Anonymous wrote:Fine, so we are all agreed then that for purposes of this thread, "celebrities" means notable people in Washington. Can anyone answer the original question?
Yes and no. Please go back and read the previous page of posts dissecting what category of positions and jobs in this town make one an actual Washington celebrity (generally defined as, many people in this country have heard of you, or at least recognize the position you hold, or the company you founded).
There is a very small category of people who qualify as a Washington celebrity. There is, however, a large subset category of people in this town who qualify as a "Washington personality", or a "person of note in Washington", or a "notable person in Washington", or whatever you want to call them.
To answer the original question, this subset category of "notable people" are the ones who -- by and large -- the original poster was referring to when she or he asked whether their children received an admissions advantage.
I would posit that the qualified children of the small category of Washington celebrities likely receive an admissions advantage. However, because there are so many people in the subset category of "Washington notables", I doubt that their children receive much - if any - of an admissions advantage because the admissions committee always has a large group of these applicants to choose from in any admissions class. So they will likely choose only the most qualified of that group, perhaps the daughter of the power lobbyist over the son of the assistant secretary.