<p>my grandfather attended dartmouth as an undergrad and i have now learned that i do not qualify as a legacy there. but i am curious to know if this can still benefit me somehow. any insight or advice on my situation would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>You are not a legacy. Has your grandfather been a very active (trustee) or generous alum?</p>
<p>i know i do not count as a legacy, and no he wasn’t a trustee. but im curious to know if i mention the fact that my grandfather attended dartmouth (maybe in my essay?) that it would at least prove i have a connection to the school… which might be better than nothing. what do you think?</p>
<p>Unless the fact that your grandfather attended D fits the topic of your essay and adds something to its effectiveness–which I find difficult to imagine–I can’t see mentioning it there. You could certainly mention it in an alumni interview, and IIRC it may be possible to list him somewhere on the Common App. If there is some place for “additional information” you could slide it in. Or, if you are sending a separate resume by snail mail, you could mention your D connection in your short cover note. I’m sure it can’t hurt, although it may not help, either.</p>
<p>Don’t go out of your way to share this information with Dartmouth. You aren’t going to get any mileage out of it, but somebody might conclude that you look desperate to find any tiny advantage.</p>
<p>To be fair, with a college as selective as Dartmouth, I can understand why you might be desperate to find any small advantage. But you don’t want to look that way. Know what I mean?</p>