<p>How powerful is a legacy from an older sibling? I know that if it is a parent/grandparent, or aunt etc. it helps a lot (for ex: George W. Bush). But, I was wondering if anyone knows how strong it is, or any account of a friend getting in most likely because of their older sibling?</p>
<p>sighh nobody knows? ):</p>
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<p>Your post is wrong on many levels. First of all, if we suppose George W. Bush’s acceptance to Yale to be illegitimate if based on his academic credentials, you can’t just explain it away as simply the inherent effects of “legacy”. The Bush family isn’t an average legacy family and wouldn’t be treated as average in the realm of college admissions.</p>
<p>Second, legacy is usually considered only in the case of parent-offspring. I’ve never seen any indication that colleges give significant preferences to the nieces and nephews or even grandchildren of alumni.</p>
<p>Third, it doesn’t help “a lot” by any means. Harvard still rejects a large majority of legacy applicants. Most admissions officers claim that being a legacy applicant will earn a “second look” at your application to distinguish you from equally well-qualified applicants. That means you have to be qualified first, which is no small feat for one of the top schools on Earth. </p>
<p>To answer your question, I am highly skeptical that having a currently attending or alum sibling will give any sort of boost to your prospects.</p>
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<p>Erh, none at all? Like DwightEisenhower said, the “legacy” status is only for applicants whose parents attended Harvard College.</p>
<p>From the admissions website:</p>
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<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>Hope that helped :).</p>
<p>hmm strange o-o
yes i know Bush went to Yale. i was using him as a legacy example in general, not specifically for Harvard.</p>
<p>The reason why i’m asking is that i was uncertain/wanted confirmation, since my counselor and admissions people told me that there is an advantage. my friend also said that it helped, esp. since he told me that one of his friends got accepted to Harvard with B’s and C’s, but had a “legacy” from his/her sister.</p>
<p>Thus why I asked. it was just out of curiosity. lol</p>
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<p>Your friend lied. Unless his name was Steve Faust or something.</p>
<p>[Let</a> me google that for you](<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You)</p>
<p>The dean reads your application one more time to make sure no one slips through the cracks.
That’s all.</p>
<p>If say, my father is a Harvard alum, would it then give me a slight advantage in that admissions will review my application more extensively? I heard that having a parent who attended Harvard also boosts SAT scores for instance causing a 700 to be reviewed as maybe a 740, is this true?</p>
<p>^ I doubt it. I think it just gives you a generalized chance boost. Nothing quantitative changes.</p>
<p>Although the article is 9 years old, it quotes dean of admissions, Marlyn McGrath Lewis, on Harvard’s sibling policy: [Who</a> Are You, Anyway? | Harvard Magazine Jul-Aug 2001](<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2001/07/who-are-you-anyway.html]Who”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2001/07/who-are-you-anyway.html)</p>
<p>“I suppose we rest a feather on the scales,” said Lewis. “While our parental legacy rule is widely known and has long been in effect, we have no specific policy on siblings. Our essential, fundamental question to applicants is, ‘Who are you, anyway?’ The more we know and understand our applicants, the better. A sibling at Harvard can help in this process. As admissions officers, we often remember the salient details from the older sibling’s application. Or perhaps the older sibling was in an admission officer’s proctor group. It all helps us paint a more complete picture.” But Lewis warns that blood does run thin: “Each year we receive lavishly drawn family trees mapping some family’s genealogical ties to Harvard. Yet almost as a rule, the weaker the applicant’s case, the more they push their Harvard lineage.”</p>