<p>I know this girl who has decent grades, not sure about her SATs, but i know she does like no ECs. She's reallly annoying, though, and she won't stop bragging about how she's gonna have no trouble at all getting into UPenn because her mom went there and her uncle donates a load of money to the school. I kind of just want to shut her up by saying that it's not all that easy to get into college, especially an ivy, but I'm kind of upset that she might actually be accepted thanks to her "connections". Is it true?</p>
<p>Legacy is a bump, but it will only help an applicant somewhat. Lots of legacies get denied; it helps the ones on the bubble. The uncle donating $$ is probably less significant.</p>
<p>It has become common in my town to hear about a kid getting waitlisted, then their parent “donates a building” and the kid gets in. I don’t know how true these stories are, but I have heard that some top schools are more open to this kind of influence than others. Who knows? Hard to prove, and the parents who are writing the big checks aren’t likely to be very forthcoming about it.</p>
<p>It’s definitely a possibility if her uncle’s money is that great. These are called “development” admits and while on the face, seemingly unfair, they make it affordable for the school to admit many less-financially able students due to the donors gifts. Now if the uncle has 3-4 kids about to go to college, then he may not want to cash in his chits for the annoying niece and save it for his own kids. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?</p>
<p>Her mother would more than double her chances if she applies ED. The legacy boost is significant. But if her uncle truly donates seven figures, if she’s qualified, as in has at least bottom quartile stats, good chance that connection will help enormously.</p>
<p>Legacy used to matter more in the past in the Ivy League, when there were many fewer applicants and the system was much less merit based.</p>
<p>The admissions session I was at a Penn clearly stated that 2/3rds of legacy applicants at U.Penn are rejected. A legacy is limited to a parent or grandparent at Penn. Penn openly says that they give the most consideration to legacy status if you apply binding early decision. What they don’t say is that the stats show there is NO preference for legacies in the regular admissions cycle. 85% of legacy applicants get rejected if they apply regular admissions.</p>
<p>Colleges vary greatly in how much preference they give to sons or daughters of big donors. For most schools, a donation of a few hundred thousand dollars in not going to get a marginal student admitted.</p>
<p>I know a UVA grad who donated over a million dollars to UVA. His son was highly qualified but still got denied.</p>
<p>A few years ago, data was stolen from the UVa admissions office about applicants who were sons or daughters from large donors. The thief thought they would find a bombshell, but it actually showed that the rich kids were admitted at the same rate as other kids.</p>
<p>For the richer colleges, a person really has to be a huge donor in order to have their son or daughter become a “development office admit.”</p>
<p>whatcha, there are two possible outcomes here. 1) she gets in, because she is right. 2) she doesn’t get in, because she is wrong. In either case, it doesn’t matter what YOU tell her. If I were you, I would just keep my mouth firmly shut and avoid this irritating person as much as possible.</p>
<p>Ooh k thanks for all the replies 
I mean in the end it’s none of my business and I wouldn’t confront her about it anyway. Also, I didn’t think they’d censor that word lol all I said was that I was POed haha</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So that means that 1/3 of legacy applicants, or 33%, are admitted. That’s a pretty phenomenal advantage, given that the overall admit rate at Penn is 18% or just slightly more than half the legacy rate. And remember, the overall 18% rate is the “blended” rate including including both legacies and non-legacies. I don’t know how many applicants (or admits) are legacies, but some studies have concluded legacies make up 10% to 25% of the student body at some elite schools. If that’s the case at Penn, this could mean the non-legacy admit rate is closer to 15% or 16%. </p>
<p>I don’t say this boastful girl will be admitted, but I’m amazed at the capacity of the Penn admissions officer to spin a truly disturbing and astounding fact—that Penn admits legacies at roughly TWICE the rate of non-legacies—into a characterization that makes it sound as if it’s no significant advantage to be a legacy because “2/3rds of legacy applicants . . . are rejected.” Yeah, right. Well 82% to 85% of non-legacies are rejected, Bub, according to your own figures. Advantage: legacies, by a HUGE margin.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So, all of her acquaintances know that she will have been admitted to Penn not on account of character and ability, but only–or primarily–because of ridiculous admission practices perpetrated by these elite institutions.</p>
<p>Isn’t that shameful punishment enough? You don’t have to stick it in her face. She’s digging her own grave.</p>
<p>Sorry, but that UVa story is made up. We’re a public school and our admission data is public. Anyone can go to the [Office</a> of Institutional Assessment website](<a href=“http://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/index.shtm]Office”>http://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/index.shtm) for the statistics. The information is not secret or hidden. </p>
<p>As for the personal student data, it has been electronic and heavily protected for the last decade. There are several layers of security to get through before anyone can access students’ personal information. It’s tedious enough for the average staff member to get to…a stranger off the street would have no way of getting to it. </p>
<p>What’s more, no data is housed in Peabody Hall. The servers are all safely tucked away somewhere else. I’d guess that most people don’t even know where the data is…they just know all the layers of security they have to get through the access it. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks DeanJ, these stories are just crazy. Schools go around rejecting ‘highly qualified’ children of seven figure donors all the time!! And Penn accepting a third of legacies is giving them no advantage? Oh the things you read on CC!!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So you know “this girl” and you dislike her so much that you want us to help you come up with a snappy put-down?! As mature as that request is, I think I’ll pass, but let me suggest you worry more about your apps and less about hers. The Karma Train always pulls back into the station, she, and you, will both get what you deserve.</p>
<p>I was just thinking about the rest of the comment about UVa and had to chime in again. It implied that we can run some sort of report to cross reference applicants with the Alumni Association’s information about donations. We can’t. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Don’t you ever wonder why students with perfect stats or a legacy edge DON’T get admitted? How often do you suppose one’s chances are destroyed by a recommendation that reads, “Smart kid, but rather overly impressed with herself and not a favorite with her classmates.” Or perhaps her essays will show that same arrogance.</p>
<p>Remember, these schools are looking for students who are humble about their accomplishments, who help their peers become better students, and who are well-respected. Legacy or not, the odds are against her if she cannot demonstrate any of these traits.</p>
<p>If Penn admits 1/3 of legacies who apply it’s not that much more of an advantage than going ED… it still admits virtually the same percentage in Early Decision.</p>
<p>Dean J:</p>
<p>I was referring to a 1999 incident in which UVa Development Office memos were stolen and printed in the Cavalier Daily that analyzed the giving potential of parents of applicants to UVa. It was reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education and Salon.com.</p>
<p>In the end, the leak didn’t show that UVa did anything wrong. Many of the people highlighted as potential large donors did not get their sons or daughters admitted.</p>
<p>[At</a> U. of Virginia, the Chance of a Parental Gift Can Give an Applicant an Edge - Archives - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/At-U-of-Virginia-the-Chance/113494/]At”>http://chronicle.com/article/At-U-of-Virginia-the-Chance/113494/)</p>
<p>[Who's</a> your daddy? - Academia - Salon.com](<a href=“http://www.salon.com/books/it/2000/01/14/uva_admissions]Who’s”>http://www.salon.com/books/it/2000/01/14/uva_admissions)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/1999/11/04/or-model-of-ethical-admissions/[/url]”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/1999/11/04/or-model-of-ethical-admissions/</a></p>
<p>
Ah…thanks for the clarification. I was pretty sure it had to have happened more than a few years ago because I know most of what has happened here during the last decade (not saying I know it all, of course!). I knew the information couldn’t have come from the Office of Admission. We can’t access that sort of information through UVa’s Student Information System.</p>
<p>Wealthofinformation, most of the ED applicants have hooks even stronger than legacy! Penn’s ED admit rate for the non hooked might be marginally higher, but nothing close to double.</p>