<p>A friend's D has an uncle and aunt (by marriage) who attended Bowdoin. Does my friend's D qualify as a legacy ?</p>
<p>Somewhat. Generally to be considered they need to be (i) siblings, (ii) parents and (iii) grandparents.</p>
<p>siblings? Schools can have their own definition of "legacy." For example, at U of Pennsylvania you are a legacy if your parent or grandparent went to Penn, and received a degree! Not uncle, not sibling. But check with Bowdoin on how they define "legacy."<br>
[quote]
What is a legacy?
Children and grandchildren of all University of Pennsylvania degree recipients are considered legacies during the undergraduate admissions process.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uncle/aunt is very unlikely to be helpful, unless one of them built a building at Bowdoin. </p>
<p>I agree with NJres - you have to check each school's definition of legacy. At some schools though, they do give a slight edge to siblings - Colgate for one.</p>
<p>NYC, according to the following recent article on Bowdoin and legacy status, legacy is considered to be quite an important "tip" factor there:</p>
<p>Even from the Bowdoin article, while it was mentioned that one legacy admit had a grandparent attend, the overall tone suggests that there is more of an emphasis on having a parent as an alum when it comes to legacies.</p>
<p>When you understand why the legacy preference exists (=$$$) you then can understand who counts how much and why.</p>
<p>our son's Legacy scholarship is given by the alumni assn and is only available for students whose parent is an alum.</p>
<p>I would venture that admission advantages for legacies are tipping factors for prospectives whose parents or grandparents are alum and who have maintained some sort of ongoing relationship with the college. Big money donations would of course be far more significant.</p>
<p>thanks all</p>
<p>it occurs to me that having a sibling graduate would indicate a somewhat more-informed college choice -- that is, if big brother attended a small somewhat esoteric LAC, it could be assumed that little sister's interest was based on an insider's knowledge of the institution ... just a thought</p>
<p>AS Jpar stated, some schools to tip students who have siblings in attendance or siblings who are recent grads.</p>
<p>sybbie, I noticed JPar's comment, but I wanted to extend newmassdad's take on motive -- it's not entirely legacy $$$, but also assurance of a student's informed interest</p>
<p>edited for typo</p>
<p>There are some schools that solicit funds for their endowments while your kids are still in school. </p>
<p>If a parent has 2 kids who have been admitted to the same school, they may feel more amenable to contributing or may contribute more because both are there than they would if one child was admitted and the other rejected from the same school. I think it would be to the school's advantage to accept a sibling with comprable record as the sibling in attendance because it would create a sense of good will.</p>
<p>Interesting that some schools have quite strict definitions of legacy, while others interpret it more widely to include grandparents etc. It is also worth noting that most schools only consider a student to be a legacy if the parent/s attended the institution as an undergraduate. While a having a sibling at school may not be considered to be "legacy" by any strict defintion (offspring), many schools do foster family ties and give a "tip" to qualified sibling applicants. Sybbie makes a good point about the good will factor - many of those parents are the most active in their respective alumni associations.</p>
<p>Alumni Association web pages are a good source to find out which schools put a premium on "keeping it in the family". </p>
<p>Yes, you're right of course; I find myself on development lists of 7 separate schools (K through grad), so I can count on lots of classy envelopes in my mailbox :)</p>
<p>It has always puzzled me, though, why development offices put so much time/effort into soliciting from scholarship families, regardless of the number of sibs having attended. I suppose it could be viewed as egalitarian, but really doesn't make much sense. Clearly, if a family's EFC is miniscule, tis better to receive.</p>
<p>The school could also be looking at it from a perspestive of those to whom much has been given much is required :) . I do think that even with scholarship students, education is an investment in the future and when that investment "pays" off the school hopes that you won't forget about them and pay it forward. </p>
<p>While you may believe that you have nothing monetarily to give the school can and will always hope that you will give your support in non monetary ways perhaps of your time or at minimum share you kid's experience there with others who will hopefully want to send their kids.</p>