<p>I'm a sophomore in high school, and I'm looking into applying to Swarthmore. My mom is an '82 grad and my brother is a current sophomore. </p>
<p>My brother got in Early Decision, and while he had a great application, I'm wondering if the partial legacy helped him. If so, will it affect my application as well? Or is this too hard to judge since the trend may change by the time I apply?</p>
<p>Any thoughts/questions/comments?</p>
<p>My understanding is that you still have to be an applicant that gets into the "big we'd like to admit pool." Then from that, adcoms look for ways to get that number down to the number they can admit. Being a legacy might tip that decision in your favor to stay in the pool.</p>
<p>Legacy status is important at Swarthmore, as it is at every small liberal arts college.</p>
<p>You still have to be a solid, viable applicant on your own merits. Here's the reality. Most applicants to Swarthmore are solid, viable applicants. So, the deal is: how do you standout from all the other solid, viable applicants?</p>
<p>Legacy is a great way of standing out. In effect, legacy reverses the dynamics of the decision. For most solid, viable applicants, the admissions office has to find a reason to accept you. For a legacy, they have to find a reason to not accept you, because they know they might have some explaining to do to an angry alum. Legacy status turns a good application into a likely shot and an excellent application into a sure bet. In today's competitive admissions environment, the one thing it won't usually do is turn a weak application into an acceptance letter (unless your family name is on campus buildings).</p>
<p>Plus, a saavy legacy has a potential advantage in being able to really learn about the school, thus preparing a more targeted, effective application. Winning applications at Swarthmore usually feature specifics about the match between the applicants talents and interests and what makes Swarthmore tick. You have a built-in advantage in learning about the school from your mother and your brother.</p>
<p>Lots of good information here already. </p>
<p>I'll just clarify/add one thing: Applying as a legacy may not make you stand out so very much, at Swarthmore. They'll certainly take note, but it's worth bearing in mind that usually, they are taking note of a lot of other legacies alongside you. </p>
<p>Nineteen legacies matriculated in the OP's sibling's class. To take one example, that's just short of the number of international students (22); you can compare that figure to other breakdowns of that class here: An</a> "Onward Spirit": A Brief History of Swarthmore College. Included in those 19 are double legacies (old-school Quaker Matchbox style), double-double legacies (two generations of Quaker Matchbox), and more than a handful of multigenerational legacies of one sort or another (aunts, cousins, grandparents, etc.). I don't know how many legacies did not make it into that class, nor do I know how many were admitted and didn't matriculate. I <em>do</em> know that all of those who did join that class were - as has already been suggested - absolutely admittable by any Swarthmore standard, even without their legacy status.</p>
<p>In short, the most valuable thing legacy does for you, much as interesteddad said, is potentially provide you with a depth of knowledge and understanding of Swat that can help you see and express why you are a good fit. And if that leads to a standout "Why Swarthmore?" essay, then you've used your legacy advantage well.</p>
<p>I don't recall that I've ever seen an acceptance rate for legacies at Swarthmore, but I'm pretty sure it's double or triple the overall acceptance rate of 18%. Legacies have an advantage. They can prepare effective applications. And, it's a strong pool of applicants to start with.</p>
<p>BTW, in four years, I have only told two applicants that I thought they were a lock to get accepted. One was just an outstanding applicant to begin with -- class rank, SATs, terrific extra-curriculars. Then, she mentioned that she was a third generation Swarthmore legacy.</p>
<p>BTW, I do think there is one way that being a legacy can hurt. If you know in your bones that Swarthmore is not the right school for you and communicate (even unintentionally) that you are only applying because of family expectations or whatever. I have heard stories (not specifically at Swarthmore), of legacies openly admitting in their essays or interviews that they were sabatoging their own applications because they never wanted to apply to "daddy's school" in the first place. So my advice to a sophmore legacy is to understand that your legacy status can be a boost in admissions, but to be sure that you are choosing your own college. My advice to your parents (if they want you to apply to Swarthmore) is to let you go visit next year on your own. They should stay home.</p>
<p>I'm a current Swarthmore student, and a multiple legacy (both parents, aunt, sister). I remember hearing somewhere that the legacy acceptance rate was something like 50% (but can't vouch for the accuracy of that). It helps, but it's far from a guarantee, especially if you don't apply ED. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I know five Swarthmore alums, from different families, and all were third or fourth generation Swarthmore legacies. I suspect many LACs are legacy friendly and should you decide to apply to Swat, having a parent and brother who attended will boost your application.</p>
<p>This gave me a lot of good information...thanks!</p>
<p>As far as being pressured into a school because of the legacy factor, interesteddad, this is an excellent point. While I know there are certainly many students like the ones you described, my situation is a bit different. I was focused on Yale for a while, but recently I've been thinking that it might not be the place for me, not to mention it being more of a reach. I've visited Swat on my own once before (at the time it was just to visit my brother and catch a glimpse of college life), and I definitely got to see the college in a setting that I believe to be realistic. We played ping pong, experienced Motherpuckers ice hockey, ate in Sharples, ordered pizza at two in the morning, went to the book store, and talked with his friends. It was casually fun and felt comfortable.</p>
<p>Though of course I haven't definitively decided to attend (should I be accepted), right now I'm sure I will apply and do what I can to get in.</p>
<p>p.s. Estelec: are you saying it's a better idea to apply ED?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Estelec: are you saying it's a better idea to apply ED?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you are sure Swarthmore is your top choice and...</p>
<p>If it makes sense financially and...</p>
<p>If you are a solid applicant....</p>
<p>Then, it is a decided advantage to apply early decision, whether you are legacy or not. To truly max out your position in the admissions game, applying early decision as a legacy is a good strategy.</p>
<p>But, again...those are three big "ifs" I outlined. I don't want to encourage anyone to apply to Swarthmore early decision unless they have decided Swarthmore is the right school. I don't want to encourage anyone to apply early decision if they need to comparison shop merit aid. And, I think it is a complete waste of effort (and admissions capital) to apply early decision to a school unless you are a credible, solid applicant to that school.</p>
<p>Thumbs up on visiting your brother by yourself. That's really the way to get a sense of college life. Do another fall of senior year where you stay with first year students.</p>
<p>Interesteddad has it right. Applying ED, if and only if you meet all of the criteria he has outlined, does improve your chances. But it's still really early in the game for you to be thinking about that. Consider lots of schools, play around with what you want (which might change considerably between now and senior year--as a sophomore I was convinced I would never go to Swat) and see what happens.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm really not sure what I want right now. All I know is I don't want to limit myself, and I'm interested in Swarthmore, so I want to do what I can to get in should I end up deciding it's the college for me. I think I also want to apply to Vassar, UPenn, Yale, Georgetown, etc. </p>
<p>Just need to find some viable candidates for safety schools in the Northeast area. Suggestions?</p>
<p>"interesteddad" - based exactly on what is your conjecture that legacies have an admit rate 2x or 3x as high as other applicants? i think it's a little irresponsible to spout off BS statistics like that.</p>
<p>Nancy: Why do you find the need to attack someone who tries to help and give a rough number?</p>
<p>Considering ED students already are accepted at double the rate of normal applications, 2-3x isn't crazy. And, having been on the student admissions committee, I do know that legacies are on the list of positives for applications, even though it isn't particularly high on that list.</p>
<p>Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that the children of any graduates from a top LAC are going to have opportunities and background that most other Americans have, thus positioning them for a school like Swarthmore.</p>
<p>If ID knows anything, he knows his statistics. Please stop being so hostile and aggressive, it makes the whole discussion unpleasant. If you want to challenge him, just send a private message or something.</p>
<p>It's a fair question. As I said, I've never seen Swarthmore publish an acceptance rate for legacies.</p>
<p>I have seen data for a range of elite colleges and universities. Here's some (first number is overall acceptance rate, second number is legacy acceptance rate:</p>
<p>Penn
34%
16%</p>
<p>Dartmouth
57%
27%</p>
<p>Columbia
51%
32%</p>
<p>Yale
45%
22%</p>
<p>Princeton
43%
15%</p>
<p>Cornell
43%
37%</p>
<p>Harvard
40%
11%</p>
<p>Brown
35%
14%</p>
<p>Perspectives:</a> A Legacy of Racial Injustice in American Higher Education</p>
<p>I see no reason to believe that Swarthmore is somehow radically different than these schools; however, it is certainly possible that the legacy rate is only 50% higher, not 100%.</p>
<p>BTW, having double the acceptance rate for subgroups is hardly surprising. The acceptance rate for Asian Americans at Swarthmore has been running at least 50% higher than the overall rate in recent years. Nobody suggests this results from some grand conspiracy to unfairly favor Asian American applicants. It's just the way the numbers have worked out.</p>
<p>It's also possible that right now is the historic low point for legacy acceptance rates. Swarthmore currently mails less than half of its acceptance letters to white domestic applicants, while nearly all of Swarthmore's legacies are still white US applicants (although that is changing).</p>
<p>Perhaps those numbers are switched, ID? I'm sure Harvard's acceptance rate isn't forty percent, even eleven seems a little high. I thought the overall acceptance rate for Yale and Harvard was approximately nine percent. </p>
<p>I think the general consensus is being a legacy helps in that applicants have inherited genes which are a cut above average compared to the rest of the world, as well as to the other applicants. They have grown up in households which have most likely enforced ideals which Swatties tend to possess, have better work ethics, have higher IQ's, are generally exposed to excellent opportunities, etc. </p>
<p>On a different note: I wonder if there are any statistics or general information on the specifics of the extracurriculars in which Swatties were involved during high school. I think it would be interesting to see the diversity of the accepted applications. Does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>Ooops. Thanks. The big number is the legacy acceptance rate. The small number is the overall rate.</p>
<p>This data is from various years so may not represent the most recent year.</p>
<p>As a Swarthmore grad who has done admissions interviewing, my perception (based on small personal sample size and conversation with other alums) is that being a legacy is a small plus. The fact that admissions rates may be (I have no data, but ID may well be right) higher is more likely due to the preparation that alum kids have: growing up in a household where, presumably, books and ideas are important and educational success highly valued. Here I'm a bit more on the nuture side of the nature vs. nuture debate.</p>
<p>I've heard that the Swarthmore admissions office treats Quaker students as they treat legacies (as a tip factor between qualified applicants). Is that true?</p>
<p>According to an admissions office interview about five years ago, they ignore the policy to give a boost to Quaker applicants. No preference at all. Religious affiliation is also listed as "not considered" on the Common Data Set filing each year.</p>
<p>Being Quaker may give an applicant an edge in weaving something "Quaker" into their "Why Swarthmore?" essay. That essay can be important.</p>
<p>dadx3:</p>
<p>I think legacy is a "small plus". However, in an applicant pool filled with mostly well-qualified prospects, a "small plus" is the difference between yeah and nay.</p>
<p>It seems strange that they ask on the supplement form, then. Is it just for the sake of appearances?</p>
<p>I'm interested because I'm an unprogrammed Friend (h.s. junior) heavily involved in Quaker activism and outreach on local and state/regional levels. I have a soft spot for Quaker schools, but the Quaker-est ones (Haverford, Earlham) are affiliated with branches of Friends who are theologically quite conservative. Swarthmore has the Quaker sensibility without having connections to the particular groups that chap my hide.</p>