<p>My brother currently goes to Princeton as an undergrad. When I apply next year will I get an advantage because we are related or does legacy only apply to parents to children? Thanks</p>
<p>Legacy applies to the children of alumni, but I believe there is some consideration given to siblings of current students - you’re just not considered a legacy.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of any preferential treatment for siblings of students/alumni.</p>
<p>Yongqi is 15 years old. Not one with the proper experience to take give admissions advice. </p>
<p>When I was at Princeton 30 years ago, there was a surprising number of brothers and sisters there, and unless policy has changed, am going to guess (remember, I’m not an admissions officer) that you’ll get some advantage from having a sibling at Princeton.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that the overall power of the legacy card has changed as Princeton’s endowment per student has reached stratospheric levels. Despite a legacy acceptance rate of about 30%, I have many classmates – often very wealthy and involved with the schools - who have had kids with SAT’s above the university average rejected (and they’re usually fuming). I’m guessing the reason the legacy acceptance rate is above average if that the alums are more familiar with how difficult it is to get past admissions, and don’t encourage their kids to apply if they are not close to the mark. Those that have had kids get in seem to have kids who are comparable to other kids at Princeton. Being a legacy is more like an edge if you’re close than anything else.</p>
<p>Thanks for your insightful reply. Some people surmise that having legacy gives somebodies children the equivalent of 50-150 pts on their SAT scores. You seem to be saying that the benefit of legacy is mainly that the children of legacy have higher test scores/better for Princeton/know how to apply/etc. This seems like a good point. However, do you think that legacy children get an advantage such as the test score one? For example if a legacy has 2210 and somebody else has a 2310, with equal everything else, would the legacy be comparable to the nonlegacy? Thanks.</p>
<p>A sibling at a good school always helps…unless the sibling is an underachiever…</p>
<p>can you explain more why it would benefit?</p>
<p>To the OP - comparing a legacy with 2210 to a non legacy with a 2310 assumes that SAT scores are what determines success in gaining admission in one candidate over another. Quite a number of applicants with perfect scores are turned away every year so it might be helpful to frame it a bit differently. </p>
<p>Consider looking at scores more as a “threshold” - once a certain level of proficiency is attained (and no one really knows what this number is exactly) the rest of the application can be given consideration by the ad coms. The applicants’ interests and accomplishments, background, essays, recommendations would all be given consideration. So trying to compare scores as a determining factor would mean that the two applicants would be otherwise identical in all other respects, which they never are. No one seems to know what the “tipping point” is in gaining admission, other than perhaps for the recruited athletes who are supported by a letter from their coaches and fall within the required standard deviation regarding grades and test scores. </p>
<p>Unfortunately pretty much all the comments you read on CC are conjecture (mine included) with regard to how much being a legacy and/or a sibling is or is not helpful in the admission process. What I can say with somewhat more clarity is that there is a higher admission rate for legacies than for non legacies, and a number of siblings who gain admission, but the underlying reasons probably can’t be proven since the admission committee does not report that kind of information.</p>
<p>So a grandparent isn’t a legacy?</p>
<p>The sibling question is typically shrouded in the opaque admissions standards. But, anecdotally, I know six sibling pairs attending princeton. All had similar very high stats. Three were all athlete pairs, one was athlete/non-athlete, the others non-athlete.</p>
<p>For the non-athletes, I view it more of a tie breaker, not a booster.</p>
<p>Does it help (with getting in chances) to have a sibling as a recent Princeton graduate?</p>
<p>Would a parent who went to grad school there factor into admissions as well?</p>
<p>@mayee107 There has been some controversy on CC whether grad school parents would be considered legacies or not. For the life of me I can’t imagine that they would not be. If anyone thinks it is competitive getting into Princeton for undergrad and that the work load is daunting, they should see the grad school students’ resumes and work load. SMH that somehow this could possibly be considered less of a “plus” than an undergrad degree. </p>
<p>From what I remember of the Princeton common app supplement, they ask where family members (parents and siblings) went to school and the level of degree attained, not legacy: yes/no. They do not ask about grandparents that I can recall.</p>
<p>Princeton considers children of grad school parents to be a legacies. I heard this directly from a senior admissions officer (not Tina Fey).</p>
<p>What a sibling offers is, presumably, that you have more familiarity with the school than the average bear. Lots of kids (unfortunately, this is all over CC,) really don’t know much about the schools they apply to- how various processes work, what the academic expectations are, what campus life is about, etc. An edge, not a guarantee.</p>
<p>And I agree to get off the stats stump. The threshold is much lower than the CC myth. 2210 can get you there. The real issue is that when competition is so fierce AND the review is holistic, the school can cherry pick. Your app has to say everything they want it to- that is well more than stats.</p>
<p>To technically be a legacy, your parent(s) has to have graduated from that school. Whether or not having a sibling gives you any kind of edge is debatable.</p>