<p>i'm one of 2 from my school who applied scea, and i can't bash the other because he's one of my good friends, but.. he has legacy.</p>
<p>does stanford consider legacy at all? does it make a big difference? also, this kid and i are literally as different as possible (from an admissions standpoint, at least).. i know that stanford says that you aren't compared to people from your school, but the chances of BOTH of us being accepted are pretty slim, right? (take into consideration that my school's pretty freaking small and that only one kid has EVER gone to stanford from there..and he was recruited)</p>
<p>wow, i found it pretty bizarre that I'm in pretty much the same situation as you. One of my best friends and i both applied EA to Stanford, and his brother went to stanford a couple years ago. I think that it probably counts for something, but definitely is not a major factor at all.</p>
<p>I think that having a legacy would help out a lot... I'm somewhat in the same situation, but my friend is applying to RD and I applied to SCEA... and she's Hispanic and has several cousins at Stanford. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! :(</p>
<p>This was a long time ago, but when I was applying I tried to find something from a reputable source that said what Stanford did with legacies. What I found was some article with the Dean saying that legacy was basically a 'tie-breaker'; where two candidates were otherwise indistinguishable, they would look to a legacy over a non-legacy. It's all very subjective, but that was from the horse's mouth, so take from it what you will.</p>
<p>Keep in mind this was under the regime of the old Dean of Admissions, not the current one, so policy could have changed (but I doubt it).</p>
<p>Okay, so my parents both got advanced degrees (dad has Ph.D., mom has Masters) from Berkeley, and I applied EA to Stanford. (I live in Michigan, not California; my parents were international students at Berkeley.) Is that like, a "reverse legacy" or something? What do you think Stanford would think of that? :confused:</p>
<p>Here's what the "legacy letter" from Stanford says in part:</p>
<p>"How are legacy applications read?</p>
<p>Legacy applications are evaluated within our larger applicant pool, with Stanford ties being one of the many factors we consider when looking at an applicant within his or her school, geographic, or cultural context. No student is ever admitted simply because he/she is a legacy, but that connection may be considered a "plus factor" over a similarly competitive non-legacy applicant.</p>
<p>What impact does being a legacy have on admission decision?</p>
<p>Despite the growing strength of our applicant pool, legacy candidates have maintained an acceptance rate that is at least double the overall rate. We expect this rate to be similar this year."</p>
<blockquote>
<p>dang....double acceptance rate for legacies. That means that they definitely count for something then<<</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>Double may be the overall legacy acceptance rate, but not all of that increase may be due to a legacy boost. It is also likely that the pool of legacy applicants have high overall stats. Consider that if they went to Stanford the parents were probably pretty bright and accomplished themselves back in the day. In the genetic lottery it always helps to have smart parents. And the parents also probably value education highly and are savvy about getting their kids into good high schools, honors/AP classes, ECs, and summer enrichment programs.</p>
<p>So all these these factors together, plus the legacy tipping factor, add up to a double admission rate. The legacy tip alone does not double the chances.</p>
<p>Look at it another way. The current admit rate is about 10%. Which means that the legacy admit rate is about 20%. That in turn means that EIGHTY PERCENT OF LEGACIES GET REJECTED. That's hardly a sure thing even with a legacy tip.</p>
<p>I thought I would put in my two cents.
For most schools, legacies are most important when grandparents or parents attended the school (not siblings). This is the same for Stanford in my experience. My parents both went to Stanford, and anecdotally speaking, nearly all of their college friends have kids at Stanford (even though many of the kids are not particularly bright). Stanford has a reputation for having one of the most robust legacy admit programs around. For whatever reason, they admit children of alumni in very large numbers. </p>
<p>The good news for you, though, is that having a sibling at the school will have nowhere near the same weight in the admissions process. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with what someone posted earlier. I am sure being a legacy gives you some sort of plus. The double acceptance figure, however, is probably related to the fact that stanford-educated parents are more likely to give their children great academic opportunities. And even then...there are not guarantees. To give you an example, the president of my school, a stanford grad, told me his own personal anecdote of how his son had been rejected. His son played sports, had EC's, decent test scores, etc. He was probably a better overall candidate than I, but there are no guarantees one way or the other. Sometimes you're what they are looking for, other times not.</p>