How does Princeton Define "Legacy"?

<p>Is it the (grand)son/daughter of a college student, of any degree holder, etc? I know the definition varies between schools; what is Princeton's?</p>

<p>i’m curious the answer to this as well</p>

<p>The usual definition is the son or daughter of Princeton undergraduate. However, I have seen siblings of enrolled students get a bump up, as well as kids of graduate students. It is not guaranteed though.</p>

<p>Thank you for the response. I understand there’s probably scarcely any information on the exact definition. Would it be safe to conjecture that the legacy data published on on the website–the percent of the class that is legacy (13.something, as I recall)–pertains to the children of undergraduate alumni?</p>

<p>I don’t see why being the kid of a graduate alum wouldn’t count.</p>

<p>Do grandchildren count?</p>

<p>No, grandchildren do not count as legacies. However, if grandma or grandpa has given a fortune (or a building) over the years, or happens to be very famous, the applicant could be considered a development case.</p>

<p>The only elite I’ve noticed that says it treats graduate school alums as legacies is Stanford. I’ve also seen it in action there with families I know.</p>

<p>Honestly, I think it would be absurd not to treat grad alum as legacies. They have an alumni association, and it is a Princeton degree after all.</p>

<p>The undergraduate experience at Princeton is completely different from the graduate one at Princeton. You’ll see and understand. Graduate students are viewed by some as sketchy. The entire undergraduate experience is the top focus, to the point of not taking transfers to dilute the experience. Graduate students even live on a separate campus.
But Princeton is typical of almost all elites on the legacy issue.
I don’t know how much it has to do with the policy, but every college knows that undergraduate alums give to their school at higher rates than do graduate alums. Their identification with the school is stronger.</p>

<p>I do not know about Princeton but the University of Pennsylvania treats children of parents who received either an undergraduate or graduate degree from the school as legacies, and it would not surprise me if Princeton were the same.</p>

<p>So i’m assuming that the fact that my great grandfather went to princeton is not legacy. right? does this help at all?</p>

<p>eak</p>

<p>The University of Pennsylvania has an unusually broad definition of legacy, not followed by many of the Ivies (for example, Columbia specifically says that applicants are considered legacies only if they are the children of Columbia College or The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science graduates). I think that Princeton only counts the children of undergraduate alumni as legacies, but any strong connection with the school, such as a grandparent or sibling attending, would be worth noting and might have a small impact.</p>

<p>Grandparent legacy is practically useless. Greatgrandparent legacy looks like you’re padding an application.</p>

<p>saying your great grandparent went is not padding, its simply showing a connection you have with the school… which may in turn help you somewhat.</p>

<p>For legacy admissions, do they looks at ur family donation to the school</p>

<p>Are we sure that Princeton does not consider grandparents?</p>