<p>Does legacy status help your kid even if you don't donate?</p>
<p>I'm just transferring into a school now and I'm certainly not having a kid anytime soon, but I guess I have to consider donations eventually. </p>
<p>I don't really want to donate to an institution that's already way well-endowed, but I also don't want to prevent my hypothetical kid from having every advantage possible in applying to colleges. </p>
<p>And even then, do schools consider how much you donate with respect to your income? I.e. if I end up quite wealthy, could I just skimp by with meagerly donations?</p>
<p>I know this is College Confidential and all, but I really think you should at least be pregnant before you start worrying about where your kid will get accepted to college! I mean, we don't even have his/her SAT scores yet, fer cryin' out loud....</p>
<p>Well, you should already start saving for college before you're pregnant with your future kid. </p>
<p>If you wanted to do some planning now to help your kid get into college, I'd marry someone who looks like they could father a kid who could become a football quarterback, or a basketball star, or a genius.</p>
<p>Unless I pull some Arnold Schwarzenegger "Junior"-type stunt, I'm not ever going to be pregnant. When I have a kid (accidentally or not) shouldn't matter.</p>
<p>The question is: does a student get a legacy-boost only if the parent has been donating?</p>
<p>If everyone had your attitude, your school would not have the resources you will have the benefit of. Perhaps when you spend time at the school and grow to love it, you'll feel differently. </p>
<p>When my parents give to schools they like to direct where the money will go as opposed to just throwing it in the pot. I'm really proud of what they give to and they do it because their schools are such a large part of their overall success.</p>
<p>Most top colleges reject over 70% of legacies now. Few generous alum have their almost qualified kids rejected. You do the math.</p>
<p>To answer your question: It varies by college. Stanford, for example, counts legacies even if their don't give a penny. My own alma mater --not Stanford--looks at the number of years you have donated--size of donation means less. And, of course, even if you figure out how the college you attend does it now, it may not be the same way it does it when junior is ready to attend.</p>
<p>Here's the cynical answer: unless you are a multimillionaire, the amount you give will probably not make much difference. On the other hand, it may help to donate a certain amount each year. And since your education probably cost more than you paid, it's not ridiculous for you to donate a modest amount each year with that in mind.</p>
<p>The Admissions Officer who conducted our session at Duke answered this question by saying "Just being an alum is not enough to give your child any advantage. You must have contributed in a significant way to the school either financially or through your time and involvement."</p>
<p>The information session we attended at The University of Georgia addressed both legacy and donation questions. Legacy doesn' count one bit (anymore). Quote from leader of session - "If your last name is Jones and there is a building on campus named The Jones Building in honor of your father, you're going to get in.</p>
<p>Someone I know who is active in his alumni association at an elite NE school asked someone in the know at his alma mater how much a parent would have to have given to affect an admissions decision, and the answer was $250,000 and up.</p>
<p>By "affect" he meant guarantee the admission of a kid who was not wildly out of the ballpark on admissions stats. Like maybe in the middle to bottom 50% of applicants.</p>
<p>Schools treat legacies differently. Some will give ALL legacies a big boost in admissions, some will only give a slight boost. Some will only give a boost if the student applies ED. Development certainly does play a role, but there are no hard and fast minimum amounts of giving that make a difference at every school. If you give huge amounts, it doesn't matter if you are not a legacy.</p>