How much does Legacy Matter for ED vs RD

Grace
Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:35:54 +0000

My understanding is that it generally helps a lot more in early decision and that that is also when most of the legacy students who have Williams as a top choice apply. It should help some in regular decision but not nearly as much.

She may be able to mitigate the “damage” with careful planning. Do the legacy college counseling/paper review/interview this summer if she can. Demonstrate a strong familiarity with and interest in Williams at the interview but also talk about why she is probably not going to apply early. Better for her to have said it in person, openly and sincerely, than to have them wondering about her motivation and level of interest. Have her guidance counselor echo this and back it up. Some people just are not ready to apply in November.

The tricky thing will be how to demonstrate a strong interest if she applies regular decision. Williams wants to accept only people who really want to come to school there. She should keep that idea in mind as she thinks about what to do.

I would have preferred that my daughter, who is a legacy, not apply ED. I wanted her to be sure it was right. I wanted her to have the opportunity to choose it from amidst other options. She went with ED and that was probably right for her because it is an amazingly good fit for her. Still, it was a tense time there as she came up to the deadline for telling her high school where, if anywhere, she was applying early. That was the low point of the admissions cycle for us this year. It’s good that you are thinking about it now and she can do her research and be ready to make her decision in the fall.