So there’s always been talk about legacy but just how big is it? Obviously, if three generations of your family have gone to a certain college, then that’s pretty big legacy. But what about if you have one older sibling at the college. Is that legacy too?
Is there different “weight”/“power” or legacy depending on how many or more specifically how you’re related to that sibling?(eg, a sibling, counsin, parent, grandparent, aunt etc.)
Thoughts?
It sure would be nice if it did, both of my parents went an I really want to go. I do know some people whose alumni kids didn’t get in despite being super smart and donating the majority of a building, so they probably don’t consider it much anymore.
I don’t think it is much of an advantage for the vast majority of legacies, more like a tiebreaking factor, but the biggest advantage is that (last I heard, not sure if it still does this) Williams will give you a more candid assessment of your chances for admissions during an interview if you are a direct legacy.
Just one experience: My son, my daughter and I met with a department chair. She wanted to major in Chair’s department. Son was a sophomore at WC. Before we even got into who Daughter was and why she was here, the Chair turned abruptly to my son.
“How are you doing here at school?” said the Chair.
Son said, “Fine.”
“No really,” pressed the Chair, “how are you doing?”
“I’m doing well,” said Son. “Really.”
“Good,” said the Chair. “How you do will determine in part if your sister gets in.”
I laughed out loud. “No pressure, sweetie!”
Daughter then told the Chair her background and what she was looking for in the department. After that, the Chair proceeded with a full court press to convince her Williams was her perfect place and to apply and let the Chair know if she did. She applied ED and let the department know, sending them special materials, too.
Son had gotten in ED without athletics or legacy. So did daughter, although the above seems to indicate that sibling legacy means something, especially if they feel confident that the older sibling is a solid student and community member. She is a major in that department and extremely happy there.
You be the judge regarding legacies. Admissions has many variables. I agree with Ephman that legacy helps with the tie-breaking factor. It gives a certain amount of confidence to admissions that if one sibling does well, the other is more likely to.
Also, one night at a meet-and-greet for an institution in our city, we met a family with both their son and daughter at Williams, too, one year behind both our kids. We all marveled at the sibling legacy stance in action. Also, my son’s JA has his younger brother there, but their dad was also an alum. So far, with only three families as a data set, sibling legacy exists as some kind of factor.
Good luck!
I think so too! Speaking from personal experience, I know that there was one family at my school who sent all of their kids (3 sisters and 1 brother) to Princeton.
Additionally, many of the people who got into Harvard from my school had one parent/sibling who attended Harvard. I don’t think being legacy will guarantee an acceptance, but I think that a combination of factors- I’ve heard that as legacy kids tend to do well in school/extracurriculars + that if one sibling did well then that means the other will probably do well too- contributes to the weight of legacy in admissions.
I guess overall, I agree with @ivegraduatedmom that legacy will have a beneficial, albeit small, impact on your application! 
@ivegraduatedmom Curious about how you went about meeting with a department chair – who reached out? Under what pretense?
@SkipWoosnam It was by accident. We wandered around the department building checking out the facilities, and thought we might meet with someone else on the off chance he was there. We stopped at the dept. asst. desk and asked for him. When he wasn’t in, another prof overheard and said, “Come on in to my office. I have time to talk.” We didn’t realize it was the dept. chair until the meeting.
Williams is the kind of place that if you contact either the dept. asst. or the actual profs, they will schedule a time to meet with you. The pretense could be as simple as the student’s interested in that department, a particular background, and you’d like to discuss it with a prof. It was very relaxed. The professors there want to teach undergrads and make close relationships with them. If they’re interested in someone for their dept., they will let admissions know. Good luck!
Being a legacy only helps a lot if you apply ED
For Williams I don’t think that’s right Keith3800. Both of my sons did the legacy interview with Williams admissions and were told that they would still have their legacy “edge” in the RD round (that’s the word the admissions officer used).
As to how much of an edge it gives you - I think it helps a little. It’s not going to make up for any deficits, more like a tiebreaker as Ephman said.
@jrpar is correct. Williams will give the legacy bump in the RD round as well. My legacy D was told that last summer when she interviewed with a Williams admissions dean. So with that knowledge, D applied RD to Williams and was accepted (though did ultimately decided to attend elsewhere).
To the OP’s question, I believe it may very well help if you have a sibling already at Williams who is doing well espe if he/she is known by some of the AOs.
Sister currently goes to Williams, and I was accepted to Williams this year too. No one else in our family has ever gone to Williams, so I think sibling legacy is definitely a thing.
Did you apply ED or RD @MNthump18 ?