how much does legacy status matter?

<p>How much does legacy status matter for Princeton? There's a girl at my school who's also applying Princeton and her brother went there. I'm hoping that I won't automatically be out of contention for Princeton because they'll take her. (Princeton usually only takes 1 kid from our school each year at most).</p>

<p>Siblings do not count for legacy purposes.</p>

<p>I highly doubt the fact that they only take one kid per year from your school has anything to do with your school, but everything to do with the students. She won't affect you.</p>

<p>Also, yeah, legacy means your parent went there or your uncle or something. Someone from the generation before yours.</p>

<p>I have never heard of an uncle counting, but at some schools sibling legacy does count, just not a Princeton.</p>

<p>But I believe that schools don't discount something just because it dosen't fit their official defination, so a sibling could therefore help somewhat My cousins attended Princeton, and my interviewer wrote it down in his review, and said that any little relation could potentially help because the "Princeton family" is an important part of the school's history.</p>

<p>But I don't think it is at all a decision maker, just another random little piece of information.</p>

<p>A completely uneducated response here, but I would think it would significantly raise a student's chances to have a legacy that donated substantial amounts of money to the school - a normal legacy would surely help, but not greatly.</p>

<p>I would "think" that having a sibling that attended the university would help. I know it helped a student at another ivy league school.</p>

<p>Ephemeral2 is right on the money, no pun intended.</p>

<p>thanks everyone. & good luck to you guys too on admissions!</p>

<p>Princeton does love families</p>

<p>These connections are very useful only if you have a good profile... Like when adcoms have difficulties choosing the right one from a banch of equivalent applicants, they will definitely choose the one with pricneton background. otherwise its not gonna get you in.</p>

<p>federerexpress is correct. Only rarely is legacy more than a tip; for it to be a hook, mucho dollars are needed. ;)</p>

<p>The reason legacy often looks like such a strong factor is because on the cusps it is often the situation that there are a bunch of almost identically qualified applicants for each spot, so legacy can make a real different in those cases. Other than that, not so much.</p>

<p>Legacy has almost no standing at Princeton. It's pretty much a myth. The amount of kids who get in due to their legacy status is insanely small.</p>

<p>Sure, you get a small boost if you have the numbers and scores, etc., but honestly, that little difference almost never makes a difference.</p>

<p>I agree with 1of42.</p>

<p>Cibbir, I think you're right that the amount of kids who get in completely "due to" their legacy status is tiny, but the number of kids whose legacy status might act as a "tipper" may be much bigger. I go to an extremely competitive private school, and each year about a third of the class applies to Princeton. While many of those applicants have similar records (great scores, great recs, great ECs), it is often the legacy students who get in (plus an athlete and minority). Even our CGC's acknowledge this.</p>

<p>Im an international with great school academic record (5 As at A-level), good SAT2(2300) and passable ? SAT1(2050) + some nice ECs. Would lagacy be helpful? or I still have no chance at all.
p.s. The alumini who strongly supports me has donnated a substantial amount of money before</p>

<p>Don't say you have no chance at all! You've got scores that fall within the "normal" Princeton range, so now it's just up to the admissions committee! Who knows whether your legacy status will help... Good luck!</p>

<p>I know several legacies, including siblings, at Princeton. However, they also had great apps.....</p>