<p>I have a leagacy at Yale spanning several generations, but neither of my parents attended the college. The most recent comes from my grandparents' generation.</p>
<p>Will this help my cause, even a little bit, when I apply to Yale?</p>
<p>In theory, legacy "points" are only awarded to those with a Yale parent, although at Yale (unlike Harvard) legacy status is considered for those with a parent who attended a Yale grad school, not merely the undergraduate college.</p>
<p>A long family history associated with the school might make a difference, however, particularly if the alumni were distinguished.</p>
<p><<<<<in theory,="" legacy="" "points"="" are="" only="" awarded="" to="" those="" with="" a="" yale="" parent,="" although="" at="" (unlike="" harvard)="" status="" is="" considered="" for="" parent="" who="" attended="" grad="" school,="" not="" merely="" the="" undergraduate="" college.="">>>>></in></p>
<p>Really? The Yale supplement to the application does ask whether or not you've had parents or grandparents attend the school. </p>
<p>That's too bad</p>
<p>I am a Yale professional school grad and son was accepted recently to Yale College. I am not sure if it was the deciding factor since son's acedemics were strong and he was also a recruited athlete. I suspect it was just a nice touch to the whole package. Think of it as placing a smile on Dick Shaw's face after everything else looks fine.</p>
<p>Not all legacies are created equal. Did granddad endow a chair in economics? That was a real legacy case at Yale this year. The stats were marginal, but the acceptance was never in doubt.</p>
<p>Well, in my case, the stats are all there</p>
<p>It's just so unpredictable as to who will get in</p>
<p>They dont give a rats *** if your grandaddy went to Yale or Podunk U-unless he donated something big or was president of the united states-or he or your father has the potential to be lucrative.</p>
<p>On the Yale application there are two places to list alumni family connections. On the main application, you are asked to list parents, grandparents, great-grandparents who have attended Yale and their college and graduation dates. On the Yale supplement you are asked to list any other relative who may have attended Yale. When I discussed this with my daughter's GC, she said that Yale was one of the schools who counted legacy status more heavily than many other schools.</p>
<p>The admit rate for Yale legacies is approximately 25%-30%--this was mentioned at an alumni admissions meeting that my daughter's father attended. Certainly no guarantee but in my daughter's case, I can tell you that large donations to Yale were not a factor. Her father and other family members have contributed modestly to the school, albeit they have contributed consistently, but certainly there is no endowed chair.</p>
<p>From the way Yale differentiates direct lineage through parents and grandparents from other family members, it would seem that Yale would consider someone whose grandparent attended Yale as a legacy, even if the parent did not attend Yale.</p>
<p>Of course, without a substantial donation, you would certainly have to have he SATs and grades, etc. to get in.</p>
<p>Legacy really doesnt play a big factor unless significant amounts of money or influence are at stake. Yes, 25-30% of legacies are accepted; however, this can be attributed to the fact that legacies generally come from more learned households and thus are, as an applicant pool, more qualified in terms of their stats.</p>
<p>Dick Levin describes this phenomenon in this Yale Alumni Magazine article:</p>
<p>There were quite a few legacies rejected this year. Some were surprising.</p>