“I went to Princeton so I’m pretty sure my kid will get in.” This is something we tend to hear from time to time and it always makes us nervous. Mostly because it’s not necessarily true. Legacy admissions can be a lot trickier than 80s teen movies seem to always suggest. We are constantly looking at admissions numbers and class breakdowns so trust us when we say, not all legacies get into a school like Princeton. Because of this, we wanted to break down legacy admissions to ensure that parents and students know what to expect when applying as a legacy to Princeton.  

Who counts as a legacy?

defines legacy as having a “mother, father, stepmother, or stepfather who attended Princeton.” One odd note, other than in one place on their admissions FAQs, Princeton doesn’t use the term legacy. Instead, they say, “children of alumni.” So if you are looking at class breakdowns or alumni newsletters, you won’t see the word “legacy” anywhere. Princeton allows applicants to indicate whether they have other relatives who went to Princeton on their applications, but it is not considered “children or alumni” status. Notably, Princeton admissions does not take into account siblings on campus while making a decision.

What Percentage of Princeton is Legacy?

Princeton doesn’t release numbers on legacy acceptance rate, or at least they haven’t in a while (more on that later). This isn’t uncommon for top schools. We talk to admissions officers and comb through data all the time and very rarely do schools publish a legacy acceptance rate. Instead, they release class breakdowns that include the percentage of legacies per class.

*There are two numbers for the Class of 2025, the higher is from the Alumni Association Website and the lower is from the class profile. We tend to believe the class profile’s 10% more than the Association’s numbers given that historically the highest number of Legacies on campus was with the class of 2011. The class of 2011 had 14.7%. Thus it feels like breaking that number with 15% should have been much bigger news if it was true.

Around 10% is a percentage we’ve seen at other Ivy League schools as well. It might seem small, but it’s a good number of legacies on campus. These numbers have dropped off slightly since the Class of 2020 but remain fairly consistent. This is important because we have a lot more data for the Class of 2020 than in other years.

What we know about the legacy acceptances rate is from the Class of 2020…

This data is a little bit old, but the most recent time that Princeton released an acceptance rate for legacies was part of a that they released for the class of 2020.

The class of 2020 had 684 legacy applicants and 217 of them were admitted. This gives us an acceptance rate of 31.7%. This rate was far higher than their overall rate that year of 6.5%. This acceptance has probably gone down a bit in recent years for two reasons. For one, we have seen admissions rates fall across the board due to an uptick in applications. This year Princeton’s overall acceptance rate was around 4.4%. This has made top schools generally more selective. The second reason has to do with the percentage of legacies on campus falling slightly which might point to a lower legacy acceptance rate.

In recent years, the morality of legacies at top schools has been called into question. While this could also affect the acceptance rate, it probably affects reporting more than it does the actual acceptance rate. There is a reason that the last legacy acceptance rate is from the class of 2020. Princeton doesn’t want to release this data since might draw criticism. We think the rate is high enough to still draw that criticism. Even if this rate is lower than it was for the Class of 2020, it’s probably still a lot higher than the overall acceptance rate.

But what does that mean for my legacy kid?

Well, it means that your student still needs to stand out. Back in 2020, thepublished an article speaking out against legacy admissions. In this article, former admissions officers and deans spoke out about how they treated legacy admissions (this was more interesting than the oped portion to us.) Dean of Admission Jim Wickenden (who served as dean in the 80s) said that he read every legacy application personally and had his staff tell him which alumni parents were “particularly loyal” IE who was donating to the school. If a parent gave money it would sway decisions that “were on the edge.”

Much has changed since the 80s, but also a lot hasn’t. The current dean, Dean of Admission Karen Richardson, said at an Alumni Day event that legacy is used as a “tiebreaker,” and that students still have to meet “all of the markers.”  

These two deans have confirmed what we have been saying about legacy admissions for a while…. Even if you are a legacy, you need to stand out. In the past, applicants have stood out by their families donating a lot of money or them being scouted for the football team. We aren’t saying those things still don’t happen (trust us we have seen it) but it’s not the only way to stand out. Students can also stand out by being strong candidates aka “meeting all the markers.”

What are the markers?

It’s important that your legacy student still has a strong application. This means great grades, test scores, activities, and a rockstar essay. They need to have an application in line with Princeton. We always advise in this case to work with a college counselor. We know, we know, of course, we would say that… we are college counselors… But we are in the business of making students stand out. It isn’t always an easy process. Most of the students who apply to Princeton are at least good candidates. You need to have your student stand out against other legacies.

31% is a better acceptance rate than 6% but it still means that about 70% of legacies don’t get in. Your kid needs to have an eye-catching application. While they also need to have good grades and test scores, having a killer essay and supplement can be the “tie-breaker” of a “tie-breaker.” So making sure your legacy has a great application is essential to get them in… that or donating a library (that’s mostly a joke.)  

Just being a legacy isn’t a guaranteed in, but it can help. If your student really wants to follow in your footsteps and is dreaming of Princeton, make sure they have the best application possible. It’s never easy to get into the Ivy League, but it’s our job to help students and parents make a game plan for our kids to get into the school of their dreams.

Need help navigating the application process? It’s what we do. Reach out here.