<p>One of my friend's parents were both legacies at one of the HYPS school, they pledged a 2 million dollars to the university last year. When I asked him, he was like "I talked to the admission people and they told me in person that I have a good chance to get into the college". Personally I do believe the power of money, but 2 million is like trivial for a school at HYPS-level. I mean this guy doesn't have 4.0 and has like only a 2100 SAT, though he plays sports at varsity (but not D1 leve); If 2 million buys your way in, HYPS will probably filled up with the kids whose parents can donate multi-million dollars.</p>
<p>…HYPS is full of kids whose parents can donate multi-million dollars.</p>
<p>I figure a student athlete with a 2100 SAT and legacy/donor parents has a “good chance” of getting into Harvard. You haven’t posted anything about him that would negate that chance. 2100 on the SAT is a perfectly acceptable score for Harvard. Only in CC-crazy-world would anyone doubt that. </p>
<p>I’m sure that even without the legacy/donor part, if any kid with a 2100 SAT and reasonably good high school GPA called up Harvard admissions and asked whether they should apply, they would be told they had a “good chance.” Again… why not?</p>
<p>^Exactly, so why would the admission people give a favor to the guy whose parents pledged 2M?</p>
<p>
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<p>And why shouldn’t they? The more your parents donate (or to a lesser extent, the more active your parents are in alumni associations) the higher are in your chances are. It is not fair, but that’s life.</p>
<p>^calmom
But the senario is different, the administration people invited my friend’s entire family to campus and told him that he has a good chance. I don’t think colleges will invite regular kids with a 2100 SAT and good GPA to campus and deliver a reassurance talk… Don’t take me wrong, this guy is very popular at school and he has many leadership positions + impressive ECs for a 17 yrs old, but for HYPS he might not be that impressive at all.</p>
<p>^frankchn
We are talking about 2M, not 20M. 2M is absolutely nothing for a school with an endowment of 12 Billion+</p>
<p>It is definitely not nothing - say 10x 2 million dollars per year and suddenly you have 20% of the total undergraduate financial aid budget covered - even at schools as generous as HYPSM. </p>
<p>Sure, two million might not get you into Harvard if you had a 2.0 GPA and a 1000 SAT, but will it give you a big advantage - especially if your other core stats (SATs, GPA, ECs) are almost or already up to the mark? Yes, most definitely. </p>
<p>Not many people actually donate that much money at one go in these economic times - so any significant amount of money is always welcome. There is also the chance of the parents donating more while the kid is in school.</p>
<p>I agree with calmom. I don’t know much about the kid but if he is an excellent student, has great ECs including leadership, and has 2100 SATs, he would have been considered for HYPS anyway, without what you are talking about with regard to his parents. BUT add in he is a legacy, and his parents are donating 2 million. That is a significant private donation. His parents may be active alum in other respects that you don’t know about. That adds a tip to his application which already was in contention for such colleges. I’ve known people to get in to those schools with such profiles whose parents donated nothing. So, a 2 million dollar donation might be a tip factor if he is an appropriate candidate in the first place.</p>
<p>By the way, two million is NOT trivial. If many alum donate large amounts, it adds up. These schools would love a private individual who donated two million!</p>
<p>(only on CC are 2100 SATs not so great and only on CC is two million trivial :rolleyes: )</p>
<p>^fankchn
I agree with you if his parents keep donating for 10 years will be very beneficial to the school. But what if his parents only do it for one year? Even if he has the core stats+ECs, I don’t think 2 million will help in any ways. If so, Harvard can just openly sell their slots on Ebay.</p>
<p>There is no loss on the school - they are two million dollars richer than if they had admitted some other guy in place of him who didn’t donate a cent.</p>
<p>From what you described, he seems to be the sort who can survive and thrive at top schools. He will keep paying tuition in any case - just like any other regular student who didn’t donate.</p>
<p>Donating a lot of money will help - especially if the applicant is within range for the school.</p>
<p>^soozievt</p>
<p>Don’t you think 2100 is very low for a non-URM? I mean two million is trivial compare to their 12 Billion+ endowment…</p>
<p>^frankchn
There is nothing wrong about your logic, but if that’s the case I believe there are like hundreds stellar applicants whose parents donated 1 million+ yearly, there is no way a school at HYPS level is going to take them all.</p>
<p>Geez, I can’t believe there’s a discussion here about whether 2 million dollars is trivial. Even if Harvard’s endowment is $12 billion, $2 mill from one private individual is nothing to sneeze at. How do you think their endowment got so large? Had to start somehow.</p>
<p>1) starts with private donations
2) savvy investing
3) corporate donations
4) compounding investments</p>
<p>I don’t think there are so many families that can donate one million dollars at one go (much less per year) to anywhere in this economy.</p>
<p>^limabeans
It’s only trivial when you compare 2 Million with 12 Billion. 2 million is obvious not trivial, but I’m just saying it’s probably insufficient to buy someone’s way into an elite institution. If his parents gave 20 million then it’s a completely different story.</p>
<p>^frank
Families don’t have to donate 1M at once, they can pledge that much for like the next 3 or 5 years.</p>
<p>^ Well then their advantage might decrease somewhat then. </p>
<p>Two million dollars might not “buy someone’s way into an elite institution” for sure, but it will definitely be an advantage, the same way getting a top 5 finish at the International Mathematics Olympiad or Intel Science Talent Search is an advantage in admissions.</p>
<p>If your friend commits some felonies or something like that, then obviously he is still not going to get in. However, if he continues to do his work, participates in his ECs and doesn’t totally blow off the application - he is more or less going to get in to the school.</p>