To be clear, I do not believe that donating to a school should be considered prepayment for one’s kids being admitted. All things being equal, it might be nice to think that the school valued its bond/relationship with a legacy and donor; but, I’d ultimately have no way of assessing if that was the case when considering the outcome of one of my kids. So, the donating would continue.
My point was/is that when the following two comments are made…
…then the message is clear and for me personally, the values of the school and my values would no longer align.
I suspect a big part of the issue is the delivery. I have another friend whose child was rejected from ‘his’ school in the regular round after being deferred early, and the very night admissions decisions were posted he received a call from the development office with a large ask for capital campaign. He was speechless.
Since the timing of these decisions is rather regular, I wonder what’s up with that development office.
Granted, college development offices are more independent of admissions than at BS, but still… You’d think they’d communicate their calendars a little better.
Exactly. BTW I never advocated that people should stop supporting their alma mater if their kids attend. My husband and I support our schools and kids had/have no interest in attending either. But some schools do try to manage the process to minimize surprises and upsets when children of alumni are applying and I don’t think that is too much to ask.
If was a development officer, they should’ve known the admissions timing. They have quite a few alums/donors in touch. If it was a student dialing for dollars, they wouldn’t have known. Seems much easier to communicate the decisions if it’s a LAC vs an Ivy with tens of thousands of apps.
Thank you @ChoatieMom for pointing out that development cases had been discussed before. I am relative new to the forum and had no idea. I was under the impression that the average parents had very little knowledge about such inner workings.
People with knowledge of private education understand the financial needs of BS and colleges, hence the need for a development team. In my experience, It is the middle-class families that feel lost and left out at times, as their children do not qualify for financial aid, nor are they in a position to dole out donations that are large enough to make a difference.
A few years back, I met a parent who jokingly said “this is the only time in our lives that we wish we were URM or that I had abused my kids while they were young.” Their kid had a pretty solid profile going into the application process, yet was rejected by many T20 colleges, hence the parent’s comment.
And to be really clear, most legacies are not the children of top donors.
I recall being at a reunion at a point when many classmates had kids who were in high school, so there was an admissions tour for them. Someone asked at what level donations moved you into the development pool (which improved your odds but still left them lousy.) The answer was one that made me realize that if I were to get into that group, I would either have to win the lottery or commit a crime and give it all to the school. At that point, I would be broke enough to qualify for full FA. As it happened, my kid had no interest in the school, so we avoided all that drama!
And btw, very few folks could afford to be donors at the level where it could possibly move you into that development case pool and even fewer of them would do it realizing that the odds would still be against them after they had parted with that fortune.
No, this is not very common. More importantly, someone reading this whose kid needs financial aid might throw in the towel thinking the entire system is fixed. As a kid who attended multiple Ivy league colleges and was fully funded through the generosity of donors, I think people should be aware of the facts. There are opportunities for good students who do not come from " donor/celebrity status or what have you" Yes, there are large donors at BS and Universities. Yes, many are alum and have legacy and donor status. This can affect admissions. NO, they are not common. And not all of their kids are accepted.
If you want to attend a top BS or college and need help via FA and merit scholarships, throw your hat in the ring and apply.
Thank you for the response @Happytimes2001. While the commonality really cannot be quantified here, I happened to have experienced enough development cases in my social circles.
And I agree with you 100% that not all major donor kids are accepted. I have heard it straight from a college president: “Every year, we have to make quite a few phone calls and apologize to a few trustees, because their children/grandchildren were not quite up to our admission standards.”
I believe there were some stats posted somewhere but I cannot locate them now - legacy status adds about 50-75 points (when evaluating based on SAT scores), while major donor or trustee status could add even more.
Again, I did not mean for my comments to discourage FA applicants. Quite on the contrary, I strongly recommend them to apply to colleges with sizable endowments, as they are usually quite generous with FA packages.
One can easily look at the Harvard court case to see the impact with real data.
I
That single data point doesn’t represent the donor offices or actual factors across the board.
Yes, again one person’s perspective. And a bit pompous. I won’t tell you who I know or who I am. But I think you’d be impressed.
Students and parents who plan to apply to BS and colleges, as I said apply. Do not let someone’s perception that you are too poor or not well connected to get in, stop you. That’s nonsense especially in this day and age.
And it’s likely if you do attend a top BS and college that you may be in a position to donate large sums ( if you wish). That’s the beauty of it, the schools help you and you get to decide if you want to help someone else.
It’s a joke said to counter the idea that “knowing” someone is akin to knowing who is going to get into a specific college. See the upside face? That’s your clue it’s not a serious remark.
OK, I did it at both a regional university and an Ivy grad program. Both times I was handed a pack of people to call with some history about their giving. I was excited to get someone who’d given in the past and was from my area of the state/country. I’ve also been on the receiving end of many student calls. I tend to be reminded that I should give my donation for the year so they’ll quit calling.
A development officer from my undergrad contacts me for five figure donation prospects…over multiple years. We usually exchange emails for that and meet in person about the U’s priorities. Sure, students from my grad school would start off with a request for $2500 or something for the annual fund but that’s because people have more money to give. However, I doubt they know that it’s applicant decision day for my kids.
Not that there is necessarily anything wrong in using “hooks”, a legacy boost, connections, or other exogenous college admissions advantages, but I want to give a shout-out to the many kids who eschew using hooks they didn’t earn themselves.
I am not boasting, but nevertheless am proud of one of my kids who told my spouse and I, “I want to do this myself” when an influential person offered to help with admissions at a “reach” college on kid’s behalf.
or who I am. But I think you’d be impressed.
