Legacy status—who and why?

Applying to College
1

Obviously different colleges define “legacy” in different ways, but I’m curious why they define it at all? Are children of alum more likely to succeed at a given school than similar students w/o legacy status? Or are the children more likely to contribute as alumni in later years? Are parents likelier to give $$ if their children attend the same school, and do colleges seek to create family allegiances as pools for cultivating larger donors? How does any of this extend to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and/or more distant relations?

My kid answered questions about relatives on college applications, and now that she’s filling out forms for school is again answering questions about relatives who attended. I can’t imagine her school really cares about her great-aunt who attended in the 1970’s, but it got me wondering. Any thoughts?

2

There are many reasons why. Often colleges believe the son on an alumnus is more motivated to attend and stay. From the other side, it encourages alumni involvement. As to whether one with kids at his or her school donates more, can’t answer that one. My guess is most schools give more wait to parent-child relationships, but some might weight relationships differently. Some don’t value legacy relationships at all. There’s a lot of information out there on this. You could just google and find some articles on point.

3

It is to encourage alumni donations. And it works. I had not donated a penny to my alma mater in all my years prior to learning on CC that there was such a thing as legacy preference. The very day I read about it, I promptly sent out checks for twenty dollars to both my college and my spouse’s! And we also started volunteering; my spouse is now an alumni interviewer— and is keeping that role still, even now that my son attends a different college.

The small amounts we gave our colleges probably did not do much for them… but the fact that they can say things like that 8% of admitted students are children of alumni, probably encourages people who are both richer and more generous than we are to donate.

4

I don’t think it’s all donor driven. Some schools place a greater value on building community than others. Legacy admits add to that as well as generating goodwill and fostering school spirit. It also can build strong alum networks which can increase giving, but can also create internships, mentoring opportunities and strong career placement.

5

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/04/legacy-admissions-preferences-ivy/586465/

6

There is no reliable math to prove the 150 point boost theory. All based on admission rates which is not really reliable.

7

The original reason was, like everything else in the “holistic” admissions system, to limit the number of Jews entering the Ivies and other “elite” colleges. They will not admit it, but it still fulfills the purpose of maintaining the social status quo of the college. Basically, it is there to make sure that the “right people” keep attending the college, with “the right people” meaning “the same type of people who attended during the last generation”.

Alumni tend to support this, even if their kids do not attend the college, since the reason that alumni tend to be engaged is that they had good experiences during college, and therefore, they prefer that the college look more or less the same as it did when they attended. For most people “the same” also means “the student body looks pretty similar to the one which was there when I attended”.

For some people “the same” means racially the same, for others, it’s gender ratios, and for others it’s all about socioeconomic class. It all depends on what bias these people bring with them, and what power structure they wish to maintain. There are also first-gen who rightfully want to finally benefit from the power structure which has kept their family on the outside until that point.

From the point of view of the colleges, it is, among other things, about increasing the involvement of the richest and most powerful people. As long as the rich and powerful feel that a university is “theirs”, they will support it. Entitled people will happily support the continuation of their entitlements.

Besides, every business knows that the best costumers are return costumers.

I’m pretty sure this post will be flamed, because there is little which angers entitled people as much as pointed out that they are entitled. Most people live under the illusion that they deserve everything they have, and hate when this illusion is shown to be an illusion…

@barrons “There is no reliable math to prove the 150 point boost theory.” That is because legacy advantage is not applied equally across all applicants.

8

I disagree with the post above. Many of the schools admitting legacies are the very same ones who are, at the same time, diversifying their student bodies. It actually adds diversity to legacies. As long as universities are admitting more diverse student bodies, student bodies and legacy admits will be diverse as well.