Reply #27: I don't like the idea of legacy students, but I [View All]

[Igel]

understand why colleges/universities have them.

The schools I went to, the legacies just got a few points added to their admissions scores *after* they met minimum requirements. From the admissions office's POV, they were eligible in any event. But they may not have placed as high on the actual list of students offered without the legacy points.

They graduated as well as the rest of the class, similar everything. That's because they were fairly similar; most weren't wealthy; a more than average number were well-off, but hardly what I'd call wealthy. Compared with the affirmative action admits, they had higher grades and graduation rates.

On the other hand, as a group they accounted for the ability of the school to have some of those affirmative action admits, and for some classroom/office space and research. Their parents, as a group, were among the top contributors and school boosters: if they couldn't afford to donate money, then they were prominent in alumni organizations that raised money and preached the merits of the school.

Admissions at the school I was most involved with hated the legacy program because it violated both their sense of merit-based and affirmative-action-based admission standards. But they defended the system because it was good for the school.