does legacy play a factor at these universities?

Applying to College
1

i have some legacies, some parent some aunt/uncle some great aunt/uncle. do any of these make a difference? i’m most likely gonna be pre med focusing in bio something.

parent at barnard UG
parent at MIT UG, wharton Grad
great uncle at MIT, professor at Johns Hopkins
uncle at brown UG, grad, and professor there
aunt at yale UG

i’m interested in most of these schools but not so much wharton as UPENN- would admissions take that into account?

thanks!!!

2

go look at their Common Data Set reports and check if legacy status is considered. You can also contact admissions and see what they count as legacy.

3

I don’t know if there are any schools that count aunts/uncles for legacy status.

4

Generally, only parents or grandparents count for legacy, and only their undergrad schools, not grad schools.

We had looked into this bc my kids have aunts/uncles who went to Ivy undergrad, and we learned that non-direct relationship is irrelevant for undergrad admissions.

Also, at many top schools, legacies are expected to apply ED to get any kind of boost in admissions. There is negligible boost to legacies in regular decision pool.

5

Penn does have legacy for ED only. MIT does not consider legacy.

6

An uncle would not be considered a legacy at Brown.

7

I think you’d only get a legacy boost at Barnard.

8

Legacy status tends help more at top LACs than at Top Ivies+SMD. Unless the parent/grandparent was a substantial donor to the Ivies+, because the vast majority of legacies come from “privileged” backgrounds they compete against others in very competitive cohorts, and therefore need to have exceptional credentials none-the-less. A legacy might tip in favor of the applicant in that theoretical scenario where all else is equal, but other than possibly getting the applicant on the waitlist provides little to no substantive advantage.

However, a letter written in support of your candidacy by a professor at Johns Hopkins or Brown might have more impact than legacy status. And, admissions at Barnard are not as competitive as at Columbia and other Top Ivies suggesting that a legacy, particularly tied to an ED application, is likely to provide a benefit.