah i read somewhere that legacies got in at 30-40%... i think that was an overall rate, so they probably get in at a higher rate ED</p>
<p>The higher rate ED thing makes some sense, but wouldn't it make more sense that their higher admit rate was because a greater percentage of legacies than the general pool applicants applied ED?</p>
<p>lol why would the RATE itself go up, just because more legacies applied ED? It means that ED helps legacies a lot</p>
<p>No, it means that ED helps people a lot, and more legacies apply ED. The Legacy rate isn't much higher than the ED rate. If all Legacies apply ED but thats not indicated by the general stat of Legacies, then it looks like Legacy helps a lot when in reality it could just be ED. I'm not saying thats how it is, but it needs to be noted.</p>
<p>pk1213, please don't try to speculate on Princeton admissions policies that you have no clue about. Who are "they" who speculate on legacy admissions?
Yes, being a legacy will help in admissions, but it won't give you a big enough advantage to be accepted over a more qualified applicant. Given two equal candidates, the legacy will be accepted--that's all.</p>
<p>If your cousin goes to a school, is it still considered legacy?
Or is it just parents, grandparents, siblings?</p>
<p>lol....i think it is just parents and grandparents.....</p>
<p>awww dammit Wellesley is my second choice school, and my cousin went there. =(</p>
<p>But they still give you a space to indicate if ANY relatives went there, so maybe they still consider it a little? =/</p>
<p>haha just trying to make myself feel better here, don't mind me...</p>
<p>yea some schools consider if a <em>relative</em> has gone to the school. BUT. to consider u a legacy....hmmm....I seriously doubt it..</p>
<p>meh my parents decided to be smart and take full scholarships to state schools.</p>
<p>Damn them for being so rational!!! =)</p>
<p>yup.....me too.... I wish they were jjust more aspiring to go to Princeton...LOL</p>
<p>quirkily, i think its a bit naive to say that legacy only helps in "ties." firstly, there is really no such thing as a "tie," because all applicants are measured holistically. secondly, the way you describe the weight of legacy status makes it sound as minute as an interview or something. legacy carries a bit more weight than a simple "tie-breaker." Colleges report that even URM status is only a last "considered" factor to help in the final rounds of decisions between two equally qualified applicants. but i think it's a generally accepted fact that URM status allows applicants to have a bit more room to be less impressive in areas like academics or even EC's. this is evident in research conducted by P'ton University researches, who calculate that if race wasn't reported, asians would fill 4 out of 5 spots taken by african americans and hispanics. similarly, legacy applicants are more appealing and will be more important that a simple "tie-breaker." i am also speaking from personal speculation. last year, a legacy student was accepted into P'ton from my school. His SAT was 2020, GPA was ~3.3. He hardly had any EC's, just NHS and "filler" EC's. other highly qualified students, who were not legacies, got deferred.</p>
<p>ya, when there were "point systems" to calculate some applicants' candidacies, Parents-4points, while siblings-1point</p>
<p>haha and cousin isn't even a sibling!
booo.</p>
<p>lol....OMZ..sorry but your cousin wont help you that much... But your stats WILL. lol</p>
<p>actually, no, not with my stats =P</p>