<p>S is rising senior, well along in search process. In a book on admissions, the author suggested that having well-known or wealthy parents can be a detriment to an applicant, because the ad-coms may assume privilege, expensive test prep, etc. and mentally lop off SAT points or whatever.</p>
<p>Could this be true?? S has had a normal upbringing, attended public schools and did no test prep. I would like to think that he'd be judged on his own merits. If, like Northstarmom, an interviewer googles my kid, he/she will come up with a Wikipedia entry and H has already been recognized on two visits, so there's no way to hide.</p>
<p>What's the best way to handle this? Or should we just pretend it isn't there?</p>
<p>If the parent is well-known for being very wealthy, this could be a positive boost for admission --> what they call a "developmental admit." Likewise, if the parent is a well-known politician, that could also be a hook for the kid. </p>
<p>Colleges are almost always interested in wealth and influence. It's not a coincidence that Yale keeps admitting Bushes, Harvard keeps admitting Kennedys, and Princeton keeps admitting Frists.</p>
<p>That's what I would have thought, but when I read otherwise in what seemed a credible book, I got concerned. And the one admissions person I've asked about it says it might be true.</p>
<p>H is well-known business person; we're probably a lot less wealthy than people might think.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about it - there's nothing you can do about it anyway. The facts are out there and H has already been recognized. Nothing much you can do about it anyway. I think it'd probably only hurt if you try to throw your weight around.</p>
<p>It would also make a difference in how that parent carried himself. I am not implying he acts this way, but...I have been on college visits where parents try to use their wealth as leverage with the admissions counselors, in a negative way, if you know what I mean. It ends up being a turn-off for the admissions personel.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I dont think it would hurt your child, and depending on the unversity, they might not even care. Yes, this has happened before. Where the university actually evaluates the child like any other applicant, doesnt give that much weight to the fact that the child has a wealthy, well-known parent.</p>
<p>Thank you flgirl. I haven't seen that kind of pushy, arrogant behavior yet during college visits, but I've heard about it. We wouldn't act that way. Maybe that's what the author of the admissions book was talking about though it wasn't clear</p>