Harvard Legacy, how does it work?Answered
I have 2 sisters, one who’s 6 years older than me and the other who is 4. They will both graduate Harvard before I would apply would I still get any kind of boost in my application because of legacy? Or will it not help me at all when I apply on my second sister graduating year
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3 answers
Unless you have 1 or both parents who are alumni of Harvard (or Radcliffe), other relatives like siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are not legacy.
That being said, Harvard will most likely remember that you have 2 siblings that attended Harvard and that will give you a non-official boost in your application if they were memorable applicants and valued students during their tenure there. Since your middle sister got into Harvard under similar circumstances, unless your academic record deviates from hers differently, you have a very good chance of being accepted as compared to other students like myself who have no connection to the school except for friends and acquaintances who attend. I asked two people there and they both had at one parent who attended Harvard so they were on paper legacy status applicants when they applied. Without the bump, they thought they would have ended up a middle or lower-ranked Ivy.
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2001/07/who-are-you-anyway.html
This is honestly the best resourse I can find and If I said anything I would likely be wrong so I’d check this article as I wouldn’t be able to tell you definitively. Really only Harvard admissions can tell you.
Hope this helps and feel free to comment if you’s like clarification as I’d be more than happy to help!
As others have said, legacy is more strongly based on parents who have attended and graduated from Harvard College, but having siblings will definitely give you a push in consideration -- perhaps you'll get deferred instead of rejected because of it, for example. It is obviously not a guarantee of any kind, but it is certainly part of the process. Best of luck!
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what do you mean by "your academic record deviates from hers differently"? My sisters both had perfect gpa's. Do you mean if I don't have a perfect gpa my chances are poor?