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Their kids go to Harker and Castilleja, which can actually claim to be some of the best schools in the nation. And of course there is a decent college nearby,

Their kids go to Harker and Castilleja, which can actually claim to be some of the best schools in the nation. And of course there is a decent college nearby, just sayin :) (and to your point about moving to Cambridge to go to Harvard...sorry, but many of the techies -do- have ties to Stanford...and if your parents went to Stanford, you will be shortlisted when you apply...AND EVEN FURTHER, if your parents make a donation of a certain large amount, Stanford effectively pre-selects you, this has been communicated to people I know personally who have already made the donation in question...so yes, some of the residents can probably already start buying red sweaters)

tptacek 10y ago
That's like moving to Cambridge to give your kids the opportunity of going to Harvard. They aren't going to Harvard.
j28xfc5qsc 10y ago
The legacy bonus is real, but not as large as you might imagine. Most legacy applicants are rejected. And admission by donation exists, but it requires $M+ donations, at least at a comparable school that I know about. If it were easy for kids from Palo Alto to get into Stanford, Stanford would be full of kids from PA. In fact, only 36% of Stanford students are even from the state of CA. Top schools value geographic diversity in the admissions process, and the top applicants (in quantifiable areas like SAT score) are highly concentrated in a few areas. Moving to those areas will not help your kid get into a top school. If you want your high-SAT-score kids to get into Stanford, have them graduate from a random high school in Kansas.
- karma_vaccum123 10y ago
  Well hopefully my comment didn't imply that living in Palo Alto meant you were destined to go to Stanford...but there IS a real connection...many residents went to Stanford, and for better or for worse, many have already made the outrageous guaranteed-admission donation, which , as you say, is in the millions. Tech money is literally raining down on Stanford. The only thing left to upgrade on the campus is to line the gutters with platinum. Its sad given that San Jose State actually educates more local workers...but connections to Stanford are a real social network for some of these people.

tptacek 10y ago

That's like moving to Cambridge to give your kids the opportunity of going to Harvard. They aren't going to Harvard.

j28xfc5qsc 10y ago

The legacy bonus is real, but not as large as you might imagine. Most legacy applicants are rejected. And admission by donation exists, but it requires $M+ donations, at least at a comparable school that I know about. If it were easy for kids from Palo Alto to get into Stanford, Stanford would be full of kids from PA. In fact, only 36% of Stanford students are even from the state of CA. Top schools value geographic diversity in the admissions process, and the top applicants (in quantifiable areas like SAT score) are highly concentrated in a few areas. Moving to those areas will not help your kid get into a top school. If you want your high-SAT-score kids to get into Stanford, have them graduate from a random high school in Kansas.

karma_vaccum123 10y ago
Well hopefully my comment didn't imply that living in Palo Alto meant you were destined to go to Stanford...but there IS a real connection...many residents went to Stanford, and for better or for worse, many have already made the outrageous guaranteed-admission donation, which , as you say, is in the millions. Tech money is literally raining down on Stanford. The only thing left to upgrade on the campus is to line the gutters with platinum. Its sad given that San Jose State actually educates more local workers...but connections to Stanford are a real social network for some of these people.