No, but does she have a likely letter?
Not yet. The Ivy Likely Letter comes after the ED application has been submitted.
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Exactly. Thatâs what I meant. Just responding to that other comment.
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My son was in a similar situation. Had support from 3+ ivies. But not Princeton. Went with one of the ones he had support from. But Princeton wasnât clearly better for him in his view. And he wasnât legacy at Princeton, so despite having stellar academics, there wasnât another hook. Plus walking on is risky. If they really want to do the sport. Which he did.
thatâs nitpicking. The coach offered her one. Thatâs the same thing.
In my experience an Ivy coach is not able to do that. Iâm not trying to nitpick. The coach can offer full support, but you need to apply ED and then get the likely letter. Until you have the document, I wouldnât call it guaranteed.
That is nitpicking. The coach is told they can promise x LL and admissions will honor them as long as the athlete meets the agreed upon expectations. I am going to assume the coach knows how to do their job and went through the proper steps with admissions. His word is the same as a LL for all intents and purposes.
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Ok. For what it is worth, my son would agree. He got frustrated with me because I didnât want to celebrate until he had the likely letter. Which he did indeed get. But Iâve also definitely heard stories of coaches supporting athletes and not get the LL. Itâs clearly very rare. And maybe there was an incident or a big grade change or an injury. Who knows. I can tell you that no coach we saw uses the word guarantee at this stage.
I get your point and am not one for announcing until said LL is in hand but yes, while it does happen, itâs almost always on the athlete.
I think the risk is minimal here the coach already said they would welcome them on the team. IME when that happens, the athlete gets folded into the recruiting class as soon as the get accepted, at least in our sport
I do agree that the legacy aspect changes the calculation. Legacy are still a significant proportion of the class at Princeton, 12-14% in recent years. What has changed is that being legacy doesnât make up for academic deficiencies, but that is not really an issue for OP. Objectively, they are more likely to get in than not, but I also think OP is unlikely to get in REA. They should be prepared for the long road. Still, what worries me is the âI wonât be satisfiedâ stance. Even when the odds are extremely in your favor, things can, and do, go sideways on occasion.
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It would be more useful to know what % of legacies who apply are accepted, but I assume that data is not made public?
As asked above by others: OP,what is your back-up plan if you decline Brownâs offer and you are not admitted to Princeton ?
OP, what attracts you to Princeton and what deters you from accepting the offer from Brown beyond the fact that it isnât Princeton ?
Do you have a top ten list of schools in which you are interested or is Princeton the only school for you ?
I donât think so but unofficially the number that gets thrown around is acceptance rate is ~ 1/3
OP has made it clear that much of it is the emotional connection and sharing in the family tradition. It is no different than families deep rooted in their love for UMich or ND, which somehow is more permissible.
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You are absolutely correct. D26 is a double Michigan legacy. Our friends assumed it was a foregone conclusion that it would be her top choice.
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OP has had at least three threads.
One was no graded Princeton writing sample. @reclass did you work that out ?
The first talked about 3 Ivies and a D3, not the favorite ?
OP - has the D3 come through ?
OP says theyâve run a 9:55 3k or 5 min mile.
@OP, what if you end up somewhere you canât run ? What is your full list if neither Brown because you give it up nor Princeton happens.
Interestingly, on Sept 6 in your original thread you pointed to this possibility - one Ivy wanting you but not being Princeton - what kind of issue it would cause you ?
Itâs clear you should stick with Princeton to me although Iâm not a believer in dream schools. Your parents arenât you and all schools, even Princeton, have bad things - profs, roomies, dorms, foodâŠwhatever.
But you talked about Ivy so much.
My question is because you REA Princeton - what if no Ivy or Williams/Amherst type take you - will you be ok at Trinity or Connecticut at Lafayette ?
Thatâs potentially the fall back Iâd assume - maybe not those names but that level.
On the other hand, maybe Brown takes you RD and you walk on - if you decide to roll the dice on Princeton.
In the end, youâll have a great four years and life - so while this seems a big choice, it really isnât. So if it goes your way, then great. If not, youâll still be ok.
That sounds about right. The number quoted to me by the Yale AO was around 20% for Yale. I donât think the legacy boost is that big, itâs just that legacies tend to be a highly academically qualified pool.
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Still seems astronomically high in the context of todayâs admissions environment.
Not so much if you roll back 20 years, I guess.
1/3 seems mind-boggling. I have friends who are a Princeton couple and their very athletic, very academically accomplished kids arenât even applying. She argues no benefit and that there are better fits for those particular kids, but has said more than once that the legacy lift is overrated unless you give a ton of money. Like institutionally significant amounts. And sheâs a local alumni interviewer.
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That is a great and legitimate reason to look else where. More people should strive for that kind of self awareness.
Is it though? Its a self selected group to begin with. Its not far fetched to think that a large number of these applicants are squarely in the top half of the applicant pool. Just because acceptance rate is 4% overall, there are plenty of applicants, legacy not withstanding, whose chances are realistically much higher than that.
From what I see, that is not true. Though I have long heard that 100$ a year every year is more impactful than $5000 once in a blue moon. Regular attendance at reunions etc. They care a lot and are very proud of the long term relationship with their alums.
The thing with legacy is, if your kid is as strong as the next high SES, professional parents, excellent high school (whoâs mom or dad probably went to some other top school) they choose the legacy applicant every time. Why shouldnât they? The key is that you have to be as strong a candidate, and no, you do not have to have cure cancer. At the end of the day, the vast majority of students at these schools are still just average excellent per CC standards.
So yes, acceptance is far from guaranteed, but I wouldnât be so dismissive of such an advantage.
One more thought on the legacy advantage. I think Princeton AOs put a lot of weight on supplemental essays, and legacy often have a deeper understating of the school. In many instances, not coincidently, the familyâs values are aligned with the universityâs. While not explicitly âWhy?â essays, at the end of the day its what they are and these applicants are uniquely positioned to make their case.
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Thank you for responding to my question, but the question was directed to OP in an effort to generate more insight about OPâs position. (I was aware of the OPâs earlier statements.)
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A couple of thoughts hereâŠ
Brown and Princeton have quite different âfeelsâ to them, so the OPâs waffling certainly seems understandable given that Princeton really resonates.
For all the talk of legacy, yes, it can help. But even for well-qualified applicants, itâs no sure thing. A family friend, double legacy with consistent giving at Princeton, was accepted SCEA at Yale and rejected at Princeton RD. Clearly qualified. Maybe not applying early hurt. Maybe not the best fit. Who knows? But all to say to OP, yes, you really need to show Princeton that you are a good fit AND realize that while good things will almost certainly work out for you, they may not include Princeton or Brown should you not take the Brown offer. But it sounds like you want to give Princeton a shot, so do it.
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