<p>Hi, I'm new to the forum! This is not meant to sound pretentious at. all.</p>
<p>My aunt is a very successful business woman (editor/first female publisher of Time, People, and Life magazines, Exec VP of Time/Time Warner, director of Jefferson Pilot Corporation, and is on the Boards of Directors of Steelcase and J.M. Smucker Company).
She attended the same school, Hollins, and served on the same board for many years with the current Vice President of Yale University. My aunt tells me that she is good friends with this woman, who is the right hand to the President, so she has offered to send a letter based on my r</p>
<p>Connections can only help so much- if the candidate is not a strong candidate, then they likely would not help. If you are on the fence, then they probably would help quite a bit, but the nature of admissions to highly selective schools such as Yale is so subjective that it’s anyone’s guess what they look for.</p>
<p>Yale admissions is not concerned with the social circle of the University VP nor assisting her by giving anything but a polite nod to the request.</p>
<p>If your aunt were the VP to the President, this would be a helpful connection. Knowing someone who knows someone, which is your situation, won’t make any difference.</p>
<p>Letters from politicians, celebrities, or people in high powered jobs DO NOT help in the college admissions process (even if they are related to you), as the applicant comes off as privileged. In addition, the content of those letters do not add much to your application, as most of them say something along the lines of “I know the applicant and his family. He’s a really super kid; I can personally vouch for him and you should admit him.”</p>
<p>So, no I don’t think a letter from your aunt’s co-worker, regardless of her position, would help you – unless you actually worked for her last summer and she can personally attest to your work ethic, quality of writing, phone manner, problem solving skills, long hours at work, etc. That would be different. </p>
<p>"The value of an additional letter or two depends on how well the person knows you, not the person’s profession or who he or she might be.</p>
<p>One of the best letters we ever received over the years was written by the school’s custodian who supervised the student in the school’s work program under very difficult circumstances, when everyone was tired at the end of the school day. The letter supported the other positive information in the application about how the student always made everyone around him better — and it made up for sparse recommendations from the over-worked teachers and counselors at that school. The strong personal qualities and character noted by the custodian were confirmed by the remarkable difference the student made to others during his college career and the difference he continues to make today."</p>
<p>No one is naive enough to say networks and friends’ recommendations were not a huge part of Yale’s past. The “old boy network” opened many doors and lubricated many business deals. But the smokey men’s club dealings are (mostly) a remnant of decades past. Although some would certainly say “development admits” may still fall under this category.</p>
<p>Wow, didn’t expect such harsh words. I hope you all understand that I am in no need of a “reality check,” as I certainly don’t expect to be a “development admit.” </p>
<p>Just to clarify, my aunt suggested I detail my r</p>
<p>It’s not a big leap to have you detail your resume to your aunt, who then writes a letter to her business associate, who forwards the letter on to the VP of Yale, who then forwards it on to admissions. Wasn’t that your thought process in asking “will this help, not affect, or even hurt my chances?” </p>
<p>Bottom line: Playing “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” in the competitive world of college applications will make you look a tad bit desperate and will probably hurt your chances.</p>
<p>Katie, I think you heard something in those responses that I didn’t hear. They were candid, that’s true, but I didn’t hear anyone being “harsh.” </p>
<p>As it happens, the question you asked is one that’s asked at least once or twice a month somewhere on College Confidential–often on the forums for Ivies or other prestigious universities. That means you probably could have searched the boards and found the answer elsewhere. If the people who answered you seemed impatient, it may have been because most, if not all, of them have already answered that question many times before.</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I guess I might have seen things differently since I’m not really looking at this from an outside, unbiased perspective like you are.</p>
<p>And yes, I understand that this is an over-asked question that is probably quite deserving of a few eye-rolls. I tried my best as a new user to scour the forum for someone else in my same situation (which I do understand exist), however I wanted to get insight into my personal situation.
I simply wanted to know if a letter to the VP (which would doubtfully ever leave her hands) would harm my chances. I am not begging my aunt to do this. She has offered to do it and I wanted to know if it would negatively affect my chances to the extent that I should tell her “Please don’t send that letter, Aunt Lisa.”</p>
<p>gibby, I thank you for your response.
I’m a kind of person who hates leaving things unresolved, so I’d just like to mention that in no way did I intend this to be a “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon” sort of thing.
My aunt wanted to write a letter to the VP, her associate. I wanted to know if I should stop her or not. I had no intention of that letter ending up in admissions (which I understand could be assumed from my asking about its effect on my admissions decision).</p>
<p>In my opinion, you should do it. It will either have a positive effect or and neutral effect but generally will not have a negative effect. The VP is already an insider at Yale and will have her own reputation to protect, so once she sees your info, she will probably make a decision whether she really wants to endorse you or not (which she will discreetly withhold from your aunt). I don’t see it as grasping at straws…if you had a famous alum, say Bush, as a family friend write you a LOR, then that would be more grasping a straws and have a negative effect, but VP is inner circle. Include both your resume (or excel spreadsheet) sort of like the cc stats (i.e. include GPA, Std test scores, awards, ECs) info AND your Common App essay for VP review.</p>
<p>Thank you
Hunt, I don’t think it will affect their relationship at all, as my aunt knows that this should not have a major influence on the admissions decision. If they decide not to admit me (which is basically what I’m preparing for) then that’s on me</p>
<p>If you are worried that the letter might hurt your chances, why would you forward the resume to your aunt?<br>
Your aunt is hoping to give you an edge. If you get in, will you think it was because of your aunt?
We had a connection with a board member at my son’s first choice school, and he offered to put in a word. We asked him not to. He had never even met my son! What could he possibly say that would have any credibility or look like anything other than influence peddling. Like you, we worried that it might actually hurt.
Go with your gut. If you are concerned, tell your aunt that you’d prefer to take your chances. You’ll probably feel better.</p>