My Grandfather attended the UVA Darden School of Business and was a member of The Executive Program. With my GPA being below the average of the school and apparently TEP graduate from the Darden School is a very big deal many people have been telling me it is in my best interest to receive a letter of recommendation or even just a letter from him to include in my application to UVA. Thoughts?
What grandfather would not give a glowing evaluation? A letter from him praising you is not going to counterbalance your less than average GPA. Perhaps a letter might even sour an Adcom’s opinion of you. If there is a place on the application for relatives who have attended UVA list him there.
What are your test scores like? Are they above or below the average for accepted applicants?
Yes, I received at 35 on my ACT, please look at my previous thread @KKmama
As a general rule, I have heard that letters from family members are considered to have very little merit. If I were in the admissions committee’s shoes, I would ignore such a letter of recommendation. As mentioned above, what family member wouldn’t write you a fantastic letter?? Sometimes on applications there are places where they will ask you if any of your family members attended the school. That would be an appropriate place to include this information. Another way to potentially include your family ties to UVA is if there is a “why UVA?” essay prompt. (Never applied to UVA, so I have no idea if this is an essay prompt for them.) Among your other reasons for wanting to attend UVA you could mention that your grandfather always spoke highly of the school and so on.