<p>Okay so my friend wants advice on this situation: </p>
<p>Her grandfather's wife (he remarried) is the president of a university (like a step up from a community college-type) and she (the president) offered to send in a character reference to some of her schools. Do you think it would help? </p>
<p>schools: HYP</p>
<p>Nope. Wouldn't help at all (based on the position of the step-grandmother). If the content has substance, then it will certainly put your friend in favorable light, but that's only because of the content and not the position.</p>
<p>Might as well--it won't hurt</p>
<p>I don't think it would make a difference unless that lady has inside connections with administration at HYP.</p>
<p>Considering that the Admission officers are normal human beings, the move may back fire for (1) influence-peddling and (2) wasting app reader's time.</p>
<p>Agree with Reddune and beantowngal's caution should be heeded. Found this on the web, sounds about right:</p>
<p>Ultimately, it's not who you know, but how well you know them. </p>
<p>You could get a letter of recommendation from the most famous person in America, but it wouldn't mean a hill of beans unless he knew you really well and could comment on several aspects of your personality. In fact, from what I've witnessed, colleges disregard any canned, impersonal recommendations from "famous" people, especially famous people who previously attended that college. It's the "little people" who count - those who have been a part of your life nearly every day for more than a week. That's not to say that alumni recommendations won't help, because in some instances they do. But for Pete's sake, make sure that alum knows you really well and can confidently tell the admissions office that you would fit in well at their school.</p>
<p>Also, found this about law school but you get the idea:</p>
<p>Recommenders that are almost always useless for the purposes of law school admissions include your state senator, friends of the family, relatives, famous people and muckety-muck judges who know you only socially (if at all), your lacrosse coach, and your choir director.</p>
<p>Also found this previous CC post:</p>
<p>By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 02:22 pm
Soozievt,
As an Ivy alumni interviewer, I have heard of no cases in which a recommendation from a celebrity, alum or high government official got a student into a school. </p>
<p>The recommendations that act as tip factors are recommendations that provide important details about a student's character or talents that indicate that the recommender knows the student very well and knows the student would be an extraordinary addition to a campus. </p>
<p>Recommendations from friends of parents or from celebrities/officials who happened to have a vague acquaintance with the student will not carry weight. </p>
<p>Very honestly, a recommendation from a school janitor stating how a student had gone out of their way to, for instance, raise funds to help the janitor's family in a poor foreing country would hold far, far more weight than would a vague reference letter from a celebrity. </p>
<p>As for "connections," lots of GCs, including at public schools know adcoms. That doesn't mean, however, that a particular student at a school has an automatic in. </p>
<p>Many parents also know adcoms and admissions officials. That doesn't mean their students have automatic acceptances. I also think that when parents try to pull strings at very competitive schools, that might count against students because adcoms might wonder why the parents think the students aren't good enough to get in on their own efforts. </p>
<p>In fact, when it comes to my alma mater, I have seen parents who keep very low profiles when their kids are applying. The parents don't want to wish to look like they are trying to force admissions into admitting their kids. </p>
<p>For instance, a friend who heads a committe for alumni interviewers in her area has taken a leave of absence this year because her son is applying. Her son has wonderful credentials also is a URM. The mom has known one of the adcoms since the mom was a freshman, yet the mom is keeping a low profile -- and is making darned sure that her son has good safeties! </p>
<p>I think that parents bragging about how connections will get their kids in may be parents who are very naive about the process.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I'll tell her what you said - it's some good advice.</p>