My dad, grandfather, grandmother, and great-grandfather all attended Stanford, and I desperately want to be the fifth in my family to do so. I am WELL aware that Stanford is nearly impossible to get into, so I am definitely not getting my hopes up. I have a 33 ACT, scholarships, a leadership award, extracurriculars, and a 95 GPA (on a 100 point scale). I also have taken many APs and honors classes. I applied Restrictive Early Action, and I feel like Stanford (based on if they have a high preference for legacy) will either reject me or accept me. Right now I’m not expecting an acceptance, but can anyone give me some input on whether I’ll likely be rejected or deferred?
Any chance that your great grandfather’s dad’s first name was Leland ?
Haha I wish! I know Leland Stanford was the founder, but interestingly enough, I’m from Wisconsin, which is where Leland Stanford was from!
Any resemblance ?
I have no idea whether or not multiple legacy status will help, but it shouldn’t hurt.
Unfortunately, no. I can trace my family tree back to 1162, and I haven’t seen anyone with the last name Stanford haha. That would be cool though!
https://www.stanforddaily.com/2009/12/02/legacies-a-fifth-of-the-class-of-2013/
As you saw from your other thread, legacies don’t always get accepted. It may help in those rare occasions where all else is equal, but it won’t make up for shortfalls in the application.
Further, Stanford does not seem to embrace the warm and cuddly soft rejection by deferring, so odds are if you don’t get accepted, you’ll probably be rejected. Good luck.
If you are a legacy AND your family has donated to Stanford regularly over a long period of time, then your chances are a lot better than they are just for being a Legacy applicant.
I think that it is hard to know how much preference Stanford gives to legacy applicants. In a mailing sent to alumni a few years back they did not admit to much of a preference at all, only promising that for legacy applicants at least two people will actually look at your application.
I am guessing that @menloparkmom is probably correct, that your parent’s donation history might matter also.
Your chances depend on YOUR application, how you presented, the record and the rest of it. Legacy will get you a close look, but can’t swing a miracle. It’s a lot more than stats and some unnamed ECs.
Best to you.