I was very tempted to write “if little Joey has half the tenacity and drive of his mom, he’ll be a wonderful addition to the Brown campus” but I wouldn’t want to unwittingly tag Joey as a pain in the neck just because his mom doesn’t understand boundaries!
@blossom nicely handled.
veryapparent, exactly, I was thinking it could hurt. It didn’t even occur to me that it might help.
Ahhh … I was going to guess Bill Bradley (although I guess he’s not in his 90s yet). I was close. Same state, same school, influential politician. Gov. Byrne was beloved.
@garland , Little Joey may have been reluctant to meet with you because he was embarrassed by his mother’s shenanigans. Or at least one can hope. 
@Consolation ^I think that was supposed to be in response to @blossom ?
Wait. Are some people trying to say that a former State Governor calling on behalf of an applicant would not only be not helpful, but actually hurtful. That’s hilarious. The guy was a Governor. Not some schmuck with a gold chain and speedo. The risk of offending the guy could be detrimental. Granted, he can’t get her in. But he certainly can make sure her application gets a proper review. It would still be her record of achievement that seals the deal. At a school like that there are many qualified applicants who don’t make it.
A call from Brendan Byrne would not hurt at all. It may or may not help. It would help most if the applicant were a qualified applicant. It would not shore up a weak applicant.
It doesn’t matter if he was governor. He had a connection he thought could help, but didn’t have the goods behind it: a knowledge of this kid.
And plenty of big donors may get a little light shined on their own kids, but not even nieces or nephews, much less a neighbor kid…or one they’ve never met.
You get wined and dined on campus, nice accommodations while there, maybe the tote bag. Development and admissions execs know how to be nice, then get back to their work.
I am not saying it hurts OP’s child. Just that the end result depends far more on her own app, teacher LoRs, and issues like geo diversity and balance in majors. I don’t think adcoms will be offended he called. It may get a note in the file, but I wouldn’t worry. If she’s admitted, it will be fair and square.
Best wishes.