<p>My sister will be attending this fall and will be class of 2013... I was wondering if it could help (even in the slightest) my chances for getting in.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Edit: oh, and I'm a rising junior.</p>
<p>Yes this counts as legacy.</p>
<p>No there isn’t. And it doesn’t help in the least bit.</p>
<p>There are many siblings at Harvard … it may not technically count as legacy but it should help your application to be showcased.</p>
<p>I have encountered numerous siblings who were not legacy admits to
begin with. It is not clear that corelation == cause. I am quite
sure there is no formal ‘sibling’ legacy. However, I am convinced that if
someone has a sibling at Harvard it does increase their chances significantly.</p>
<p>A student in a family that has another student at Harvard probably has access to
detailed information on admittance and strategies used by the elder sibling.
As a ‘next generation’ attempt at admittance such a student automatically
has increased chances even if the admission officers were not to confer any
special favors based on the family ties.</p>
<p>what about uncle/aunts? do they also slighly-maybe-maybenot-butstillslighly make you a legacy?</p>
<p>Nope - a parent counts as a “feather on the scale.” Nothing else counts as a legacy. But having a sibling there is a real advantage. First of all, you’ve got a pretty good idea of application and essay strategies that were demonstrated to be successful. And, you have a free place to stay so that you can make appointments with faculty in departments of interest and then visit the campus to network with them.</p>
<p>Hypothetical: say your sibling had similar HS stats but is now completely owning at Harvard (indicating that you might be capable of similar awesomeness). Would admissions counselors take that into account?</p>
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<p>Wow. This is my biggest pet peeve on this website, when non-admissions officers adopt the tone of an admissions officer and declare “it doesn’t help in the least bit!” How are you so certain?</p>
<p>A better answer is: There is no formal sibling legacy policy. Informally, it may or may not help you. There is a good chance your regional admissions officer reviewed your sibling’s application, especially if you went to the same high school. Perhaps the former made a good impression that may subjectively cause said officer to remember your application a bit more. Is anyone going to talk about this process? No, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.</p>
<p>i have always felt that a sibling would be a factor any colleges application BUT I fell like it could go both ways. If the siblings record were positive I would think it would be helpful but the reverse if not.</p>
<p>At Cornell, it only helps to have a sibling who went there if the sibling had a high GPA. This is according to an admissions officer.</p>
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<p>Because the Harvard admissions officers have repeatedly said so. They have made it plain that only parent legacy counts for anything and that for not very much:</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#25]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#25)</p>
<p>Of course if you think the admissions officers are lying about it then there is not much anyone here could say about anything to do with admissions. In that case we’ve all been deceived.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought that the whole “legacy” thing only works wonders if your last name is Kennedy, Bush, Lynch etc… Or your parent(s) who went to Harvard made a hugeass donation or went on to be the Chief Minister of some country (for internationals). Parents/siblings with high gpas, makes a good impression to the adcoms maybe, but that’s about it. But again, I stand corrected. <em>shrug</em></p>
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<p>There’s a difference between formal policy and what actually happens. It’s not that anyone is lying; it’s that admissions officers aren’t computers and therefore have innate bias.</p>
<p>Is there a formal policy that your legacy status counts more if your parent donated a building to the school? Guarantee that in that case, your legacy status counts more than “not very much.”</p>
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<p>Yes, that’s called a “Developmental Admit.” Many schools have a special office or special officers within admissions to handle those cases. The policy is usually not publicly posted, because of the bad publicity it would engender, plus so few applicants can qualify as developmental admits that posting it is really not necessary - the parents will know whom to call.</p>
<p>Official stance may be no but an admissions officer when we visited said “we certainly take it into account”. Daughter is a rising sophomore and son was admitted to class of 2013…(We have given no money nor do we have any!!) :)). But also know of people who’s first child admitted second was not so… do your best, keep involved in high school but most importantly do what you enjoy the admit rate is still low and there are no guarantees. Good luck.</p>
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I took a look at the commonly asked questions and though it states that children of legacys may get an extra look it does not actually state that there are no benefits in the case of any other relative. Your position is stated only by their omission. That combined with Harvard’s acceptance rate and number of accepted siblings make me wonder. </p>
<p>Furthermore, when I continue to the next FAQ on athlete applicants they make the following statement:
We know that this statement does not fully describe the application experience of a recruited athlete. We have a friend who son will be a recruited athlete by Harvard and and are currently in the waiting period until July 1 (I think that is the date that I heard) when Harvard is allowed to contact him. With this in mind, why would we not then assume that maybe the explanation on legacys is equally understated.
I have always found this to be an odd name. 
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<p>well my sibling sucked at harvard (bad gpa, no activities) and i still got in! again correlation does not imply causation.</p>
<p>so much for my theory. :(</p>
<p>Legacy will definately result in your application getting a second look, a more thorough consideration…however, does not guarantee admission.</p>