At least she has a choice in that matter (and even if she did go to the legacy school, she need not announce it to everyone – and, of course, not all schools have legacy preferences, although people may assume that they exist even where they do not). Some other types of “hook characteristics” are more outwardly visible, potentially leading to this kind of social stigma even if the school does not have any preference for such “hook characteristics”.
Well, giving students a leg up due to race or income is an attempt to level the field for the disadvantaged. There will be students applying to college who only get any help at all from an over burdened guidance counselor. There are students who only ever take the PSAT and SAT once and receive no help with preparation.
I hate when parents say the kid is “too busy” to fill out their applications. Everyone is busy…it’s called time management.
I think completing the “basic information” on apps by the parents is fine, it is not data that changes or can be manipulated. If it saves the time of a busy high school student this is no harm no foul in my mind. My first son was at school every day at 5:30am for practice, afternoon practice went from dismissal until 6:00 or later, and on competition nights (twice a week) usually was not home until 9:00 or later. This left little time to eat, homework, and still getting 6 hours of sleep. Saturdays generally consisted of competitions resulting in being home at 5:00 or later, essentially leaving Sunday as the only catch up day which included essay work. Taking away the filling in basic information on an app seems pretty reasonable.