Would this help me at all with admission?

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
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<p>I have a question about a family legacy at Princeton.</p>

<p>It regards my great, great uncle (and I realize that this was an insanely long time ago).</p>

<p>Anyways, he was Moses Taylor Pyne, who is widely regarded as Princeton’s most charitable benefactor and trustee. He was known to have devoted the overwhelming majority of his resources–including his time and his vast fortune–to Princeton. He donated an enormous amount of wealth to the university’s general fund, although the exact amount was never disclosed. </p>

<p>He was chairman of the Committee of Grounds and Buildings, and he proposed the general design of the campus (he first advocated the Gothic architecture). In addition, he bought and donated many hundreds of acres of land to the school. </p>

<p>He founded the Princeton Alumni Association as well as the Princeton Alumni Weekly. He helped to found and generously supported many of the eating clubs (he was an honorary member of 12 out of the 14 that existed at the time). He served on the board of trustees for 27 years and had a perfect attendance record for the meetings.</p>

<p>So here is my question. Is this too distant of a relationship to help my admission at all? I realize that this was a long time ago, but Princeton has, for the most part, never had a more charitable alumnus than he. I basically would like to know how much this would help me with the admissions process, or if it would help me at all?</p>

<p>(As a side note, my grandfather, his nephew, was offered full scholarship to Princeton because of his relationship to Moses Taylor Pyne).</p>

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<p>I think it’s too distant to be a really significant hook, but I can see how it could help you a bit (i.e. it could be a tipping factor to get you in). I’m not an expert on this, but this is what I’m inclined to believe.</p>

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<p>Yeah- that’s kind of the way I feel… Its obviously a long way back. The one thing that I can think of that would really make it significance is his importance to the university… As I see it, Princeton still seems to regard him as their most charitable alumnus.</p>

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<p>Generally, how close of a relation does it have to be for an alumni relationship to count for anything?</p>

<p>I have a bunch of other Ivy grads in my family, but none quite as important.</p>