<p>Konabean… what was your son’s essay about? Friend’s essay? What is his intended major? Friend’s major? What was the adjective his teachers most likely used to describe him in the LORs? Adjectives about friend?</p>
<p>I am sure that there is “no doubt” in your mind – but that’s all it is, your subjective belief based on the information that someone else got waitlisted while your son was rejected. BC is a Catholic college, so while I don’t know, if my kid was applying I would assume that it might look at personal factors in line with its mission – for example, it might place high value on community service or a LOR from a parish priest. </p>
<p>My d. was accepted at several colleges where her stats were on the low end – and I am sure that there are many who would attribute all sorts of erroneous rationale for her acceptance. Since I know what was in her apps, I am pretty sure that I know exactly why she was accepted in each instance, but that gives me no information whatsoever as to why others were turned away. </p>
<p>My kid was also waitlisted at a couple of schools she thought were matches – I think its safe to assume that some students with weaker GPA’s and test scores than hers got in. But I don’t think my d’s other qualities would have been as attractive to those particular schools – so I just shrugged it off. </p>
<p>Again, it’s a subjective process. I think its most likely that “legacy” was one of a number of factors that played into the decision.</p>
Didn’t Maria talk about this at Tim Russert’s memorial service? I don’t recall the details , but it seemed like her daughter really wanted to go to BC was then rejected/waitlisted and Tim offered to intervene?</p>
<p>Okay then, I’m wrong. I’m sure both this kid with the low stats and his brother were WL and ultimately accepted at BC because of some obscure hook that I (and even he) is unaware of.</p>
<p>I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that 3 family members already went to BC.</p>
<p>Oh for goodness sakes. Trying to figure out why a qualified kid was not accepted at a given college is really an exercise in futility, especially if he was accepted at other schools that were similar in specs. My son was turned down flat at his first choice at Cornell, which was a closer match than his second choice at tha college which is far more selective. Another kid was not accepted at that school with a much higher gpa and similar test scores. Parent was an alum too. Go figure. And, yes, the parent was very annoyed about the situation as was the kid. Especially when my son decided not to go there.</p>
<p>Because he had a straight out 3.0 average, and kept a low profile, was a not so great athlete but played 3 sports each year, he was not considered one of the better students at the school. Few people suspected that he had as high test scores as he did, and he didn’t share the info. So there was a lot of confusion when he was accepted to the some of the schools (including BC) that he was. I, too, felt that his average would exclude him from a lot of schools, but it did not seem to have that much of an effect.</p>
<p>You mean Arnold? He certainly went to college. He has a degree in Business from the University of Wisconsin (not Madison - one of the other campuses). He actually attended class and earned a real degree. His school is one of those that requires a swimming test to graduate. So when Arnold took his test they had to close the pool to prevent a mob of celebrity seekers from showing up to watch the (then) famous body builder and semi-famous actor swim his test.</p>
<p>Wow…of course schools have an interest in family legacies (as a general proposition). If your family is particularly rich, so much the better. Where I went to college there are buildings and schools named for families that gave a ton of money, and who continue to go there generation after generation. That is also how they get money for scholarships… Those $50 or even $500 contributions are basically meaningless (sorry to say). Even 5 figures is likely too low to make a monetary difference in swaying an admission from a legacy who would not otherwise get in (unless there is the possibility for more down the pike).</p>
<p>Just because someone has a bit lower GPA or SAT doesn’t mean that he or she will be a less valuable member of the community, and that is really what is important in admissions decisions at the “holistic” admissions schools. </p>
<p>Maybe BC missed the boat on your son, OP, but let it go. Let him go off to whatever school looking to make a positive contribution there, and set up his own family legacy.</p>
<p>"Because he had a straight out 3.0 average, and kept a low profile, was a not so great athlete but played 3 sports each year…accepted to the some of the schools (including BC) "</p>
<p>Now I’m even more annoyed.</p>
<p>Wish I found this site BEFORE 2 months ago.</p>
<p>Broetchen, yes Maria Shriver did talk about it. My son’s essays were not considered very good by his guidance counselor, English teacher and mentor at his school. Not the sort of essays that colleges want to see, as they did not give much of a picture of him. I agreed. But he didn’t feel like rewriting. He actually got some positive comments about one of the essays, the one that read like a friggin’ term paper. Had about two sentences tacked on the end about him. But the adcoms like it though it fits in the category of what you should not be submitting.</p>
<p>Konabean, of course those kids got a legacy bump. Just one of those things. And I would give legacies some preference too up to the point where it started to affect the diversity of the school. In the old days, some of the colleges were pretty much all legacies. That has changed a lot. But it does help a school to give legacies a leg up.</p>
<p>Konabean, two of my boys turned down BC. They are not legacies there. Their school has a good record in getting kids into BC. My oldest was an athlete that could have been on their NCAA team but it was not a big time sport. He was waitlisted at Georgetown even thought he coach there wanted him. The BC coach was not that interested and did not even know he was accepted. Ten kids at his high school were accepted to BC and ten were accepted to Georgeton with an overlap of 5 kids. </p>
<p>The other son went to a different school, but again the kids there do well according to the personalized Naviance that I saw. Particularly the boys. One young lady was not accepted the year before, and the mother was quite upset as her stats were well within acceptance range with many guys accepted without that quality. Though my son had a 3.0, it was unweighted and he had a lot of AP courses, several 5’s and 4’s on the APs and took a very difficult course load. Very high SATs. And he was a cancer survivor, something he only lightly mentioned in an essay about immunotherapy, but his guidance counselor said she certainly played it up to the hilt because, yes, it is a hook. Please don’t be jealous. That’s not one worth having, believe me.</p>
<p>First of all, the definition of “fair” - fair is whatever BC decides it is. BC is a private institution. They can admit whomever they want. No one is entitled to be admitted, regardless of GPA, SAT score, etc. If they want to weight legacy status, they can. It’s their college, they can admit whoever they want using whatever standards they want. It’s not fair or unfair. </p>
<p>Secondly, I know a girl who just graduated Summa Cum Laude from BC. She was a double-legacy. She had similar academic peers at her hs who were admitted to BC, and others who were declined. I’m sure people thought she got in due to her legacy status. But she graduated in Finance with darned-near a 4.0 GPA - so clearly she was well-qualified and willing to do the work. Was BC “unfair” in admitting her over her similarly-qualified peers?</p>
<p>My son is a double-legacy at his college. I’ve heard the comments about, “Oh, that’s how he got in.” Well after 3 years in college he’s got a 3.8 GPA and has been offered the opportunity to write an Honors Thesis. </p>
<p>Get over your sour grapes. Quit complaining that your kid didn’t get into BC and start celebrating whatever wonderful institution DID accept him. Focus your attention in a positive way and help your kid get excited about where he’s going. Don’t waste your time whining about BC, and don’t let your son do it either. He needs to feel positive about his chosen college to succeed and be happy there, and your ranting about BC isn’t helping him at all.</p>
<p>I justify legacy, not just for the money the school can get ind giving them preference. It also gives the college a continuity. It also involves the family more. It does add something nice to the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Sure they can do it, under current law, but it doesn’t mean its fair. If the ‘standards they want’ mean excluding blacks and Jews and Baptists, that isn’t fair either.</p>
<p>I’m guessing a legacy with parents or grandparents that graduated from the university but never gave back, either monetarily or by volunteering for alumni activities, their legacy “hook” would probably mean nothing. However, I don’t doubt that a student who has a building named after a family member might get a decent push. So the question is, where is the line? Do the parents need to donate hundreds of dollars a year to hold onto that legacy hook? A thousand? Is it possible for others to buy a legacy-like hook by giving money every year. (Would it show up in the development column?)</p>
<p>“And he was a cancer survivor, something he only lightly mentioned in an essay about immunotherapy, but his guidance counselor said she certainly played it up to the hilt because, yes, it is a hook. Please don’t be jealous. That’s not one worth having, believe me.”</p>
<p>I’m not jealous and I know it’s not worth having a life threatening illness as a hook.</p>
<p>My nephew was born with a rare defect that must be managed with daily medication and requires open heart surgery every 8-10 years (his first open heart surgery was at 2 days), he was never supposed to see his 11th birthday - he is now 15.</p>
<p>My SIL already has his college essay outlined, and of course it will begin with “I was not supposed to live to be writing my college essay…”</p>
<p>Being a cancer survivor might make one stand out in admissions, but it isn’t a hook. A hook is having some characteristic that adcoms feel they must have in their student body. </p>
<p>"
My SIL already has his college essay outlined, and of course it will begin with “I was not supposed to live to be writing my college essay…”"</p>
<p>Of course, now that this has been posted on CC, other students who had life threatening experiences will use that excellent lead.</p>
<p>I remember her uncle, Sargent Shriver’s son. He was my classmate at Yale, and since our freshman year happened to be 1972, when his father was McGovern’s running mate, he actually had Secret Service protection. An odd sight.</p>