<p>Ok here is the potential problem. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.</p>
<p>What is the effect on S2 if S1 turns down an acceptance from my Alma Mater (legacy)? If he gets into the EA school that deferred him and he also gets into my Alma Mater (Ivy), he will choose the former. </p>
<p>S2 however, is a great candidate for my old school (currently a soph in HS) and would probably love it if he got in. Will the school in question look at the family and say ...."well S1 turned us down we can't take S2"?</p>
<p>Should S1 not bother applying if he may turn them down so that S2 can have a better shot at it?</p>
<p>I’ll punt here…Do you really think the SAME admissions committee that is currently reviewing applications at these colleges will remember your ONE son’s application and status in a couple of years when your second son applies? The same admissions folks might not even be working there! </p>
<p>I seriously doubt that schools EXPECT legacy students to attend their school. The reality is that the current students may be very different than their parents. Each college applicant’s search and selection should be viewed as a separate entity, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I don’t think your first son should consider this at all…he should choose a college based on HIS needs and criteria.</p>
<p>Is there a regular history or pattern of other accepted students at your S’s HS who have turned down your Ivy alma mater? If not, then I think you don’t need to worry. However, IF your A.M. regularly admits students from that HS, only to have them decline acceptance, then you may need to think about the possibility of having your younger S apply ED, or show your A.M. some other way that he REALLY wants to matriculate there[ if he does by the time his Senior year rolls around]
Some HS’s with consistent low matriculation yields for Ivy colleges, may find that it can get harder and harder for students down the road to get a RD acceptance.
I don’t think it should impact your first son’s application, unless he is just “trophy hunting” for Ivy acceptances OR just applying to please you. In either case, if he has no intention of going there, then he should not apply or withdraw his application.</p>
<p>Do Adcoms even know that a previous family’s child turns down an acceptance? Do they even keep track of those things? Families change so much from year to year (divorce, remarriages, etc), it would be hard to keep such a file.</p>
<p>That’s my question exactly!! Do they know? Do they keep track of such things?</p>
<p>menloparkmom</p>
<p>I believe that almost everyone from my sons’ school that has been accepted to my A.M. has matriculated. (Its a very small school, but with a strong academic reputation.) So maybe we will be OK if S1 turns them down. He is definitely not trophy hunting, its just that its not his number one choice (2 or 3 definitely), but he could very likely get a rejection from #1.</p>
<p>I think you WILL be OK. Colleges DO keep track of matriculation rates /HS’s , but I’ve never read that they keep track of that / family. He is a legacy, so I would hope for the best.</p>
<p>So why is S1 applying if he does not want to go? Does he really need a trophy? S2 should not factor into it. He either is interested in going there or not. If yes, apply, if not don’t. If it is on his list, even if behind his first choice, OK, then apply and make the decision then. Each should do this on their own.</p>
<p>Unless you have a very distinctive surname or a very high profile family, I think it is unlikely that any school will recall that S1 was one of 15,000 or so applicants that a) got admitted and b) declined during a subsequent year’s discussion of 15,000 or so applicants. </p>
<p>If they SHOULD recall that scenario, then they may decide that S2 is a much more clever lad and more likely to attend. . . </p>
<p>People decline to attend for so many reasons – for instance, a kid with a brain tumor might decline to enroll – surely an admissions officer has far too much to do to haul around hurt feelings about one student going another direction. You are blessed with two immensely talented offspring. Stop second guessing this stuff! Please!</p>
<p>Other than H and P, every other Ivy has ED. So, if your S2 is really into your Alma Mater, have him apply to the ED round. that should dispel any concern about his commitment.</p>
<p>of course, if it’s HP, that’s a different story, but I understand that even for legacies, admissions odds at these schools are so unpredictable that this whole discussion may be far less of an issue one way or the other.</p>
<p>I was told by a close friend (an admissions officer at a top-10 private university) that they DO keep file of it, but that it’s obviously taken worth a grain-of-salt. </p>
<p>Regardless, I’d let S1 choose where he wants to go without worrying about S2. If the university thinks S2 will be successful there, he’ll be admitted regardless of S1’s decision.</p>
<p>I think it will effect S2. They absolutely keep track of it. Your alma mater already knows they were not S1’s first choice. ED/EA is where the big boost comes. If S2 applies ED, they know they’ll yield them but the family loyalty they love won’t be there.</p>
<p>With great stats he’ll probably still get in, but for a borderline legacy it’s a negative.</p>
<p>Some nice donations meanwhile will heal all wounds and I would not let it effect S1.</p>
<p>The school in question is Princeton…therefore no EA/ED available. So there is no way to let them know how S1 or S2 rank the school during the application process. </p>
<p>I am getting lots of different messages here, but I tend to think it does matter. If a school is going to give an applicant any sort of legacy boost and you turn them down I don’t think they would like it. And they might just remember. I mean there are probably tons of angry alums they have to deal with each year whose children don’t get in.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right, because out of 15,000 - 20,000 applications, they’re going to remember. @@ Really, unless you are a particularly high profile alumni (as in, your name is on the science building), it is quite self-aggrandizing to think that you’re important enough that they are going to remember.</p>
<p>Well lets say you have an admissions person in charge of the area in which you live. Lets say they visit the same schools each year. Now we are no longer talking 15,000 applicants. This admissions person might remember.</p>
<p>The concept that admissions officers don’t visit every single high school in the US seems to be missing around here! Even if they do … so what? Admissions officers have come on to CC and said that they certainly don’t remember the hordes of people that they meet from year to year at all the meet-and-greet types of venues. And even if they did – are they supposed to be that shallow that they’re going to ding one kid for the actions of another?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, do refer back to post #11. I vaguely remember reading the same quip in some admissions book or another, but wasn’t sure enough to say so.</p>
<p>Will they (the admissions office, not an individual officer) remember? Quite possibly/probably. Will it matter? --Who knows?</p>
<p>Man, I am having a hard time thinking anyone should care about this problem. Honestly. Parent is clearly blessed and educated. Offspring are clearly blessed and talented. Isn’t all this a bit like seeking only the most very perfect cherry to top the ice cream sundae?</p>
<p>S1 needs to be polite so that he is not slamming the door shut for S2. Other than that, S1 should do his best to attend where he thinks he will soar. Parent needs a hobby other than obsessing about offspring!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that it will have no effect. I was chatting with an acquaintance who worked in the Yale admissions office for all four years of his undergraduate career, filing papers or something like that. Even he knew that Yale did not like my HS. That’s not the same as one student in particular, but if anyone who works in the office knows stuff like that, I don’t doubt that they do indeed keep track of that info. At Princeton, there are many families who have two or more kids (all children attending) at the school, for the record.</p>
<p>Of course, I think the bigger issue is why S1 would choose any school over Princeton. :P</p>