<p>Does anyone know?</p>
<p>Legacies typically boast about 2-2.5x higher acceptance rates. I personally feel parents push their kids more, and that's why the rate is higher, but you may think whatever you want.</p>
<p>So, if it's around 10% for ordinary applicants, it's around 20-25% for legacies. That's a good point, though, 1MX. It does seem that parents really motivate their kids to attend the school that they went to.</p>
<p>if we had data it'd be easy to tell: just figure out how many of the legacies that got into H, also got into a similarly selective school (Y or P). too bad we dont have a data set</p>
<p>This article from 2005 Harvard Magazine says legacies get about a 20 point SAT advantage. <a href="http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/050547.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/050547.html</a> Given that 20 points is ONE question on the Math SAT1 I find it hard to feel too badly about it.</p>
<p>Mathmom, that Harvard Magazine story is reporting on a study of admissions practices at 19 institutions (of which Harvard is only one) analyzing data from the "1995 entering cohort." Not clear that legacies ever received a "20-point SAT advantage" at Harvard, but that's certainly not the case today. I've heard Bill Fitzsimmons say that the average SAT score for legacy admits at Harvard is the same as the average for the admitted class as a whole. He's also quoted to that effect in this story: <a href="http://www.harvardindependent.com/(tmfx0e45bsm2bx55ieqy1d45)/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9455%5B/url%5D">http://www.harvardindependent.com/(tmfx0e45bsm2bx55ieqy1d45)/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9455</a> ("Fitzsimmons parried claims of perpetuating inequality by pointing out that the legacy students are not being given unfair breaks given a dead-even average SAT score for 2005 admits.")</p>
<p>Of course, that's not to say there's no legacy advantage, given that SAT scores are only one factor that goes into the admissions decision. But I do think it's fair to say that the legacy advantage is not what it once was (and I can provide anecdotal evidence about some very strong legacy candidates I know who were rejected in the last few years).</p>
<p>Well you have to take into consideration that SAT scores aren't really an accurate indicator of a person's acceptance chances. Sure the legacies may have the 'average' SAT admit score, but then again there are a lot of qualified applicants who surpass that score but don't get in because they're not a legacy. </p>
<p>I probably agree more with 1MX's statement about them having a 2-2.5x more chance...</p>
<p>The article said that at the time Harvard's data was about the same as other places. Twenty points or zero, I don't think it's a significant difference. I can provide anecdotal evidence that my son was rejected by MIT, Harvard and Caltech, but accepted by Harvard. :) We like to think that there were other reasons Harvard accepted him, but I'm pretty sure that being a legacy didn't hurt! (BTW he didn't need help from the SAT/GPA point of view, there he confirms that legacy SAT scores are in line with other admits.)</p>
<p>"if we had data it'd be easy to tell: just figure out how many of the legacies that got into H, also got into a similarly selective school (Y or P)."</p>
<p>There's another way: you can compare the admit rate of Harvard legacies to the admit rate of Yale and Princeton legacies at Harvard. They don't get a legacy boost, but they have the same kind of parents and the same kind of upbringing as the Harvard legacies.</p>
<p>The admissions office has done this, and the legacy advantage shrinks to only a couple of percentage points. In other words, Y&P legacies get into Harvard at more than twice the overall admit rate. It looks like a big chunk of the apparent legacy advantage comes from having bright, well-educated parents who value going to a great university. HYP parents raise very competitive kids.</p>
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It looks like a big chunk of the apparent legacy advantage comes from having bright, well-educated parents who value going to a great university.
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<p>Or a preference for children of elite-educated parents. That is consistent with the admissions study, at any rate. What were the numbers they found?</p>
<p>I've seen numbers this year that put the legacy admit rate at 34%.</p>
<p>I know at Yale the legacy admit rate is apparently something like 15%...so it depends on the Ivy lol...I would assume Harvard's rate is similar?</p>
<p>I highly doubt Yale's legacy admit rate is 15%. That would NOT make alums very happy, and far less likely to give.</p>
<p>You have to note that the higher legacy admit rate may stem from the fact that yes, the students are legacies, but they may have other tip factors, such as athletics, donors, etc.</p>
<p>"I know at Yale the legacy admit rate is apparently something like 15%"</p>
<p>Do you have a cite for that? That doesn't sound right at all. Harvard legacies do better than that at Yale!</p>
<p>hey- i just got rejected, but i found my dad's jack daniels university bottle, so im set for life</p>
<p>Does anybody know for sure how much having a legacy will help you? My grandpa went to Yale, how much will that benefit me?</p>
<p><a href="mathmom%20wrote:">quote</a> This article from 2005 Harvard Magazine says legacies get about a 20 point SAT advantage.
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<p>The 20-point advantage is in the percentage admitted, which is an enormous difference (double or triple the chances of admission at most SAT ranges). They are not saying that legacies are admitted at the same rate as otherwise equal applicants with 20 points higher SAT. </p>
<p><a href="Hanna%20wrote:">quote</a>compare the admit rate of Harvard legacies to the admit rate of Yale and Princeton legacies at Harvard. .... The admissions office has done this, and the legacy advantage shrinks to only a couple of percentage points.
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<p>Can you post the numbers and, if available, a published source?</p>
<p>There is no published source. It's internal. This came straight from admissions officers when I was a student working at information sessions.</p>