<p>If somebody has great connections to like a former or current political figurehead such as a congressman say would it be easier to gain admission into the college if its a top 50 college in the US.</p>
<p>Depends on your relation. Generally you need to be a direct relative, or a close associate.</p>
<p>my father used to be closely associated with him in a civic league.</p>
<p>Remember a college is a business...</p>
<p>so basically no, it would not help you</p>
<p>it would help your father is he were applying to colleges, but no it would not help you unless the congressman knew you personally</p>
<p>colleges have repeatedly said that getting recommendation letters from random people that do not know you very well does not help and in fact, sometimes it may even hurt; colleges may think: why is this applicant so insecure that they feel the need to get a recommendation from some random powerful connection that they do not even know?</p>
<p>the point of an extra recommendation is to present the applicant in a new light, so if it is general and boring and it looks like the applicant used the connection for just that recommendation, 1) college admissions officers will probably throw it away, and 2) they may question your character as well....</p>
<p>now if that congressman would be willing to give you $1 million that you could use to donate a new building to ______ university, then THAT is a different story....</p>
<p>We don't know because it depends on who the figure is and what school it is and the relationships between the figure/you/ and the school. I never would have thought that working for the President could get a kid into the Harvard MBA program without even a bachelors degree, but it happened.</p>