If your kid is applying to your alma mater, did they mention anything about that in the “why do you want to go here” supplement? One of the honest reasons my kid is applying to my alma mater is that I had a great experience there, my best friends are from college, and to this day we all speak fondly of our experience. But is that too much for a kid to say “one reason I want to go is my parent(s) went there and loved it?” Any legacy boost my kid gets will be fairly minimal; we are not big donors or anything, and they will know she is a legacy from other parts of the application. Just don’t know if it should also be mentioned in the essay. Thanks in advance!
When my S wrote his application for my H’s alma mater, I think he put in one line about his dad being an alum but the focus of his essay was on why my S believed the school was a great fit, what he specifically liked about the program he was applying to etc.
Thanks! This wouldn’t be the focus at all, just a sentence or two. I just don’t know if it sounds too – desperate? I don’t know, I’m probably overthinking it.
My D did not mention it in her “why this school” essay even though her father thought she should. Other parts of her app show her double legacy status.
It was quite a few years ago now, but I remember that my daughter did not mention her legacy status in her essays. I don’t think there was any particular reason for this; perhaps it simply didn’t fit with what she was writing. She was admitted.
S definitely wrote about it somewhere, but it may have been a separate essay for an alumni scholarship? (He was awarded that, went to UR and will be graduating this spring.) He’s a double legacy, but we have barely ever given them money!
Legacy status absolutely does matter in many schools, so if you had a great experience there, I don’t see why your D shouldn’t mention it as one reason why she wants to go there.
My son mentioned his brother’s graduating from the same school and how much he enjoyed his visits to campus visiting him
My latest applicant happened to apply to both her parents’ alma maters. In both cases, she did write about taking the tour with alum mom or dad, but used it as a springboard for how she is her own unique person with interests that differ, and while she loved seeing the school through our eyes and hearing about our experiences, she also pointed out how each particular school would work for her personal circumstances.
My daughter stressed her legacy connection in her essay – on the advice of an admissions officer at the college. She also discussed several other reasons why she was applying. She was being very honest in her response – like your kid, she was partly attracted to the school because of my experience and that of my friends, and her essay discussed that connection and what it meant to her.
As long as it shows up somewhere in the app, she it doesn’t need to be in the essay. But if it truly is part of her reason, then it is fine to include it.
Thank you everyone!
I don’t think my kid mentioned it in her Why Yale essay. Of course they knew she was a legacy from other parts of her application. She just had so many other reasons for wanting to attend. From some of the reasons, it was probably obvious she had some first hand knowledge (lots of trips for reunions, knowing lots of adults who attended, having a realistic view of academics and social scene, etc.).
Depends on the school most likely. At our big flagship school, there are so many legacies I doubt admissions couldn’t care less…I don’t think it holds a lot of weight.
Something else it sort of reminds me off. Remember in Blindside when Michael states he wants to go to Ole Miss because all his family went there? Well, that was a touching moment we all watched. Seems like if you put that in an essay they wil think you are just trying to copy and tug at the heartstrings…they already saw the movie, too. I don’t think it will work, I think it will cause eye rolling. It would me.
I would agree at least on the apps there are questions for our schools to name parental alumni (public and private both) The out of state flagship I attended for grad school sent me a note thanking me for entrusting Flagship U as a possible destination for '16 student.
The school my S went to specifically asked about parent alma maters only, and only considered that to be legacy. So he didn’t mention that his grandfather went there. However, it came up in the interview, and the interviewer thought it was a big deal, and later called up to get more info (year he graduated, etc.).
So of course yours is a parent legacy to begin with, but I tell this story to say that it sometimes might matter more than you think, and it can’t hurt. Not sure if the admins saw it as being as important as the interviewer did, but you never know.
DD actually wrote about how, for many years, she did not want to attend my college because she wanted her own path. Then wrote about all the things she came to like about it that overcame her earlier objection. She discussed specific things in a way that showed she really ‘got’ the school and its ethos. She was admitted.
I didn’t have to write about my interest in my mother’s alma mater. Being a legacy was a deterrent for me, but I thought the school was worth applying to at the time. I usually discourage applying to a school where you’re a legacy.
Sad truth, my kid’s first (recognizable) words were “Go Blue!,” (well, more like “Go Boo!”). That did figure into his essay.
^Mine both got accepted to Michigan (where they were double legacies). Then both turned it down. 