I was just wondering, how much will legacy affect an applicants chances of getting in. Say he or she has 3 previous generations (mom['84], grandfather['44], and great-grandfather['04]). Will admissions officers think anything of this?
my mom is not. and i'm not sure about either my grandfather or great-grandfather, but i know my mom got in partly because of legacy, partly because of her grades. So i'm sure they did contribute something as they were fairly wealthy.
The acceptance rate for legacy applicants is higher than the average admit rate. However, about 2 of every 3 legacy applicants are denied -- and that includes ones with several generations of Brown grads in their family. If you don't have the grades, ECs and test scores, legacy doesn't help.
It also seems to matter a bit how "attached" the legacy relative is to Brown. (I agree, this is after all the standard admission criteria are there re grades etc.) A legacy parent with no communication with Brown (until the year before you apply, lol) will not help as much as one that admissions or Maddock "knows the name". Of course some of those names are known due to big bequests. Admissions doesn't ask the alumni center re the legacy "connectedness", but there seems to be some definite link. (or maybe it just seems that way as those students with gung-ho relatives have that much more knowledge and passion about going to Brown?)
BrownAlumParent -- I wish this were the case, but honestly, that's not what I've seen. I know many legacy applicants who were denied who have very active parents, and plenty of legacy acceptances from parents who do nothing.
And for every legacy applicant, admissions gets a printout from Maddock with info on donations and volunteer activities.
Interesting point of trivia: I have been told (not directly from admissions sources, however) that if a pair of twins applies to Brown, they will in 90% of cases give them the same decision. This clearly won't work where one twin is much more qualified than the other, but they make an effort whenever they can not to admit one twin and reject/waitlist the other. I suppose this means that in some cases, a twin with a more questionable application can have his/her chances boosted by a super-qualified twin. Not sure if this is specific to Brown or more general. It seems to be working - I know many pairs of twins at Brown.
