<p>I heard that top prep schools like either:</p>
<p>-Both parents went to top colleges </p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>-First in family to go to college</p>
<p>The reasoning was that top colleges give advantage to legacy and thus the school matriculation chances to the top school in question is slightly higher. </p>
<p>The latter because it provides diversity and top colleges like that also.</p>
<p>Thoughts? I am a little skeptical. I put down my parents thing so I guess I am hoping it helps.</p>
<p>They don't care where the parents went to college or if they were top colleges---it has no impact whatsoever. But yes, if the child is the first in his family or generation to attend college, of course that counts for a lot.</p>
<p>K cool. Why does it ask where they went, and what degree they got on the application then?</p>
<p>Just for statistics?</p>
<p>I agree with Newyorker22, he/she is right on target.</p>
<p>@viola: I was wondering the same thing, any answers?</p>
<p>I think a lot of times the school just wants to know where your coming from.</p>
<p>You can't known where your going, unless you know where you came from.</p>
<p>I spoke with someone who can give very credible feedback and here is what I found out:</p>
<p>More so than the reason I stated going to a Ivy school will show the admissions office that you have been brought up in a very educated environment. It also shows that the family places a premium on education. Depending on how everything is played out he said it can give certain people a huge leg up (especially if the person has gone on to pursue either a masters or a doctorate).</p>
<p>"You can't known where your going, unless you know where you came from."</p>
<p>I don't really agree with that. Are you insinuating that people who have parents that didn't go to university or didn't go to a top university will follow in their footsteps? I know that A/E look for "Youth From Every Quarter". Perhaps what you meant was that the schools just want the information for diversity reasons. You can't accurately predict one's success by looking at their family members' backgrounds.</p>
<p>Principal Viola: That's true, but parents that didn't necessarily go to an Ivy League school may place just as much emphasis on education as a family with parents that did.</p>
<p>I agree, but on paper that selectivity may play more to their strengths than another institution. If anything I will say look outside the box, Harvard is not everything.</p>
<p>I think you just contradicted yourself. I agree with your second sentence though. Harvard is not everything, and a lot of the applicants to HADES will have parents that both went to Ivy League schools. In my opinion, it's more impressive to potentially be the first student to attend University.</p>
<p>"It also shows that the family places a premium on education"</p>
<p>I disagree with that statement, I think sometimes it works in the opposite direction as well. While my dad has multiple degrees from good colleges, my mom never got the opportunity to finish college because of her families financial situation at the time. I think she values education even more than my dad does, and wants me to be able to have the opportunities she missed out on.</p>
<p>Parent statement is pretty important for this reason. Thingslost I don't think I contradicted myself. I still believe an Ivy school looks somewhat better in paper but in reality I would say go to where your heart desires. I have always wanted to go to Amherst (even though parents went to yale and harvard) and I do not think an acceptance from any Ivy school, save for Columbia, Harvard, or Yale will make me change my mind if I am given that opportunity. </p>
<p>Meli you are correct, and the admissions officers are bloody smart... They will know :)</p>
<p>Melissax225: EXACTLY! How important education is to a family is an intangible factor.</p>
<p>Admissions officers are a lot more snoopy than you think, and a parent statement is a lot more important than you think. It is intangible to a certain degree. I agree with you but remember these guys are really smart. I think they will take it at face value that everyone values education but many take a dynamic approach. Really depends.</p>
<p>Viola: I think I understand what you're saying. I still disagree with you though. Both of my parents majored in Engineering and Business, and they attended one of the top Universities in the world. I still don't believe that it gives me more of an advantage over someone who has parents that didn't get a degree at a designer college. You're entitled to your own opinions.</p>
<p>Usually, TomTheCat argues with people, but as he's been MIA, I've elected to substitute for him. </p>
<p>TomTheCat: When you come back, you can have your job back. It does not pay enough.</p>
<p>Lol. Is MIA missing in action? </p>
<p>It does not give you a direct advantage but I think it procures itself as a good way to convey the family's regard to education.</p>
<p>NO. MIA means marshmallows in applesauce. :P Yeah, it means missing in action. Haven't you noticed? He hasn't posted in a while, maybe he got banned?</p>
<p>I hope not. I can see why many moderators may do that because he was very "passionate" in many of his posts, but he had a lot of knowledge and I dearly hope he was not banned. </p>
<p>By the way we get infractions of talking about moderation on public boards. :( So if you want to talk about that anymore we should probably take it to PMs.</p>
<p>Haha. I guess we think alike.</p>