Similar to Harvard's policy, legacy status could be a tipping factor if the admissions committee can't decide between two or more similar candidates. Here's what a New York Times article has written about Yale's legacy policy:. He argued that legacies scored 20 points higher on the SAT than the rest of the class as a whole. These schools offer zero consideration or additional help to children of alumni in the admissions process. This is what a article had to say about Caltech's policies on legacies:.
This compares with many other elite private colleges and universities where legacy students comprise as much as percent of each entering class at Notre Dame the figure is close to one-quarter.
Additionally, Caltech is often mentioned alongside MIT as a top research school with no legacy preference. As we discussed above, MIT grants no weight to legacy status during application review.
UCLA is similar to Caltech and UC Berkeley in that it abolished legacy favoritism long ago and has no legacy policy currently in place. The bottom line is to have the best application possible—legacy or not.
This could affect your admissions strategy. Colleges are looking for genuine interest in the school. But the final decision rests with you. On a more serious note, though, don't forget that even at schools that favor legacies, legacies are never the majority in an incoming class. At the end of the day, admissions officers are looking for top students.
And though legacies are desirable, so are students with top scores, great grades, and impressive extracurriculars a "spike," as we call it around here. Rather than worry about your lack of legacy status, focus on being as competitive as possible.
Also, spend a good deal of time on your "Why this college? Make sure you have concrete, specific, and compelling reasons for why you want to go to this particular school, and state them clearly! At the end of the day, legacy status is a factor out of your control. So try to focus on those—and on being a strong applicant!
Rather, our aim was to focus on practical advice for you, given that the system is what it is. If you want to read more about legacy admissions, including how they work, how colleges benefit from them, and whether this system is good or bad, here are some articles to check out.
First of all, I suggest learning more about why some colleges value legacy ties so much. Next, get an in-depth look at the admissions process at Stanford and see how legacies seem to be favored. Finally, here is a study that found legacy applicants have vastly increased odds of admission.
This study has been quoted in many op-eds against the practice, including those published in The New York Times and The Harvard Crimson. Not a legacy? Not a problem. Read about how to make yourself a student that even Harvard and Stanford will fight over. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:. Halle Edwards graduated from Stanford University with honors.
She also took nine AP classes, earning a perfect score of 5 on seven AP tests. As a graduate of a large public high school who tackled the college admission process largely on her own, she is passionate about helping high school students from different backgrounds get the knowledge they need to be successful in the college admissions process.
Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers. As of last year, the estimated admission rate for Harvard legacies was more than five times that of non-legacies!
That might sound unfair to you, and indeed, legacy admissions have come under increased scrutiny in recent years as people both inside and outside of universities have called for the most elite schools to abandon legacy admissions. Nevertheless, with very few exceptions, the vast majority of colleges and universities in the United States still consider legacy status.
So what should you know about legacy status? Pushy emails and phone calls to admissions reps will come across poorly. Keep things positive and know that your student is definitely going to get special consideration at your alma mater.
In the worst case scenario, a thin envelope will arrive and, after the disappointments wanes, your child select another phenomenal institution to attend, starting a legacy of their very own. Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant.
Application Strategies , Navigating the Admissions Process. Primary vs. Do all schools promote this practice? Why do schools do this? If your reaction is a skeptical raise of the eyebrow, join the club.
How to take advantage No matter you feelings on the fairness of legacy admissions, if you choose to take advantage, the simplest way to disclose your legacy status is straightforward. Parents are considered primary legacies, and offer the biggest admissions boost in general. Any other relatives are considered secondary legacies, including grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, etc.
You could get a small boost from a secondary legacy, but it really depends on the school policy, like CameronBameron said especially as some schools don't even consider legacies. The "further removed" the relative, the less of an impact they will make, but the more influential they are in the school, the more of a difference it will make. Each college has its own legacy policy.
There if both parents attended MIT, they wouldn't give the applicant preferential treatment. Legacy is not the same as a development candidate, recruited athlete or Dean's list candidates which some of the other respondents have mistakenly claimed. A development candidate would be someone like Dr.
While many alumni do give generously to their alma maters, it's not typical for them to donate millions unless they are very successful.
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