If you have a famous relative like Einstein who kept a lab and taught at Princeton, it wouldn't hurt to name drop. I certainly would even if the relative was Colonel Sanders at a school I was applying to and their was an affiliation.

If above does not work then the chain may be broken. No one gives large sums of money to a school assuming that every relative in perpetuity will have a leg up. Nepotism only goes so far.

If he is still able, have the uncle call someone he knows in the development office or on the current board...the old fashioned way.

What if an uncle was a long standing member of the board and 7 figure donor?
Obviously there's nowhere on the application to indicate that, but it's a pretty significant tie to the university.

Anonymous wrote:Some apps ask if anyone in your family attended. My child put down second cousins. Not that it will get the application into the legacy pile but it would show some connection to the school - assuming that this is a school where that matters.

This is the size of it. Decades ago, college apps asked if you had any family members who attended (job apps do that today). I agree that if a school ask, it's to see the connection.

And yes, they will pull the giving history of the entire web. Push-of-the-button exercise given their extensive databases. A history of regular giving will help. A history of sizable giving will help a lot. A history of no giving will actually work against the candidate.