Personal favors/connections help or hurt chances?

<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>