<p>My parents, who went to Stanford, received a nice letter from Stanford this week saying how much Stanford values its alumni and thanks for having your child apply, but remember that Stanford is much more competitive than it was back in the day and esentially implying (if not outright saying), don't get your hopes up.</p>
<p>I want to know from other Stanford legacies if your parents received this letter and, if they did, were you eventually accepted or rejected? My parents read it as a nice way of letting them down -- a kind of courtesy ahead of what would otherwise be a form letter, cold rejection for the kid.</p>
<p>I would think they are just being honest… with a 6-7% admit rate, even legacies are no longer guaranteed admits. They are not saying you won’t get in, just that chances are with you and basically all other applicants, there is a 93% chance you won’t get in. That being said, they also say they value your legacy status, which is a good thing. But in the end, I think they are just being honest to their legacy applicants.</p>
<p>My husband is a Stanford graduate. Our first dd applied in 2008 and we received a one-page letter indicating that just because Dad was admitted didn’t mean that dd would also be admitted. The tone of the letter was very factual and to-the-point and we knew then, that she wasn’t admitted.</p>
<p>Our second DD applied this year, she also received the “nice letter” your parents received, indicating that Stanford had received her application. This letter was sent in a nicer tone than the previous letter of 2008. Maybe it is a nice way of telling us that our second daughter didn’t get in. </p>
<p>Our son will be applying in 2014, so maybe the 3rd time is the charm?</p>
<p>I think the letter was sent to all applicants’ parents that are Stanford grads, not only those who will be denied admission. The letter downplays the importance of ‘family relationships’ to Stanford, stating that the ‘family connection will be one of the many aspects’ considered in sorting applications.</p>
<p>With almost 37,000 freshman applications, the overall admit rate will be 6%. Legacy applicants are admitted at more than triple the overall admit rate of the applicant pool at large.</p>
<p>Still, the vast majority are denied admission.</p>
<p>The level of parental commitment to the endowment fund required to assure success in the admission process was estimated by one of my knowledgeable classmates to be around $500,000.</p>
<p>Good luck to all hopeful students and parents.</p>
<p>I am a legacy child, and my parents also received the letter. But I got in early action this fall! So it is definitely not a pre-rejection letter. Don’t worry - they send it to everyone to make sure no one assumes that just because there parents went they can get in. With such a low acceptance rate it obviously doesn’t work like that. Good luck :)</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure every legacy’s parent receives this. Close to 90% of the legacies who apply are rejected, so it makes sense to give the parents a heads-up that admission is way more competitive than when they applied.</p>
<p>Legacy status is barely a consideration at all, but they don’t want to burn bridges with alumni. And there have been tons of cases of alumni (including some who post on here) who rage against Stanford and refuse to donate ever again or go to another reunion, all because their child wasn’t admitted. </p>
<p>When I have children, I doubt they’ll get in. Every alum should have that attitude and know that it isn’t an affront to you. I’d much rather Stanford enroll the best students it can, and if there are applicants out there who are more accomplished than my kids - well that’s life, and good for those applicants.</p>
<p>While I hope that no one this year rages against Stanford for being unfair to their kids, we can expect to see a thread from an angry parent soon enough.</p>
<p>OK. So it wasn’t a pre-rejection letter. And I’ve decided that the wait-list spot my D got wasn’t a courtesy to me. That’s based on phantas’ assertion that 90% of legacies get rejected and my assertion that Stanford has absolutely no reason to pay me a courtesy. So, I am going to enourage my D to revel is the realization that, while she may not make the final cut, she was way up near the front and that it was ultimately only Stanford’s myopia that prevented them from seeing the wonderful human being they decided to ask to wait a bit longer. Hopefully they will put their glasses on - or have someone suggest to them that they do - and see what they’re missing and ask her to join them. If they don’t, its their loss and not hers.</p>
<p>I just applied SCEA to Stanford on November 1. I’m technically a legacy (my mom graduated from Stanford Law School), but my mom didn’t get that letter. I know <em>getting</em> the “don’t get your hopes up” legacy letter doesn’t mean anything, since it seems that parents of legacy applicants often get that letter, whether or not their kids end up getting admitted. I’m just trying to figure out whether <em>not</em> getting it means anything about my application, or whether she didn’t get it because I’m not “really” a legacy, since she went to grad school but not undergrad school at Stanford. Anyone have any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>^^ If you applied on Nov 1, the system hasn’t processed you yet. She will get the letter eventually.</p>
<p>Actually, I sent in my application early (October 26, a few days before the November 1 deadline), and my automated status email from Stanford shows that everything (app, recs, transcript, scores, etc.) is complete. But are you saying that every parent gets the letter, whether s/he went to Stanford grad or undergrad, and whether his/her kid applied SCEA or RD?</p>
<p>Lol… introducing the concept of the “un-likely letter”! Although it sounds like that is not what this is, sounds like it goes to all alumni with relatives applying. But I sort of like the idea…</p>
<p>We got this letter when D applied and she got in REA. S is applying this year and we just got the letter again. It looks identical (word for word) to our previous one. It seems to me that it is their standard operating procedure for legacy applications.</p>
<p>My mom just got the “unlikely” letter. I’m guessing it came a little later than other people’s because we’re in the Midwest, not California. Now I can answer my own questions: It’s sent to parents whose children apply early action as well as regular decision, and it’s sent to parents who went to the undergraduate school or to a graduate school. </p>
<p>Again, it doesn’t mean anything about whether the kid will be accepted, deferred, waitlisted or rejected; it apparently goes to the parent of every legacy applicant. I’m calling it the “unlikely” letter simply because it cautions legacy parents that the chances of any particular applicant being accepted are very low.</p>
<p>Most interesting to me was the note that this year, SCEA candidates will receive notice of whether they were accepted, deferred, or rejected by email after 3:30 p.m. Pacific time on Friday, December 14 .</p>
<p>I thought I’d revive this thread for this year’s crop of RD applicants. I’m relieved to see that it doesn’t mean automatic denial, but is instead a sobering reminder that any kid who applies to Stanford is unlikely to get in.</p>
<p>My husband joked that since Stanford admitted 30 percent of applicants when his parents went there, and 15 percent when he went there (according to the stats in this year’s letter), then he must be twice as smart as his parents and anyone who gets in this year will be twice again as smart…or lucky!</p>
<p>So glad our daughter has some matches and a safety on her list!</p>
<p>Does anyone know exactly what relationship you need with a person to be considered a legacy? Two of my cousins both attended top schools (one Stanford, one Harvard). It’s probably a really long shot, but just wondering!</p>