<p>So what is the deal with the whole legacy as a hook thing? I thought just having a parent who attended counts, but some people are saying that having a parent alumnus is irrelevant if he/she doesn't donate a ton of money to Yale... Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks.</p>
<p>If a parent of yours is an alumna/alumnus of Yale, that looks good on your application, but I would say that being a legacy today doesn’t help as much as it used to years ago. I mean, it could tip you into the accepted pile if your application was riding the fence, but being a legacy doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to. </p>
<p>For the other part of your question - I don’t know how much of an impact it has on your application if your parent donates money. Of course, donations look great, and I’m sure that it carries more weight than just having a parent who graduated from Yale but doesn’t donate at all (or donates little). But again, I am unsure how much of an impact it will have.</p>
<p>Lots of threads on this in the Yale forum. Use the search function and you’ll find many discussion on the weight of legacy. Definitely not a hook unless big bucks (and by big I don’t mean a measly million or two). For Joe of Jane Average Legacy, legacy status probably just a weak tip factor.</p>
<p>Legacy guarantees you’ll get a form letter from admissions telling you they look carefully at all legacy applications. That’s often followed up by a standard rejection letter.</p>
<p>Well sure it is /often/ followed by a rejection letter. It’s Yale. “Most” people don’t get in… But there’s no need to be overly pessimistic :/</p>
<p>I’m just relating our personal experience. I’m not trying to quibble, but I don’t think you can be overly pessimistic when it comes to Ivy admissions but that’s no reason not to try. Legacy isn’t what it used to be. As AA pointed out, there has been a lot of discussion about this. Good luck, and let us know what your experience is.</p>
<p>I have read that legacy status may be able to cure the sick, but not raise the dead. I think it still helps.</p>
<p>Yeah. I don’t expect it to make up for unqualified scores, etc., but I was just wondering if it had any effect at all. I’ve heard that it can serve as a
“tie-breaker…” So that’s all I was asking.</p>
<p>You’re new to CC and likely haven’t quite mastered the lexicon of college admissions as much as most people here ;). </p>
<p>Part of the confusion in this conversation is that in your OP you asked about legacy as an admissions hook. A hook is very different from a tip factor, which is more like what you’re referring to in your last post when you talk about a tie-breaker.</p>
<p>of course it doesnt matter as much today because now there are people of many different ethnicities applying instead of like years ago when there was limited applicants of certain ethnicities, with almost 80-90% being white</p>