Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:47     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
I didn’t directly ask anything but absolutely mentioned that my child was EDing. I think she would have gotten in any way, but she got in and that’s all that matters.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:40     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
If you are asking this question, you are not close enough to them, or they are not in the kind of position where they can get your kid in. Have your kid reach out via email and ask them for admissions advice.

In my own experience with academia, someone like a Dean may be able to get their own child/granchild into a program, but would not be able to get someone else's kid in. A lot of this depends on the school and kid's stats as well.

President/Board/Influential donors do have this kind of pull, but, they aren't able to use it for a ton of people.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:39     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
One of my co-workers has a brother who works at my kid’s top choice. Apparently, the brother volunteered to put in a good word for my kid, having never met her (wtf?).

I have no idea what this brother does or if he’s even liked at this college. Should we ask him NOT to say anything?

Would it reflect poorly on my kid if he says something?
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:38     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:If you all have asked a board member, do your kids know the board member themselves or do just the parents know them?


Parents/grandparents knew them and the board member had a Zoom conversation with kid before recommending. Did this at 3 schools, was admitted to 2 of them. Kid was very well qualified at the two where admitted (scores/gpa etc) so may not have helped, but definitely didn't hurt.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:31     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

You're clearly not very bright. The question deserved a simple response delivered in a condescending manner. Because it was stupid.


+1
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 12:24     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
I would reach out and let them know it's your kid's top choice and they are really excited (if that's true) and ask if they have any advice. Don't ask for a rec letter for a kid they don't know, that's cringy.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:51     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
I think at best it gets your kid’s app looked at carefully.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:42     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
We asked someone on the finance committee and major donor to a major university to write a letter of rec for my DD. She got deferred then waitlisted. The school took a lot of kids off the WL last year so I think she would have eventually been accepted but she got into a higher ranked school and enrolled there. Had she been accepted either ED or RD, we would made her go to the school #1. It would have been very rude to our neighbor for her to have turned that down.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:40     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:If you know someone in a very high position at your kid's ED school (think undergrad dean, President, CFO, COO, etc), would you ask them to write a letter of support or mention anything to them at all? We used to be friends but they moved away (far enough that we wouldn't visit otherwise and we aren't BFFs to visit just to see them). We now converse on social media and exchange holiday cards. I say we do nothing beyond just mentioning kid's interest causally and only if there is an opportunity. DH thinks we could ask for a letter of support or something more formal. That feels like too much to me, but maybe I'm wrong. (This is for a future year, not this year.)


My neighbors daughter got into UMD med school this way. Her FIL to be made a call age was previously rejected.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:35     Subject: Re:If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Knowing an staff or faculty member, no matter how high in rank, will not help imho. My husband was close enough to the general counsel of a T20 school where my son was applying that we were able to have lunch with her during my son's official tour. We never asked for her help because it would put her in an awkward position and she never offered. He ultimately got in, but he also had very strong stats and was coming out of a private feeder high school. We also had the help of a major donor of that school as well. You are better off knowing a major donor than an employee honestly.


How is the general counsel helpful?

Signed, a lawyer


The GC is close to the president. So, could matter a lot actually. Not cool, but it is what it is.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:35     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
The ONLY thing you could do here and still be considered a reasonable person is to schedule a tour, and email or text them to say "Hi Larla! Hope you're well. We're going to be in your neck of the woods on April 10th to see Hotshot U for Brandon and I know you're busy, but we were hoping we could catch up. Any chance you happen to be free for coffee or a quick lunch?"

If that's a social-stretch, no, you shouldn't reach out.

You can not ASK for letter. They have to offer.

I'm an academic in administration.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:32     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:Board members are more influential that staff/faculty. And yes, letters from Board members can help a qualified applicant.


This is how I got in. My mom was a nurse in a nursing home. I would often come with her to work on the weekends and read or chat with the residents. I got to know family members that visited. It was obvious that I was in HS so a logical question often became where are you thinking of attending or what do you want to study. A son would often come visit his father and we would chat about college options. One day I told him that I was done--all apps were submitted. He told my mom that he was on the board and he would make a phone call.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:28     Subject: If you know someone "important" at a college...
If you all have asked a board member, do your kids know the board member themselves or do just the parents know them?
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:27     Subject: Re:If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:Knowing an staff or faculty member, no matter how high in rank, will not help imho. My husband was close enough to the general counsel of a T20 school where my son was applying that we were able to have lunch with her during my son's official tour. We never asked for her help because it would put her in an awkward position and she never offered. He ultimately got in, but he also had very strong stats and was coming out of a private feeder high school. We also had the help of a major donor of that school as well. You are better off knowing a major donor than an employee honestly.


How is the general counsel helpful?

Signed, a lawyer
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 11:27     Subject: Re:If you know someone "important" at a college...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Knowing an staff or faculty member, no matter how high in rank, will not help imho. My husband was close enough to the general counsel of a T20 school where my son was applying that we were able to have lunch with her during my son's official tour. We never asked for her help because it would put her in an awkward position and she never offered. He ultimately got in, but he also had very strong stats and was coming out of a private feeder high school. We also had the help of a major donor of that school as well. You are better off knowing a major donor than an employee honestly.


As someone who has basically my whole family employed in academia, I wholeheartedly second this. Being friends with a professor at Princeton or a Dean at Cal Tech will not help you. They don’t know your kid, they know YOU, so they can’t write a meaningful letter of recommendation.

A donor on the other hand has development officers at their beck and call. They know exactly how much influence they can trade for their level of monetary contribution.


Or perhaps both kids got in because dad was successful in private equity.

This is correct. We have a friend whose kids both got into Penn because friend worked at a hedgefund where founder was a major donor. The founder sent his kids to Harvard and was willing to write letters of support for our friend's kids.


Dad works in IT for the hedge fund but for more than 20 years. He is not in private equity.