<p>I don’t recall that I’ve ever seen an acceptance rate for legacies at Swarthmore, but I’m pretty sure it’s double or triple the overall acceptance rate of 18%. Legacies have an advantage. They can prepare effective applications. And, it’s a strong pool of applicants to start with.</p>
<p>BTW, in four years, I have only told two applicants that I thought they were a lock to get accepted. One was just an outstanding applicant to begin with – class rank, SATs, terrific extra-curriculars. Then, she mentioned that she was a third generation Swarthmore legacy.</p>
<p>BTW, I do think there is one way that being a legacy can hurt. If you know in your bones that Swarthmore is not the right school for you and communicate (even unintentionally) that you are only applying because of family expectations or whatever. I have heard stories (not specifically at Swarthmore), of legacies openly admitting in their essays or interviews that they were sabatoging their own applications because they never wanted to apply to “daddy’s school” in the first place. So my advice to a sophmore legacy is to understand that your legacy status can be a boost in admissions, but to be sure that you are choosing your own college. My advice to your parents (if they want you to apply to Swarthmore) is to let you go visit next year on your own. They should stay home.</p>