This topic has been discussed before. I am just curious if the older sibling is doing extremely well at Harvard, not just academically, will the younger one, now an applicant, get a favorable look?
Possibly, no one knows as we are not Admissions Directors.
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I am aware of many instances where siblings of present or former students have been admitted.
I am also aware of a specific instance where the current Harvard student is crushing their academics and is very involved with meaningful ECâs and her very capable brother was denied admission. He is attending the University of Pennsylvania.
Without a lot of thought I have come up with seven instances of multiple siblings attending Harvard.
The plural of anecdote is not data. The siblings may well have been admitted on their own merits. In the absence of a statement from Harvard admissions, anything here is speculative.
Skieurope, I was not suggesting it was data. I was just referencing specific instances that I could immediately think of within our own daughters circle of friends and acquaintances.
Understood. @GreatKid
I would hope the younger sibling could feel he got in on his own merits. I would, as a parent, myself, not emphasize this factor with him, but thatâs me.
Since legacy is considered for admission, and since siblings share the same legacy, it stands to reason that you have a better chance of getting in if your older sibling got in, independent of merit.
I think I recall Dean Fitzsimmons being quoted as saying that âsib tugâ is lighter than a feather in terms of influence. I can think of many instances of siblings attending Harvard College. I can also think of several younger siblings who were not admitted. I understand, @skieurope, that this is not data.
Iâm going to guess that a large number of sibling pairs at Harvard (or its peer schools) are themselves legacies, both of whom benefited from the legacy âfeatherâ (which might be closer to a peacock feather than duck down if the parents were generous/involved alumni).
I donât know where this âfeatherâ weight thing comes from, as if the AOs would decide the amount of advantage given to one candidate over the other when comparing the two. The reality is that if an applicant is tagged as a legacy he/she goes to a different pool from regular applicants. So, the question really is: does having an older Harvard sibling put an applicant in the legacy pool?
Iâm not sure itâs a different pool per se, because I donât think there are different standards; I think itâs more that the child of an alum gets a guaranteed second look, or higher level of scrutiny. The second look is the feather.
I canât say for sure what goes on inside the admissions office, but I imagine a large number of the 40,000 applications are tossed after a short first reading by a junior adcom. A legacyâs unlikely to suffer that fate, even though most of their apps will still fade in the stretch.
I donât think having a sibling at Harvard in and of itself guarantees a second look - but if you come from a family thatâs sent a kid to Harvard, youâre probably coming from the kind of environment that would produce an app that would get a second look anyway.
My point upthread, though, was that there are legacies and there are legacies. At these kinds of schools, itâs not that uncommon to see multiple siblings who are the children of a high-powered alum. The boost comes from who the parent is, not from some kind of sibling legacy (after all, why would Harvard care?).
I am the OP, not a legacy myself. Older kid is still at Harvard, doing great then some. The younger one is applying, unique and strong in own way. As parents we have zero delusion on any advantage - simply curious in the eyes of admission how v2 may be perceived, for the fun of it.
Whether or not there is an advantage, it sounds like your second has a good chance in his own right and that is what he should be feeling. I am sure, from the little you have written, that you are not discussing this with him and that he will not feel like he is riding in sibling coat tails 
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There are two types of legacies: (1) Parents that give a lot of money - they become âhookedâ and their children become more likely to gain admission even if their scores/grades are not as good. The number to be âhookedâ depends on the school, but Harvard is rumored to be in the $3 m to $5 m range. If parents give a hundred thousand, their children will not be hooked and will only get in if it breaks a tie - maning that kid better have real Harvard stats, not hooked Harvard stats.