If I have legacy status at an elite school such as Stanford do I have a better chance of getting in than I would otherwise? For instance, my father, grandfather, and two cousins went to Stanford.
I think Stanford says that they admit legacies at twice the rate that they admit unhooked applicants - so instead of 5% of applicants being admitted, it would be 10% of the legacies. That said, admissions also mentioned that legacies tend to have higher than average test scores and grades, etc…realtive to the general applicant pool, so the competition is stiffer within that group.
So yes, it’s a boost, but a small one.
Yes.
Yes, but you still need the stats to be admitted. For example, my counselor knew an average guy whose parents, grandparents, and siblings all went to Stanford, was waitlisted, and then got off the waitlist.
Sorry, S only counts parents for legacy status.
Stanford denies thousands of legacy applicants every year.
Legacy applicants receive a second read on their application. That’s it.
Legacy applicants get admitted at a higher rate because Stanford families generate students who tend to be better applicants, not because they are afforded special weighting during the process.