admissions favor for siblings of current/past students?

[chef]

i was wondering if admissions committee gives any brownie points for applicants who have siblings who attended that school? or does this exist at certain Ivy schools only?

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[missmod]

I think you gain some favor as an undergrad applicant... I'm not sure about medical schools tho, because classes are so small, it seems like letting in one or two sibling-legacy students makes a much bigger difference than for undergrad classes of 2,000+.

 

[Mutterkuchen]

I think that as a general rule, yes. Schools get so many applicants that they use anything to narrow it down. So if your sibling was a good student and a good person, your chances are much better. I'm sure that it depends on the school, though.

 

[Smurfette]

We have a fair amount of "legacy"-type individuals in my class---parents, sibs, etc. having graduated previously. We even have a brother-sister pair within our class.

As far as admissions are concerned, I'd say it certainly doesn't hurt---chances are you know the low-down on the school from whichever family member attended thus you may be more likely to actually matriculate there should you be accepted as compared to other applicants.

 

[TysonCook]

Depending on your numbers, yes. If you are a crappy applicant, it will not mean squat, while if your numbers are good/great, then yes, it will look that much better. (I was given an oral acceptance at my brothers school while he attended, along the lines of "well let you know soon regarding your acceptance here, but let me just say in advance that I think that your brother and you will be very happy here, wink wink") I didn't end up going there, but it was nice of them.

 

[Medical123]

I know of at least two people in my class who have siblings in the medical school. One has two sisters in the program and another has a brother that is in his 4th year. I think that there are several others that are the siblings or children of alumni. I am not sure if it really makes a difference in the admissions process, but I am sure it doesn't hurt!

 

[lattimer13]

the legacy thing might be true. there are a handful of people in our class that had parents that attended UA med. one girl in our class has a brother a year ahead of us. who really knows though?