<p>I'm in a somewhat complicated situation. I'm unsure whether or not all of these are considered legacy statuses. I'm applying to all the Ivies, Stanford, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Duke, NYU, Michigan, and Berkley.</p>
<p>Grandfather - Yale
father - Yale
mother - Brown
step-father - Harvard</p>
<p>This is where it gets complicated. I have 3 siblings and 4 step-siblings. My parents divorced when I was 8 years old and my mom remarried when I was 11 and my dad never remarried.</p>
<p>Siblings mean nothing for legacy status but I’ll assume your greater familiarity with the school can help when writing your “Why Yale” or similar essays. Aunts and uncles don’t count either. I don’t know if step-father status means anything and should be listed or even if that differs by school. I know that Penn graduate degrees by a parent count for legacy status although on some other Ivy thread a few posters were quite confident that a particular school only counted undergraduate degrees for legacy and thought that was more common.</p>
<p>The fact that your father and both brothers followed your grandfather to Yale and both step-brothers followed their dad to Harvard appears to overstate the power of legacy status. Make sure you are in the ballpark of un-hooked applicants too.</p>
<p>From what I saw on last year’s Yale supplement, they accept parents, step-parents and grandparents as legacy. Unsure about the other schools but if you apply for Harvard, definitely mention your step-father.</p>
<p>Wow. You seem to have an Ivy League of your own at home That said, I think Yale would be a good bet (assuming, of course, you are in the range stats-wise) because both your father and grandfather went there (along with your two brothers). Regardless, all things considered, you seem like you have a great education ahead of you. Good luck.</p>
<p>SAT: 2270 - took it in March w/ minimal studying (2-4 hours)
SAT IIs: 780 Math II, 770 Chemistry, 770 U.S History, and 750 Biology
ACT: 33 (cold)
GPA: 3.77 at a good, but not great prep school in NYC.</p>
<p>I’m going to retake the SAT in October. </p>
<p>The rest is really typical of an applicant: varsity sports, 500+ hours of community service, and some minor awards.</p>
<p>Lobzz, I didn’t even post my aunts, uncles, and cousins. :)</p>
<p>What is the basis for saying that siblings mean nothing? I have heard the opposite many times.</p>
<p>Hunt:</p>
<p>I heard this right from admissions after a third sibling was rejected following two older siblings matriculating. Of course we are talking about a regular legacy preference and not a developmental case. If your last name is Sterling, Harkness, Bass, et.al. you are probably still OK. :)</p>
That said, I think Yale would be a good bet (assuming, of course, you are in the range stats-wise) because both your father and grandfather went there (along with your two brothers). Regardless, all things considered, you seem like you have a great education ahead of you. Good luck.</p>