Stanford chances based on legacy Forum

[santaclara12]

i hate to ask this but i feel the question needs to be asked to give myself a realistic gauge of where i stand in the SLS application process. I am a third generation legacy to SLS and have a 3.5 GPA, shooting for a 170 LSAT. What are my odds? how does stanford address situations such as this? would writing a specific essay be more advantageous? thanks in advance,

[bk1]

Does your parent or grandparent have a building at Stanford named after them?

[rinkrat19]

i hate to ask this but i feel the question needs to be asked to give myself a realistic gauge of where i stand in the SLS application process. I am a third generation legacy to SLS and have a 3.5 GPA, shooting for a 170 LSAT. What are my odds? how does stanford address situations such as this? would writing a specific essay be more advantageous? thanks in advance,

Conventional wisdom says that legacy counts for almost nothing, unless your name is Bush or Kennedy (or similar), or your parents bought the law school a building.
Your GPA is too low for Stanford. There are very few admits below 3.7/3.8-ish, and those are URMs.
http://stanford.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1011/

[rayiner]

Does your parent or grandparent have a building at Stanford named after them?

If not, zarro.

[santaclara12]

Does your parent or grandparent have a building at Stanford named after them?

yes, a portion of the library.

[AntipodeanPhil]

Here's what Anna Ivey says, from her book on law school admissions:

"In my experience, at the top schools your relatives would have to have given a lot of money to influence your admissions chances in a meaningful way. However, even alumni and family connections who haven't donated big bucks can and do help if you're borderline."

From what I recall, Richard Montauk says something similar.

So, how big a portion - a room, a wing? Sounds like it would need to be something very substantial to compensate for a 3.5 and a below median LSAT.

[santaclara12]

That is what I thought but was curious to hear people's opinion. Thanks for the info. I guess I'll throw in my app and cross my fingers!