>A student with no idea about college or admissions, or someone who grew up with experience and knowledge of the institution.
Honestly, I think you're overstating things. That a parent attended a possibly distant school 25 years ago is a pretty indirect path to wowing an alumni interviewer.
Now, maybe it's different, if the school was a part of your life growing up. A good friend of mine's father has a doctorate from MIT and worked next door at a lab that used to be part of MIT and my friend tells me of sometimes being dropped off in Doc Edgerton's lab to be looked after. But that's hardly typical.
Honestly, I think you're overstating things. That a parent attended a possibly distant school 25 years ago is a pretty indirect path to wowing an alumni interviewer.
Now, maybe it's different, if the school was a part of your life growing up. A good friend of mine's father has a doctorate from MIT and worked next door at a lab that used to be part of MIT and my friend tells me of sometimes being dropped off in Doc Edgerton's lab to be looked after. But that's hardly typical.