How do parents get their children into grad school?

sakky
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:09:31 +0000

How do parents do this? I can see a parent filling out the application & I suppose they could fill out the SOP, but they couldn’t take their kids GRE, do the LOR, take the kid’s tests in school, write the students papers or get them their grades (I would hope) nor do their interviews. Is it a financial thing? I know of people who claim that they give money to colleges or whatever but this can’t be too often I would imagine?





So in all, i agree with the OP that it is quite fantastical to imagine that parents can get their children into grad school. or perhaps there are schools that just admit full freight payers?



I can tell you of a rather obvious example that I have seen myself several times: parents who are themselves faculty members of the department to which you are applying, especially if they occupy high administrative positions such as Dean or Chair. Such parents can provide tremendous pull in helping their children be admitted.

Such influence may not even necessarily have to be nefarious. Having a faculty member as a parent can simply provide you with informational advantages, i.e. knowing what worked and what did not among the packets of past applicants and therefore knowing exactly what you need to say in your SOP and interviews. It also provides strong social networking advantages as you may already personally know some of the other faculty through your parent and - if your parent is politically powerful in the department - then you’re probably going to be given a rather easy interview, especially by junior faculty (as nobody wants to be known as the guy who lowered the hammer on the son of the department Chair.) For example, I know of one guy who applied to a particular PhD department of which not only his father happened to be on the faculty, but the guy, alongside his father, had been golfing partners with many of the other members of the faculty (and their sons) ever since he was a teenager. Unsurprisingly, he was admitted. Granted, the guy was a strong candidate regardless, but clearly his family connections didn’t hurt. He even said that one of his interviews concluded with a sidebet wager on which of them was going to score a lower stroke count on the next golf outing (as a large group of them including him and his interviewer were all scheduled to play together the following weekend).

And then of course there are ‘adjustment signaling’ advantages. Grad school is quite different from undergrad, and grad programs are legitimately concerned that you - even if you performed spectacularly as an undergrad - will be able to adjust to not just the general academic lifestyle, but also to the particularities of the department. This concern is obviated if your parent is an academic - especially if your parent is on the faculty of the department in question - for that means that you are clearly knowledgeable about the lifestyle. After all, you grew up in it. You lived it. The chances that you will be unpleasantly surprised enough to quit are greatly diminished, and the adcom knows that.