I noticed that WashU had a space on the secondary that asked for any affiliation with the school. Anyone that applied previously thought that their affiliation helped them gain addmissions?
Yeah, you get a special stamp marked "NEPO" that you have to put on the secondary, after that you don't even need to fill the rest of the application out.
I didn't really have any affiliation with the school (had a friend going there, but that was it), and I still got an interview. It probably helps to have a direct connection (like a close relative), but wouldn't be a negative to not have a connection like that.