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<p>OK - I would agree with that.</p>
<p>Well, keep in mind being a first gen college student is also looked at as a desirable “slot” for a percentage of a school population. So, you either have that advantage, or you’re parents graduated from somewhere. Perhaps not your dream school, but somewhere.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call any individual decision in admissions fair really, but I think that it’s all so unfair and factored out and the school takes who they want from category A B and C that in the end it’s basically “fair” in some sense. Everyone is equally subject to the almost random whims of admissions.</p>
<p>Frankly, I believe the university’s admissions policy should be up to them. You are choosing to apply there. If you don’t like their policies, you don’t have to apply. There are plenty of other schools out there.</p>
<p>But to echo what everyone else says, endowments run universities and help pay for your financial aid. If a university would get a few million if they accept one person, I don’t blame them for it.</p>
<p>Fairness to applicants is not part of colleges’ consideration. College decisions are made in their own self interest, mainly to keep themselves attractive to applicants and (for privates) financially sound.</p>
<p>some legacies still do not get accepted. I’ve heard of double legacies applying ED to some places like Brown or Dartmouth only to be waitlisted or rejected.</p>
<p>I think as a applicant who never had any relatives or parents who went to college it isn’t as fair , or acceptable</p>
<p>^^ There are always exceptions. Some people have legacies where they will probably never apply. It’s not fair, but neither is life unfortunately. I can, however, understand a college wanting to protect it’s own— and their endowments. If you’re highly qualified, I’d think it’d be rare that a legacy would affect your admission decision. Mostly it’d be if you and another applicant were fairly close…?</p>
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<p>A 7-legacy just got deferred Dartmouth ED this year.</p>
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<p>First Generation College students are given nearly equivalent bumps at some schools (such as Dartmouth)</p>
<p>^ I heard about that… I doubt I would’ve fared well-- even given my weird circumstances lol. :/</p>
<p>I think in some cases, people over-value legacy when they consider admissions. As Dartmoose showed, sometimes it can only go so far.</p>
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Evidence please?</p>
<p>Look for financials on any private college’s web site. This is typical:</p>
<p>[REED</a> COLLEGE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/revenue08.html]REED”>Revenue and Expenditures 2009-10 - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>
<p>It’s why endowments and fund raising are so critical for private college operations.</p>
<p>aisgzdavinci: the financial reports released by my HYP alma mater shows that the actual cost of education one undergraduate is roughly double the amount of full tuition (>$35,000/year). Given that about 50% of the students receive (generous) financial aid, you’ll see that tuition costs are enormous for the private institution. We’ve been blessed to have a great-performing endowment (even despite the 25% dip recently) and I’m sure we’ll weather the current financial environment. The fact is the university doesn’t make any money educating the current collegians – quite the opposite.</p>
<p>I think it’s fair to some extent. Maybe I would be more of a supporter of the legacy boost if my parents had graduated somewhere I wanted to go haha. I have more of a problem with AA. That is not fair.</p>
<p>In the student’s eyes, I don’t think it’s fair. Yes, it’s acceptable, but no it’s not fair. But what can we do, college is a business. </p>
<p>And for people saying only qualified legacies are accepted, I completely disagree. I have most definitely seen legacies that are not qualified get accepted to certain schools, especially over kids who were qualified. Imagine what if feels like for those kids.</p>