<p>I was just wondering if for example your parents were prominent in their field, say engineering, and they happen to have won a big national award from the Chinese minstry of telecommunications and that's the reason why you were able to come to the U.S. when you were 8 as an immigrant counts as something? I mean, they want your parents prominent in their professions right? Or does this make me look bad, like they can just say, "Oh well she's doing well, but that's expected, it runs in her family?" Or will this info be completely irrelevant. </p>
<p>I read this one post written by some Yale student/adcom or something about factors that really help with getting into Yale. I can't find it anymore, can anybody help me with this? I remember it had stuff like Geographic location, legacy, recruited athlete, parents prominent in their fields, urm, etc.</p>
<p>Yes, “parents prominent in their fields” can help a lot. What this generally means is something like national elected office, a Cabinet secretary, the governor of a large state, CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, pre-eminent academic, award-winning artist, etc. If you are going to benefit from this factor, you already know it and don’t have to ask.</p>
<p>actually, I wouldn’t emphasize what your parent does, if they aren’t really famous…and I don’t think that obtaining an award from the Chinese ministry of telecommunications is “famous”. </p>
<p>Think about it this way: would Yale University be proud to say that the parents of one of their students won an award from the Chinese ministry of telecommunications?</p>
<p>Furthermore, stating what your parent does makes you look more privileged. They are looking for your accomplishments, not your parents’. </p>
<p>JHS, I was under the impression that someone with an uber parent would be less highly regarded, as they would be assumed to have had much greater opportunities as a result.</p>
<p>Well my father’s famous in China… and it’s true that he’s not really rich or powerful or anything though. THat’s why i asked. I DON’T know.</p>
<p>Well I was thinking, because Intel asks if there were any scientists in the family, that this would help, as they know you come from a nicer background. But yea, i see how this makes me seem more privileged, so i didn’t mention this just yet. </p>
<p>I was just thinking this may make me seem a bit more special than say, if my father was a pastry chef.</p>
<p>I actually think that writing an essay about growing up with a pastry chef father and how that affects your relationship would be quite interesting … ;)</p>
<p>Unless it’s at the level JHS is talking about, they don’t care what your parents do. The admissions process isn’t a pure meritocracy, but it’s about what YOU have done, not who your parents are. Even for people at the JHS level, you’ve got to be a viable candidate in your own right.</p>
<p>I’m not accusing you of this because you were just giving an example, but no one should go into Yale thinking they are more special than the child of a pastry chef or a sanitation worker or an incarcerated felon. This attitude does not fly at Yale and that is one of the things that makes Yale great. Again, not directed at you blueducky, just a general comment.</p>
<p>I think becoming a pastry chef (and being good enough to make a living out of it) takes considerable skill and training, possibly just as much if not more so than your average research scientist.</p>
<p>And if there is one thing that Top Chef has taught me about the food industry, it is that it is just as cutthroat and vindictive as the research profession.</p>
<p>I think parents “prominent” means your last name is Kennedy, Clinton, Gates, etc. or that your parents wield enough power in some field (political, academic, business, etc.) to help Yale if they ever wanted to (like if you were accepted, loved it, and waned to give back). It also brings them nice publicity.</p>
<p>Pastry chef? I have encountered students at the top Ivy league universities whose parents had far more humble backgrounds. For example there was this Chinese student at Yale whose parents chopped meat and vegetables in the back of a Chinese restaurant. Another student at another Ivy had a dad who was a doorman in an NYC apartment building.</p>
<p>I don’t think blueducky was trying to say “My parents are powerful people and Yale admissions officers will bend over backward trying to get me in no matter what”.</p>
<p>I think blueducky was asking if the expectations for a student with well accomplished parents were higher than they would have been otherwise.</p>
<p>Which is what I’ve always assumed is the case.</p>
<p>No way, I never meant that i’m so great or my parents are so great that Yale should definitely accept me. No, i just thought it was something that might possibly set me apart from all the Chinese immigrant parents who came to US as students, instead of because of their accomplishments.</p>
<p>Since i’m going into the science field, I THOUGHT perhaps this will show that I have the POTENTIAL at least to go far in life.</p>
<p>I don’t mean simply successful, I meant something along the lines of creative genius. </p>
<p>Science is a bit different, they want to see you have that in you. Why is it then that Intel asks if you have scientists in your family? </p>
<p>How is this Chinese? </p>
<p>Also, you say this could possibly hurt me because my parents are accomplished and more is expected, but I would like to point out that even if i don’t mention this part, they already know that my parents are already engineers. So comparing me to a first-generation college student is already impossible. While my parents are in academia, why does it hurt to make it clear that they were extraordinary?</p>