<p>LOL. Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt, son of the heiress, socialite, and designer jeans magnate Gloria Vanderbilt, and great-great-great-grandson of railroad and shipping tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt who is said to have been either the 2d or 3rd richest American of all time (behind John D. Rockefeller and possibly Andrew Carnegie) as measured by the ratio of personal wealth to the nation’s wealth at the time. So I’m not surprised Yale keeps pretty close tabs on him. He seems like a pretty sharp guy but even if his SATs were unimpressive it seems likely he’s the type who might get some extra points as a “development admit.”</p>
<p>That said, most colleges do a pretty good job of tracking their alumni. I’m no Vanderbilt, but I’ve been surprised when, after a move, various college and university alumni associations have quickly found my new address without my notifying them. I wish banks, credit card companies, airline frequent flyer programs, magazines, and such were as efficient.</p>
<p>I think that legacy claims are not as big a boost as they have been in past decades for the super-selective schools–unless that legacy has been a HEAVY contributor. </p>
<p>When our Ds have applied to a school where I attended, I got a letter explaining that the legacy boost would be a tie breaker for any two applicants who have the same application. How often do two applicants have the same application, LOL!</p>
<p>[The D with the stronger application got in; the other D with a strong, but not as strong, application did not. Can’t see where the legacy helped at all…and this was from a university who said that legacy counts.]</p>