<p>Last week the students in the senior class at our suburban New Jersey high school got a cold, wet "Life Isn't Fair" lesson right in the face. An academically-unimpressive student was admitted to Princeton University on the strength of her parents being Princeton alums plus her father being a Princeton employee. Her academically unimpressive older sister had also been admitted there. For her fellow seniors, this is evidence, or further evidence if they have been paying attention to the news, that this country is less of a meritocracy than they have been led the believe. For those kids with genuine talent, who work hard to get top grades and participate in sports and/or other activities and get high board scores, this is bitter medicine. Despite what their well-meaning guidance counselors tell them, it does matter where they go to school. It matters in terms of careers, and it matters in terms of social mobility, for parents to whom this matters. The Ivy League schools that give such weight to legacy, with their eye solely on the bottom line, do not appreciate the damage they do and the cynicism such policies breed among those who do not benefit. BTW, I do not have a senior in high school.</p>
<p>Is the student’s father on the Princeton faculty or is he a different type of employee?</p>
<p>There are special admission preferences and reduced tuition rates for faculty children at many universities – and this is a far stronger factor than the ordinary legacy preference. On the other hand, if the father is employed by the university in some capacity other than faculty member, the student probably would have gotten only the ordinary, small legacy tip.</p>
<p>It’s great news that these kids have finally learned that life is not fair. Now, let’s see if they can pick themselves up and keep moving forward. There are dozens of Americans who have been able to build happy and productive lives without going to Princeton - maybe one of these seniors from your suburban h.s. can be the next? Best wishes to all in the New Year.</p>
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<p>Only dozens?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I’m having trouble accepting this situation at face value. How do this student’s classmates know - how can anyone know - the strength of her application, or that she was accepted for the reasons given above? I’m sure that many academically impressive legacy applicants were/will be rejected at Princeton; ditto children of employees. Are you saying that this student is unqualified to attend? Why would Princeton need to accept her? I feel as if a significant part of the story is untold here.</p>
<p>Someone needs to teach these kids the other side of the equation so they see the whole picture. If they go to other good private schools, the generous financial aid available to them will be largely due to the generosity of the college’s alumni. If the colleges don’t extend them some rewards, the aid pool would dry up.</p>
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<p>They can’t know.</p>
<p>But at some high schools – and I saw this at one of my children’s schools – when the dust settles at the end of the Early Decision admissions period in December, it becomes obvious that a disproportionate number of those admitted were faculty children, legacies, or URMs. And for those who don’t have access to those types of preferences and who are not recruited athletes, it hurts.</p>
<p>I’m sure it must hurt, and I didn’t mean to come across as insensitive to that fact. But I’ve heard it for years - he got in because his parents are rich, she got in because she had a private college counselor, he’d never have gotten in if he wasn’t an athlete in that niche sport. It disturbs me because it’s a waste of time and energy. I’m sure weight is given to having a parent on the faculty, or legacy parents, or parents with 300 million dollars, or coming from a feeder school, etc. </p>
<p>I don’t know this kid. I don’t know that she doesn’t have genuine talent, or what her board scores are, or whether she, too, has worked hard. So it’s hard for me to accept that Princeton admitted an underqualified applicant simply because of legacy and faculty ties. (Money - well, maybe if it’s a lot of money.) I’ve observed that resentment exaggerates how unqualified the other guy is. JMO.</p>
<p>Children of university employees being admited with boarderline stats is far from new. Even if they are not faculty positions. It is a benefit of being an employee, and I know of a number of parents that have positioned themselves in positions that lend to this. With the tuition break along with the admission help, why wouldn’t you do that if it was possible?</p>
<p>And students know students stats…it’s the parents that do not always know. I have a student that is humble, does not talk about his stats much. I have been in conversations with parents that assume their children are ranked higher than my son in the school, and have higher GPA’s. When I have the transcript that ranks my son as #1, and they talk about their child or another child that is ranked as #1, it is hard to bite my tongue.</p>
<p>Yep, welcome to the world. Not everything is fair; everyone doesn’t get a trophy. This will never end and they should acknowledge it and move on. Nepotism, cronyism and favoritism exist out there and the sooner they learn to deal with it with grace and humor and resiliency, the better off they’ll be. I’d be encouraging my child to move on, not harbor ill-will towards this girl and to “run his/her own race.”</p>
<p>Princeton is a private business that is entitled to make decisions that suit their needs. The sooner that high school seniors recognize that’s the landscape they’re facing, wherever they go in life, the better off they will be.</p>
<p>I know many parents like to say “How would you know the strength of someone’s application?” Guess what, they all know. They have been in the same class for many years, they know what kind of grades they get, awards received. For sure they know who is mediocre. </p>
<p>The year D1 was applying to colleges, one girl got into Yale and everyone else got deferred. This girl didn’t take any APs or honors and was a B+/A- student, at best. Someone said that she got in because she was a good artist. Hellooooo! Her grandfather’s name was on a building.</p>
<p>Life isn’t fair, sometimes you come out ahead and sometimes you don’t. When I was younger, as a woman and a minority it wasn’t easy, now it kind of comes in handy.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. When students at D’s school received official class ranks at the beginning of Senior year everyone “knew” that “Sally” and Sammy" were in the top 10. Except that they weren’t. Meanwhile, no one and I mean NO ONE thought that a certain silly blonde on the dance team who muttered “no idea” when asked about GPA/class rank (of course she knew) and had never won any academic awards would be in the top ten. And it was a large enough class that students did not necessarily know who took what classes. There is a certain perception of students based on image, etc. (i.e. the kids on the debate/academic teams are the top students, the football players/cheerleaders are not) that is very wrong. And in that school, the students that the administration knew seemed to get the lion’s share of awards/recognition. </p>
<p>As for the legacy thing, neither of my kids have/had any interest in my decent (but not top level) midwestern alma mater or H’s military academy. There wasn’t a thing we could do to magically turn us into grads of the schools they like/d so we didn’t make an issue of it. Let it go.</p>
<p>When my D attended an Open House at a small liberal arts college, they played 'the admissions game". 10 students were asked to go on the stage and hold a card. They cards read: GPA, Essays, Transcripts, SAT scores, interview, recommendations, etc. One card was “Special Circumstances”. The kids had to line up in order of what they thought was the most important factor in admissions. Transcript was #1. Then, the adcom said "Wait a minute, “Special Circumstances, please come to the front of the line.” He said that if your grandmother gave $1M to the school, you were automatically admitted.</p>
<p>It may not seem fair to the other kids, but as previous posters pointed out, these schools are running a business. If the college rejects a prestigious alumni’s kid, they may stop giving to the school. It is all about the endowment.</p>
<p>I think all these assumptions as to why a kid gets into a prestigious school are so rude and sour grapes, but they happen even in our small supportive town. I learned this about 10 years ago. We have an incredibly bright girl in town who was admitted to Harvard from a middle class family; her mother was a local nursery school teacher, went back to school for her teaching degree and was just hired as a teacher in the elementary school, the father was an elevator repairman. What were people saying? “Oh, she got in because she’s the first to go to college straight from high school.” Did that help? Maybe, but not if she hadn’t EARNED that right to be in the top of the pack first Funny, it didn’t work like that for her brother who had mediocre grades. I knew at that point my kid had no chance of people thinking she got in on her own.</p>
<p>My daughter was the salutatorian from our high school, perfect or very near perfect test scores, varied interests and extra curriculars, etc. Admitted to Yale SCEA, local comments - oh her parents must have paid for her to get in. Seriously? Especially since nothing in our behavior (or my daughters’ behavior) had ever suggested we paid for anything she earned. I know it sounds obnoxious but my kids know they have to work twice as hard for people to think they did it (whatever “it” might be) on their own.</p>
<p>My daughter could have gotten into NYU Tisch for MT or even Princeton because of who we are, we would not have pulled any strings or spoken to anyone, our name would have been sufficient. Her solution was to not even apply; she really disliked both schools anyway so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but if she wanted to go to either it would have been a tough call for her. </p>
<p>I’m not complaining, my family is living the American Dream, but yes, life is unfair. It’s a lesson we often forget to teach our kids.</p>
<p>A- students whose families have donated buildings (developmental admits) will fare better in the admissions process than an A student. Is this any surprise? The millions of dollars of institutional funds that this donation frees up may allow hundreds of other students the opportunity to attend that college. Are those indignant students and parents decrying developmental admits yet yearning for fully need aware admissions and limited financial aid so that good students who can pay get in but poorer students are shut out? </p>
<p>Legacy preference is real but overrated on these boards. Yale prepares legacy applicant parents for this by sending out a letter during the application process. About 20% of legacy applicants are admitted but it notes that this higher rate is misleading since alumni children are disproportionately represented among the most competitive applicants. I recall it published that when matched against non-legacy students based on equivalent entrance grades and SAT scores, legacy matriculants graduated with higher GPAs so there is no relaxing of standards for that group that gets in the way of their success. Perhaps alumni parents have a better sense of what it takes to be successful in admissions and there is a self selection towards stronger applicants.</p>
<p>Finally, I disagree that these students or parents decrying legacy preference are in any position to know how good a student will look when his/her folder is opened for discussion by the adcoms. MIT says it gets thousand of letters of recommendation that are damning with faint praise. Some students craft their essays for weeks and others rush the process thinking a high volume of apps maximizes success at the expense of a quality presentation. Students and parents want to believe that this is a lottery without access to the information that the adcoms use in holistic admissions.</p>
<p>$1M dollars may buy you admissions to a small liberal arts college but that would not get you noticed by admissions at Princeton according to a developmental office friend there. The building would probably work. I would think little of a college using its limited time at an open house to play a game like that.</p>
<p>YaleGradandDad- my D ended up not attending the school, although she was admitted with a merit scholarship. When she stepped back and looked at the pros and cons of her choices, it was not close to the top, for a variety of reasons- including that she felt she would not fit in with the student body.</p>
<p>Perhaps the OP might wish to reflect on the fact that she (or her children) might have a few “unfair” advantages over someone who was born into a family in the inner city Newark.</p>
<p>The funny thing…these same whining and sniveling parents and kids are going to be doing the same thing 4 and a half years from now when…</p>
<p>Johnny, despite clearly superior grades and activities, doesn’t get accepted into the proper law or graduate school when Billie, the dullard does.</p>
<p>Johnny, despite clearly superior grades and activities but no connections, doesn’t get that top job when Bif, the dullard with connections does.</p>