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My son is applying to a college which I attended for 3 semesters 30 years ago. The application asks him to list any parents or grandparents who attended this institution, together with the degree they received there ("None," in my case).

The way the app. is written, it would be dishonest to omit me. Do you think this parental information will be a negative, positive, or neither?

By the way, I wasn't thrown out or anything - simply took a leave of absence and never returned.

By Dadster on Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 07:18 pm: Edit

No effect either way, IMO.

By asdf on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 12:10 pm: Edit

Was it an IVY ?

By oldhippie on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 02:02 pm: Edit

Gee, if I answer that question affirmatively you'll probably know which school I'm talking about, since most apps are phrased differently .... but yes, it was an Ivy. And yes, I was a poor misguided youth.

I notice that for fund-raising purposes, these colleges don't care whether you graduated or not. Hopefully that will carry over to the legacy issue.

By Sally R. on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 04:09 pm: Edit

My vote is to definitely list this information and then encourage your son to parlay it into an amusing, brief supplemental essay ("Unfinished Business," ???) that explains why this college wasn't right for you (or perhaps it was simply the timing that was wrong) and why he feels his story will have a different ending. Have him keep it light. He could even write it in dialogue form, featuring an aging prof, now serving on the admissions commitee, who recognizes the name on the application and says to the dean, "I certainly hope it's not that McGillicuddy ... (or whatever your name is); he began every essay with a Bob Dylan lyric, and you could smell the patchouli incense on his jean jacket all over Calvin Hall ..."

Whatever your son decides to do, your short and not-so-sweet tenure at the institution in question definitely won't have a negative impact on his acceptance, and it could be a plus, since--depending on this college's policy--he may be automatically coded as a "legacy," regardless of the legacy--or legend--you left behind.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:47 pm: Edit

Sally R. - I'm don't really agreee. I think silence is best.

Lots of folks either drop out before finishing, even in the Ivy league. Lots of alums don't donate. The adcoms are used to it, and the adcoms are used to this. Why rock the boat? Why risk having it backfire, and call attention to something they may not notice or care about?

At any rate, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, and I don't think his kids, if he ever has any, will do much explaining regarding why.

By Sally R. on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 02:47 pm: Edit

I don't think that following my suggestion is "rocking the boat." Instead, it's a way for this young man to show an admission committee that he's given some extra thought to why this college might be an appropriate choice for him--even if it isn't in his DNA. With so many talented, hyperqualified applicants aiming for Ivy, anything that makes a candidate stand out in the crowd is worth pursuing.

Furthermore, applications typically ask which colleges each parent has attended (not "graduated from" ). Oldhippie's son would be dishonest in not spilling the beans.

Finally, if I was advising Bill Gates' kid who was applying to Harvard, I'd certainly recommend a quip or two in the application about dear old dad's "failed" Crimson career and where it led him.