Just wondering…to what extent does legacy help you get into college? I’ve heard that it helps less or not at all at larger institutions and state universities but that it does moderately help at more selective colleges. What opinions do you guys hold on this subject?
Depends on the college.
Correct. It depends upon the school itself-not just on the category of the school. Some schools, like MIT make it clear that Legacy status is not factored into admissions decisions. Some of the Ivy League schools downplay the importance of legacy while those who have researched the issue find that legacy has a marked impact for the Ivy’s that downplay their importance. Few schools are transparent about these issues.
@“Erin’s Dad” what about schools such as Harvard and Stanford?
I don’t have anything to back this up, but I would assume that legacy status matters much more (as compared to not much) if the parents are also alumni donors.
You need to research not only which schools it may help you, but when the legacy counts in the process and what constitutes a legacy. For example my alma mater UPenn only counts legacy for ED applicants (legacy isn’t a factor in the RD process). And for some schools a legacy is defined as applicants who parents graduated from the school while at other colleges legacy can include grandparents and other relatives.
H and S won’t care much about single-gen legacy (unless he or she is a major donor or brings fame and glory to the college). Multi-gen legacies, on the other hand, are still valuable even at the most selective schools in the country. In most cases they won’t overcome academic weaknesses, but since H and S reject the vast majority of academically-qualified applicants, a multi-gen legacy may save you from that fate.
Nope, doesn’t help at Stanford.
Three kids. Son was close.
Isn’t this a checkbox in the common data sets for every college? Under “Alumni/ae relation”. For instance, Harvard and Stanford check “considered” and MIT “not considered”? Or am I misunderstanding the meaning of the item?
Of course “considered” does not differentiate between “considered heavily” or “considered somewhat”.
It helps in some universities if the parent is significantly active in the alumni association and has donated considerably I have heard from a friend whose D applied to Tufts with double legacy was not offered an admission and the letter mentioned that despite the family’s close ties to the university they couldn’t offer her an admission. which suggests that they consider the legacy. My friend also told me that they never considered being an active part of the alumni association and have rarely contributed to the school which could have hurt their daughter’s chances of going there.
Heard from parents of another kid who was deferred at MIT (Legacy) who got accepted after a significant donation from the parent to the alumni association.
Legacy matters, but only if you have maintained the ties with the school and contributed regularly.