<p>I know this has been asked 9324012 trillion times but how does legacy help at top universities, like Duke, even if a parent does not donate any money. My uncle, mom, and grandfather all went to Duke--does that help my chances much (assuming good grades etc)?</p>
<p>Quite a bit. Most students from my daughter's school that were legacies got into Duke. One particular student with A- GPA with no APs, 2100 SAT, and no ECs got into Duke and was turned down by many lower ranking schools. It's not the same with all schools. Legacy is more important at some schools than others. Legacy is not as important at U of Penn and Dartmouth, which many of their alums do complain about.</p>
<p>The legacy admissions rate is about 50% - I'm not sure how much is due to qualifications and how much due to being a legacy, but legacy should be very helpful especially in borderline cases. If you can visit campus, try to get a meeting/interview in the alumni or admissions offices, it will help if you can.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that it's probably best if the alumni gave money in the past but it's not necessary.</p>
<p>Both of my parents went to Duke, and when my sister was applying the admissions people we talked to said it had very little weight, especially compared to schools like Stanford or USC. They said it would help with borderline or tied kids. Things may have changed in four years though</p>
<p>My roomate's mom went to Duke for both undergrad and law. His dad went for law. </p>
<p>He is white, scored lower than a 2000 on the SAT, and isn't the best writer and he wrote the generic why duke essay (basketball). He has never had a job and his only EC's were sports. </p>
<p>I would say it helps a lot at Duke.</p>