<p>I’m a legacy and I’m concerned that if I get in, everyone else at my school who applied to Yale early (15+ other kids) will think I’m a jerk and think the only reason I got in was because of my legacy. My dad has by no means donated a building–we live modestly–and I have stats and the appeal, I think, to match the average Yale attendee, but I’m guessing that the perception of my peers will be that I’m riding a legacy into Yale. </p>
<p>I’m grateful for the legacy boost but almost wish I could “prove” myself unaided. It feels weird saying this because I’m not usually concerned with how people see me. I guess I feel like I have something to prove?</p>
<p>I know exactly how it feels. My family lives very modestly and my dad hasn’t really given much money. I am thankful for having legacy, but I don’t want people to think that is the only reason why I was accepted.</p>
<p>Applying SCEA does show some commitment, but it is still EA, not ED and many applicants to Harvard and Princeton just apply SCEA to Yale for a safety. idk how big legacy should play in admissions, but its not that big as my older brother was waitlisted and then rejected. Though I do have legacy at Yale, Cornell, and Georgetown =)</p>
<p>Legacy doesn’t give nearly as much pull as other hooks, the higher acceptance rate is usually attributed to a higher quality applicant pool, or at least that’s what the oft repeated knowledge on CC is.</p>
Prove yourself when you get there, if you get in. Indeed, if people ask whether you think you got in because you’re a legacy say this: “It could be. I guess I’ll have to do my best to prove that I deserve to be there. I know you’ll be pulling for me to succeed.”</p>
<p>What annoys me about this URM stuff is that not all Hispanics or Blacks are the same. You can’t possibly compare a first generation, 30K income, parents don’t care to a 3rd generation, parents bought you a library, 100K. Sometimes it seems this way though, in the name of raising a percentage.</p>
<p>Patrician- it sucks even more since I am an athlete. I got a likely letter, and my stats are below (only by a little, but below nonetheless) the average Yale admittee, so I have been getting a lot of crap at school, so I know what that will feel like.</p>
<p>It’ll be tough for me too. I’m not exactly a qualified candidate GPA-wise, but I’m a Native American. If I get in - especially when most of my classmates have been rejected and deferred by other Ivys - there’ll be a lot of resentment</p>
<p>It really does, I mean I understand what Affirmative Action was implemented for. Helping out the underprivileged. I completely agree there’s many still underprivileged, and I think they deserve a boost, from greater hardships during their youth to whatever.</p>
<p>But then there’s the kid who had an even easier life than you or me, and gets another thing handed to them on a platter. Life’s not fair, but I mean it’s even more irritating when it’s under-the-table. The college looks better for admitting more of a certain race, and the actually underprivileged kid along with us gets screwed over. In the name of reputation and perception. </p>
<p>Ugh. I think Questbridge is an awesome program; general admissions affirmative action is not. </p>
<p>You may never be able to convince the kids in high school that you got in on your own merit. You’ll also only know them for a few more months. </p>
<p>Once you’re in college and moving into the real world, no one will ever have to know what hooks helped you get into Yale. In their eyes, you’ll just be a Yale graduate who is probably very bright.</p>
<p>According to a published interview with President Levin, legacy applicants are significantly stronger than the general applicant pool accounting for most of their higher admissions success. Yale also looked at legacy students after matriculation and determined that they did better at Yale than a matched non-legacy group with similar high school GPA and test scores.</p>
<p>To you all saying how you’ll feel bad if you get in and are slightly less qualified: boo hoo you’re going to Yale. People will give you **** if you get in and they don’t no matter what. I had a friend stop talking to me because I got into the school he wanted to and he didn’t. Sucks that I lost a friend over something so childish but don’t let those people bother you, they’re just jealous.</p>
<p>^Mhm, I agree. Sure it’d be nice to have complete respect from every peer in high school. But at the end of the day, standing on Yale’s campus a year from now, you’ll be freaking ecstatic. Who cares what a few jealous high schoolers think?</p>
<p>(I’m a jealous, unhooked candidate by the way.)</p>
<p>^ been there, except I’m unhooked so people at my school, are still scratching their heads, and yeah, there will be people who make comments regardless of how you got in. But honestly? your real friends will be the ones who stick up for you and as soon as hs graduation rolls around, you won’t be seeing those people anymore anyway. Let it go, you proved yourself to the Yale admissions board, and you’re worried about a couple 17/18 year olds?</p>
<p>Is the importance of being Hispanic diminished if you’re not from an area with a lot of Hispanics? My mom is a full-blooded Latino, and I speak Spanish, but I live in southern Louisiana, where there’s very few Latinos. So, will this lack of Latino culture make me lose the “diversity” factor?</p>