<p>I'm getting a recommendation from a well-known alumnus who recently committed to donating a neuroscience building with his brother. He's friends with my dad and has already agreed to do it, but will it make me look pretentious/too priviliged? Is it worth adding to the ap?</p>
<p>Unless your dad is also involved in funding the neuroscience building, it won't make much difference.</p>
<p>Check that -- if he really knows you and is going to write a heartfelt, personal letter full of anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the strength of your relationship and his faith in you, that might be a slight plus. A generic "I feel that CDS32090 is a fine young man/woman and would thrive at Princeton" letter is likely to register as background noise.</p>
<p>I suppose he doesn't know me terribly well, not like a family member or anything. I guess my real question is whether it will hurt or help my application--I know that as of late the administration has been hacking at Princeton's traditional image (eliminating ED, President Tilghman's whole "we want students with green hair" thing). On my ap should I tell them how I've always wanted to go to Princeton and emphasize the whole family/alumni aspect?</p>
<p>Enthusiasm won't hurt you -- most of the people doing the initial read of your application are recent alums who wouldn't be in the admission office if they weren't pretty positive about their Princeton experience, and they're the ones who'll be making a case for you in committee. If you do an effective job of communicating that you've had a long-standing interest in Princeton, that's likely to help you more than the letter of recommendation.</p>
<p>OK thanks I'll write some bangin' essays that show how much I love Princeton.</p>