My child is torn between these two for their early application. They are a legacy at Stanford through a non-custodial parent that they no longer speak to due to family issues. Would that legacy tie still provide an advantage at Stanford? Would the boost only apply to the REA round? They like both schools equally.
At Stanford, “legacy” applicants are defined as the children of Stanford graduates at either the undergraduate or graduate level. It doesn’t matter whether the parent is custodial or non-custodial, living or deceased.
It doesn’t matter whether the applicant applies during EA or RD. The legacy boost should be the same. Any potential EA boost is an additional, separate boost.
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/06/admissions-considerations-for-children-of-alumni-or-donors
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Thank you!
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Brown says this:
“Please do not assume that your admission chances are improved by applying under the Early Decision plan. The Board of Admission makes the same decisions under Early Decision that it would under the Regular Decision plan.”
I suppose you could go Stanford as it’s not binding and Brown RD to give optionality because if you go Brown ED and get in, Stanford is off the table.
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Stanford doesn’t directly address a legacy boost difference between REA and RD. But applying REA signals that Stanford is an applicant’s top choice. Applying RD signals that the applicant likely applied elsewhere in ED or restricted/single choice EA.
Note that if applying for financial aid, both Brown and Stanford require NCP financial information. If that is not possible, you will need to submit an NCP waiver at each school that requires NCP info, and I would encourage you to do that as your kid submits their app.
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Apply Stanford REA. Yes ED will boost a little at Brown (even if they say it won’t) but not more than REA/legacy combo at Stanford, and yes the legacy boost will still apply in your child’s situation. If child likes both schools equally, they should maximize potential choice and go with the nonbinding option. Only reason to ED Brown in this scenario would be a clear #1 preference for Brown.
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If your child likes both schools equally, I suggest that s/he take a closer look. These are 2 very different schools. At Stanford, about a third of the courses needed to graduate are accomplished through Stanford’s general education requirements. In sharp contrast, the only requirement at Brown is demonstrated writing competency. That’s it. Brown’s curriculum choices are wide open with every course being self-selected by the student with the help of a faculty advisor. Brown also offers a pass/fail option to encourage risk taking.
This difference in course selection creates an enormous difference on what the 4 year academic experience will be. Then there is the question of major. Stanford’s strengths are in tech & engineering and are regarded as a feeder to Silicon Valley. Brown’s strengths are in Arts & Sciences. Again, a significantly different profile. What are your child’s interest areas? Do they align more with one school’s strengths than the other?
My suggestion is that your child look closely at what his/her plan of study might look like at both schools and decide which one s/he prefers. Given the differences between the two, this shouldn’t be hard. S/he can then focus on ED or REA on the preferred school.
I should add that being a legacy is a significant assist to admissions at Stanford. One of every 7 students at Stanford is a legacy. But keep in mind that Stanford is insanely selective at 3% and their yield is super high, i.e. applicants who are accepted there, choose to go there. Brown is also highly selective at 5% and their yield is high although not as high as Stanford’s. As a result, Brown accepted 500 more students last year than Stanford did even though Stanford is the bigger school and increased the size of their freshman class last year. So, even with a Stanford legacy advantage, admissions are very unpredictable there.
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The stats would certainly indicate that - 16%! - , yet they tell alums (in publications, on tours at reunions, etc.) that all legacy gets you is a second read UNLESS you are a major donor. Based on my network, that would seem to be true – very qualified legacy kids not being admitted to Stanford but matriculating at an Ivy - so not really sure how to reconcile that. It is interesting to note that many of the athletes are also legacies. Wondering if part of it is that there are so many alums given that graduating from any program confers legacy status for undergrad.
Just saying that OP should not be mislead into thinking there is a huge advantage there. If there could be, there is someone in the development office who can advise them of how to best present themselves.
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I would add on that Brown does have specific course requirements for each of its concentrations (majors) — so not quite as unstructured as it might seem at first glance. And some courses are restricted to freshmen or require prerequisites or are capped as to the number of students that can be accommodated.
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Of course. 
I know it seems obvious, but in the past I was helping a parent of a Brown student whose student (and the parent ) did not understand this and were quite upset that the student couldn’t take any class they wanted because of prerequisites and class size limitations. This was a student who was already enrolled at Brown and had chosen it because they thought there was no class that was not available at all times.
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These are such different schools. Where do “they” want to go. Seriously. Pick that one.
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