Relatives

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>My brother-in-law attended Columbia. However, for the section of the application that asks about relatives (Please list any relatives who have graduated from or are attending Columbia University), the only options available are father/mother/brother/sister/grandparent/other. Should I put brother, or is he considered an "other" relative? Is there any point of putting him down at all? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I doubt there is much point as a brother in law is too tenuous to count for any sort of legacy consideration. Certainly do not put “brother” down outright, because they are definitely looking for blood relatives there. You might want to put down “other”, because it certainly can’t hurt your application, so whether or not they consider it doesn’t really matter.</p>

3

<p>The thing is that most colleges don’t really care whether applicants have legacy status or not. They just think that if they accept legacy applicants, then it will be more likely that the applicant’s relatives will be more generous with donations. The reason that most colleges only care about whether you have blood relatives who attended that school is that only your blood relatives will likely truly care about you and donate to your school after you are accepted. </p>

<p>While we all want to believe that we have some kind of “hook” or special advantage that will help us through, you shouldn’t be worrying about whether having some relative who attended the school you’re applying to will help or not, unless they are actually a blood relative. Even then, it’s hard to say much much impact legacy status has on your application.</p>

4

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<p>This is a terrible post and it’s not responsive to the question. This concept of a “blood relative” is something you entirely made up.</p>

5

<p>he is not your brother, he is an other. you can of course put him down. it shows you have a connection to the university. but it by itself will not lead to an admission.</p>

<p>and when in doubt - take the question as it stands, do not try to read anything further into it and you usually get the best answer</p>