<p>If an alum who is active in their local club and who has been consistent and/or generous with their donations to the school finds that their legacy child is not admitted (or is left on the waiting list), does anyone know if there is documentation that this affects the future generosity of these alum?</p>
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I don’t know about documentation, but I can tell you that it would affect mine. I’m loyal to my school, but I’m much more loyal to my kid.</p>
<p>And conversely, I responded to a recent donation request and joined a 25th reunion committee and I won’t pretend that some of those warm fuzzies aren’t due to the fact of knowing that S will be going there this fall and I’d be much less warm and fuzzy about it. I’m quite confident that it’ll now rank higher on future donations,not to mention the $55,000/year donation I’ll be giving them over the next 4 years, ha ha.</p>
<p>The jury is still out on whether I’m donating a new dorm, though.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ll be donating a new dorm. Maybe a new doghouse for Handsome Dan. Or maybe a water dish.</p>
<p>Of course it affects their generosity and engagement. I don’t know anyone in that position who hasn’t been affected – and I know a bunch of people in that position, at multiple schools. </p>
<p>Most people are affected pretty definitively. I don’t think my spouse will ever write another check to our alma mater. Our energy transferred pretty entirely to our kids’ college, and even though the last one is graduating in a few weeks I know that I feel at least as loyal to their school as I do to mine. Almost everyone I know who has been through this has either gone cold turkey on Alma Mater or very significantly reduced support. And, by the same token, the *******s whose kids got in tend to get even more involved and give more. A few people who use their alumni involvement heavily in marketing themselves may continue that, but even they cut back some.</p>
<p>The universities know this and deal with it. In the long run, they are probably best off admitting the best class they can, and milking them for energy and donations before their kids hit college, then really milking the 20% or so whose kids make it through the screen.</p>
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<p>Hey! Are you calling ******s anyone whose kid got into a legacy school, or just Yale? LOL. (Congrats on your S’s upcoming graduation, btw. I hope there’s finally nice weather here for it.)</p>
<p>I’m planning to donate pretty substantially (by my shop-at-Target standards) to the renovation of my House. I’d pay out the nose if they were able to replace the dorms at Harvard Law, but it looks like we’ll be stuck with those in perpetuity thanks to the architectural landmark folks. I swear, all those Gropius groupies should come and live in those rat cages for a while if they’re so in love with them…</p>
<p>^ROFL. Gropius is NOT my favorite architect.</p>
<p>Pizzamom, I called them ****<strong><em>s, not *</em></strong>*****<strong><em>s or *</em></strong>******s. Mild resentment is understandable, and OK.</p>
<p>Hanna, I grew up hearing how awful the HLS Gropius dorms were. My parents hated them 60 years ago, shortly after they were built.</p>
<p>They’ve been improved substantially, to the maximum extent that’s possible without altering the framework…but it’s the framework that really needs to be altered.</p>
<p>Hanna - Did you do both undergrad and law at Harvard?</p>
<p>Random data point … my alma matar rejected SecondToGo … it’s been two months and it still hurts a little and I do not think SecondToGo deserved to be admitted … I can’t imagine how p***ed I’d be if I thought he was a top candidate and was rejected.</p>
<p>texaspg, yes.</p>
<p>3togo - That is precisely why H and I <em>deliberately</em> steered S away from our alma mater, and why it took a real leap of faith for us to agree to put it back on the table (at his urging, NOT ours). A rejection there would have had a sting that a rejection at another place wouldn’t have, and I knew that I would never feel the same way about it again if they had rejected him. Thank GOODNESS it didn’t play out that way, but there but for the grace of God and all. It could have so easily gone the other way, and we were very careful not to telegraph even the slightest bit of entitlement or portray the legacy piece to S as anything beyond a feather on the scale. Hanna can attest to all of my maternal angst over this.</p>
<p>I lived in those Gropius dorms at HLS, too, for one year–they were the pits. Is it really true that they are protected?</p>
<p>jym626 asks
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<p>I don’t know of any documentation, but I can tell you about our situation. My H is a Stanford alum, has never been active in any alumni groups and we have given only small amounts each year, $50-$100, due to our very middle-class income. Stanford was the first choice of both of our kids, with no pressure either way from us. Our D applied early action in 2004, was deferred, then rejected. It was her only rejection and she was devastated. Ended up full-scholarship to U of Chicago. Then our S applied early action in 2007 and was accepted. Their SATs/ACTs (excellent, but not stellar) were very similar, had same very high class rank and sky-high GPAs, both were strong athletes and had leadership in many ECs. Our D was stronger in ECs, and our S was stronger in being a stand-out in a unique, non-school-related activity and in his essay writing.</p>
<p>We did not stop giving our small yearly donation after our D was rejected. If our S had been rejected, too, I might have felt differently and wanted to stop, but I’m sure my H would have wanted to continue.</p>
<p>Funny but my D1 also stayed in Harvard Law dorms! This was the summer of 2005 when she attended a program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. I didn’t think it was too great either, but just for a summer and she was still 18 at the time.</p>
<p>Random data point … my alma matar rejected SecondToGo … it’s been two months and it still hurts a little and I do not think SecondToGo deserved to be admitted … I can’t imagine how p**ed I’d be if I thought he was a top candidate and was rejected. *</p>
<p>cheer up in the … long term, your son will … be fine wherever he winds up … hopefully he wasn’t … completely in love with only … that school … time … will make it better …</p>