The definition of "legacy" depends on the school. Duke includes grandparents; Harvard does not, for example. You have to check each school's website. Some schools apparently don't count it at all. I agree with the other poster who said that legacy only helps once you've already gotten over the basic hurdle of being well-qualified (at least 2200 on SATs, top 10% of class for Duke, Ivies, etc.). And it's no guarantee at all of admission. Admission these days is a total crapshoot.

Legacy is from father, or mother. Not grandparent.
Why did your dh not go to that ivy? He ruined the chances

Anonymous wrote:Is your child otherwise qualified and you are hoping legacy brings your kids to the top of the pile? Or is the legacy status getting them into the pile?

Has your FIL consistently donated over his lifetime? Yes a building helps - but universities are fully aware that we can not all do that. They appreciate the consistent gifts as well.

My SIL worked in admissions and she said that a history of donations - however small - was important when evaluating legacies.

DS is qualified. I was wondering how much of a leg up being a legacy wuld bring to his application.

Is your child otherwise qualified and you are hoping legacy brings your kids to the top of the pile? Or is the legacy status getting them into the pile?

Has your FIL consistently donated over his lifetime? Yes a building helps - but universities are fully aware that we can not all do that. They appreciate the consistent gifts as well.

My SIL worked in admissions and she said that a history of donations - however small - was important when evaluating legacies.

Princeton loves its legacies. There was an article in the Daily Princetonian that legacies were admitted at about a 42% rate vs. a 7% rate for others( see below). I think a FIL is close enough for them.

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/05/12/26151/ -

For the Class of 2013, the University admitted 42 percent of legacy applicants, who made up 2.5 percent of the total applicant pool, compared with nine percent of non-legacies — a difference in admission rates of 33 percent. This is only a slight drop-off from the roughly 35 percent difference in admission rates in 1958.

FIL went to Princeton, and no, he did not get a building named after him.

May make a difference at an Ivy depending on which one. Where did your FIL go? That would be helpful so we could answer more clearly

If there is a building named after your FIL, or if he has made major contributions to the college, then it will probably be very helpful. If not it probably won't make much of a difference at highly selective schools.

That's right; in addition, a school might view legacy status as a spectrum, rather than an on/off switch, depending on how close the relationship between applicant and alum is and the number of alums in the applicant's family.

Each school defines it differently.

If my father in law attended the school, are my kids considered legacies?