<p>My father knows a teacher at yale who wants to get me in. How influential can a current faculty member be at getting a kid into Yale while he teaches and has taught there for over twenty years? Also a legacy</p>
<p>Perhaps someone can correct me, but a Yale faculty cannot suddenly make it easier for you to get in, unless he/she knows you very well, and can write a recommendation for you. </p>
<p>Being legacy will slightly increase your chances.</p>
<p>Agree with MeIsHM. My son’s grandfather is a professor at Yale and knows my son’s abilities from a distance but more so than “someone who knows someone”. He did not do a letter of recommendation since we all thought that kind of grovelling could work against admission. Son was admitted SCEA without Yale being aware of the relationship.</p>
<p>Oh I see. So because it was family ties, you didn’t want to seem like you were groveling. However, if the teacher was not a family member, and knew you as well as you father (figuratively speaking) this would not help you? Also, father and uncle attended and father even taught classes there. does that help?</p>
<p>I think the only LOR’s that count are those where the writer knows you very well as a student. Anything else feels like grovelling - but this is strictly our thinking. I do know one student who was admitted whose family used to spend time with the O’Bama’s (holiday get togethers and such) and I was told Michelle O’Bama wrote an LOR. This was right around the first election. She was admitted but parents were both legacy and she is super smart. Legacy does count.</p>
<p>A former student at my school who attends Princeton told us one time he came for a visit that his room mate had a 3.5 HS GPA but his dad worked at Princeton as a proff. Not sure if he was a legacy but he got in.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if Yale would be the same but if your dad works there, why not have him speak to the dean of admission himself?</p>
<p>Oh sorry I misread that you were the son of a Yale proffesor.</p>
<p>Anyway give it a shot, who knows.</p>
<p>He is not currently a professor, his best friend is. Also, his best friend knows me well. In addition to this, he himself (my father) taught at the school for a few years, more of a “share his knowledge after graduation” than for a job. He taught for about 3 years. This was roughly 10 years ago.</p>