<p>Hey guys! Yale is my first choice for college and I will be applying within a few days. On Yale's common app supplement, they have spaces to put all the possible legacy information of your parents/grandparents. However, they are also one of the few schools (that i've seen anyways) that allows space for basically relatives who weren't your parents or grandparents.
Now, neither of my parents went to Yale, but I have a great uncle who attended. I honestly don't know how much he did for the campus community...but he was insanely brilliant. My parents revered to him both as "a whack job" and the guy "who belongs in a brain trust". In other words -- freaky smart. He was also a lifelong scholar...I know that he attended college basically all of his life just to learn...and I think he attended Yale for a very long time. </p>
<p>To get right to the point: is the fact that I am related to this man going to increase my chances at all?</p>
<p>No reason not to write it down in the “any relatives” section; it can’t hurt. And as others said, his Yale connection might make for interesting essay material.</p>
<p>If you didn’t know him, he’s probably not a good topic for an essay (except perhaps a brief mention in “why Yale?”)</p>
<p>But I have a standard answer to this (and many other questions): Because Yale looks at the whole package, anything good helps you, and anything bad hurts you. What you can’t really know is how much any one thing matters, unless it’s something big (ie., cured cancer vs. convicted of a felony). Having a family connection to Yale is a good thing, so mention it.</p>