<p>so I think it's one thing if an applicants parents attended a university, but its another thing when people's parents know people with political clout at that college or have donated lots of money. </p>
<p>for instance, i have a friend who has these kinds of connections at an ivy league school. she only has about an 1180/1600 and has not taken any honors classes until junior year. has anyone heard any situations like this, and do they usually work towards the applicants benefit even if the person is seriously unqualified?</p>
<p>I know it seems it's not fair, but honestly, that's life, and if we take jobs in the corporate world, there are going to be people that get certain positions not by skill/hardwork/determination, but by who they know, and who they have met. And sometimes, that's why people want to go to such prestigious schools, because once they graduate, they'll probably be able to get "better" jobs than that of other graduates who attended less prestigious schools, even though the latter students might be harder working, and have better ethics.</p>
<p>yeah that does make sense jchen. i guess that's the first rule of life...its not fair. </p>
<p>has anyone heard of these types of connections working or failing?</p>
<p>Your friend will probably not get in unless her family has donated significant amounts of money. Family friends rarely make much difference.</p>
<p>i know how you feel pearlgirl, but i'm not sure it will be enough of a swing factor unless that family friend actually is THE dean of admissions.</p>
<p>It still doesn't matter if she doesn't match up enough, or if they haven't given a lot of money.</p>
<p>I know. My APUSH teacher told our class once: "Guys, it's your future. Kiss ass." Personally, if I had gotten into a college like that, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, but the truth is that there are plenty that sleep soundly. There's not much you can do about it. Life isn't fair, but I guess we already know that.</p>
<p>people exxaggerate it. Being a legacy and donating money doesn't get you in. You need to have donated many many millions for it to be relevant at the level you are talking about. My friend was top 30% at a very very competitive school, had a 2290 SATs and parent who went to upenn and had donated upwards of 75k and did not get in, another one who had a very close family connection to a woman who's husband had been extremely involved in the school and donated millions and millions and didn't get in (girl had 31 act and decent grades). My point is people exaggerate connections, very rarely will they get you in if your unqualified or even make much of a difference. Unless you are that extremely small number of people with 60+ million net worth than no one cares that much...</p>