<p>I was wondering what % of the current Harvard students have at least one sibling at Harvard. Also if one older sibling is at Harvard, how much money would her or her parents donate to Harvard in order to give her younger sister a slightly better chance at Harvard?</p>
<p>You should really do some research before posting on the forums.</p>
<p>The (simplified) admissions rate for Harvard is governed by A = .062 + .1M +.001(GJ) +.04 -.02(1/2)^(S-1) -.005Y, where A equals your chances of acceptance, M equals millions of dollars donated, G equals days spent praying to Amun-Ra, J equals percentage of those days in which you also prayed to Aten, S equals number of siblings at Harvard and Y equals number of letters in your name that are either “Y,” “A,” “L,” or “E,” though this only applies to your first name (and middle name if you have one). Repeated letters do count against you, so if your name is Ezeki**e***l** Smitt White, you lose 2% from your first name but “White” doesn’t count against you. </p>
<p>So, to answer your question, you need to pick what admissions rate you want and solve for M. Note that the initial bonus to siblings is 2% but this bonus is halved with each additional sibling, so two siblings gives you a bonus of 3% instead of 4%. I also didn’t figure in values for certain ethnic groups because Harvard doesn’t publish that data and so they would have to be estimates, whereas the rest of my formula is solid fact. But you can do your own research and add in a few % if you’re Native American, etc.</p>
<p>^ that made my day.</p>
<p><<<ggg!>>>
Aegsch, that was pretty obnoxious – you asked for it.</ggg!></p>
<p>Chances are at least 5% of every incoming class get into Harvard because their parents’ donation/fame.</p>
<p>Must be hard to be a kid who knows he only got in because of his parents’ donation/fame.</p>
<p>As the old saying goes – if you have to ask the price you can’t afford it. Each year people who have given money every year since they have graduated have their chidden outright rejected. I am sure that there are some kids for whom the development office has an interest–but if you are not sure if you fit that description–don’t worry–you don’t:) Even then all the get is alook over by one of the top people to ensure that they care not fling between the cracks–but if they are not qualified–the parents and the admissions office aren’t doing the kid any favors.</p>
<p>You are obviously speaking about a particular applicant since you reference “her”. Before you assume that “she” got in based on her sibling or parents’ donation, maybe you should find out if she was accepted to other competitive schools. If the applicant was accepted to other super-competitive schools, those schools admitted her in spite of the sibling at Harvard–risking their coveted yield rate to court an applicant they really want.</p>
<p>Here’s a story I remembered from a few years back about five sisters at Harvard. :</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Gazette: Maxwell’s graduation wraps up family tradition](<a href=“http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/06.15/11-maxwell.html]Harvard”>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/06.15/11-maxwell.html)</p>
<p>Imagine if an older sibling’s parents donate 100k to the annual fund yearly, I’m pretty sure that could potentially be the tipping point of the younger sibling’s admission to Harvard. Some of you might say Harvad has 35B endowment so it doesn’t care about 100k yearly from a parent, but honestly I don’t think this is true at all.</p>
<p>Kempner, 2 kids at Harvard, third accepted but choose another Ivy. All receive Financial Aide. Harvard is looking for the best and brightest, not the best and brightest that can afford it.</p>