<p>I'd also argue that legacies will tend to be more qualified. They will have grown up in an environment where education is emphasized, their parents will probably make enough money to offer them the opportunities they need to succeed, etc.</p>
<p>MIT doesn't give preferential admission to legacies (they will tell you this straight out). Though there are plenty of second-gen MIT students, which is hardly surprising - people with talent at math and science frequently have children with those talents.</p>
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I don't get it... why do colleges like legacies..?
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<p>Presumably, it encourages alumni donations. I think that's the main reason.</p>
<p>It's also a nice recruiting tool...people want good futures for their kids, so the idea that your kids will be more likely to be admitted to the school in question is a nice draw.</p>
<p>"Being a legacy is only very helpful if your parents donate a lot of money."</p>
<p>This is untrue. At many schools, legacy status is a plus even if the parents are not significant contributors. There are various reasons schools want legacies--they think it contributes to traditions, they think legacy admits are more likely to contribute more themselves, and they have a desire generally to keep alumni happy.</p>
<p>I don't see the big deal against legacy admissions. It's alumni donations that help pay for financial aid. See that building over there? It's named after the wealthy alum who donated it.</p>
<p>I know many legacies who have been rejected from the colleges their parents attended. I also know a bunch at my school and can say that they are very qualified to be there. The funniest thing I heard was when a girl was deferred from ED despite having several things on campus named after her parents. It really takes a lot of money to get into these selective schools as an underqualified legacy. However, if you have the scores, grades, and ECs, being a legacy just makes the process a little less random.</p>
<p>im a legacy at Penn but I really love another school. I heard that the admissions people only count legacy status if it is early decision, so I don't know what to do. My dad really wants me to go to Penn, but it's a hard decision.</p>
<p>^I faced the exact same thing with Penn when I was applying. When you apply ED you really do get a big bump (I heard about 50% admit rate for ED legacies). However, it is not worth going to Penn if it is not your first choice. I have several friends here who are legacies and applied RD instead of ED. You can still get in if you apply RD. Apply to your first choice early, an if you don't get in then throw Penn an application. Part of the reason Penn limited legacy preferance to ED was because in the past many legacies would use it as a backup for other schools. Penn does not like being a backup for anyone.</p>
<p>thanks Venkat, the other school (my first choice) is a bit of a reach. I just don't want to throw away my chances at Penn.</p>
<p>^What's the other school you're looking at? Two years ago around this time I really wanted to go to Stanford. Sometimes I still think that I would be happier at Stanford. However, it was a much bigger reach for me than Penn was. Also, other factors like distance from home made me prefer Penn. I would say choosing to apply ED to Penn instead of EA to Stanford worked out best. </p>
<p>If you apply RD you will not be throwing away your chances at Penn. They do admit legacies RD. You just have to ask yourself what is more important: collecting an acceptance from Penn or attending the college that is right for you?</p>
<p>the other school that I would apply to is Dartmouth. The ED rate there is like 30% but it is like 42% for Penn Legacies. I've heard that people are usually happy no matter where they end up so I'm not sure if it's worth the risk to appy Dartmouth ED.</p>
<p>If you search through the Penn forum you'll find a thread by a girl who is in your situation. Her dad went to Penn and she wants to go to Dartmouth. I'd say the response was for her to apply to Dartmouth ED and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>While it is true that most people end up happy whereever they go, one could be happier elsewhere. Dartmouth and Penn are very different schools. Aside from the fact that both are Ivies and both have a pretty large greek presence (at least for guys) there isn't a whole lot that is similar between them.</p>
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Princeton is one of the last bastions of legacy admission IMO, I'm not surprised by a near 40% acceptance rate.
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<p>The acceptance rate is sky high, but the percentage of legacies that make up each class hovers at around 15%, which is similar to most top schools.</p>
<p>venkat, its nice to kno that someone else is in the same situation. we'll c what happens in movember...</p>
<p>Sorry to interrupt this discussion - but does anyone have legacy admit statistics for Boston College?</p>
<p>EDIT: I found them, if anyone else is curious:</p>
<p>"Mahoney said BC is interested in the children of alumni, commonly called "legacy cases." The admit rate for such applicants is up this year to 55 percent, compared to 31 percent for other applicants, according to a recent article in the Boston College Chronicle."</p>
<p>Good news for me. :)</p>
<p>I think I'm the girl VenKat was referring to; I did struggle a lot with that decision, but as the time to finalize my college list draws near, I think I will take the advice of many to go ED to Dartmouth and "let the chips fall" because with the exception of Penn and Georgetown SFS, my entire college list is comprised of LACs (Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Bates, Bowdoin, Middlebury,Trinity, Colgate, and Dartmouth). I can see right there I've preferred LAC-like schools all along.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how much WashU considers legacy applicants?</p>
<p>Notre Dame sets aside a quarter of its freshman class for legacy students. It's an old promise to the alumni of the university, and knowing how ND likes its tradition I doubt that will change much.</p>
<p>Legacy plays a huge role. I know a few kids at my school who got in over others with stronger credentials all around, by far, but the weaker students were legacies. (I'm a legacy myself, so I'm not complaining here. Just some personal observations.)</p>
<p>just to add: I'm also well aware that if I am rejected/deferred ED from Dartmouth, my father will be on my case until April.</p>
<p>You decided on Dartmouth over Williams/Amherst?</p>
<p>That's a long list of schools you're applying to, too.</p>
<p>pinkpineapple, i totally know what you mean. I'm leaning towards Dartmouth ED, also. i don't really know how i'm going to tell my dad.</p>
<p>Well, it's been pretty much between Dartmouth, Williams and Amherst for ED, but honestly I've liked Dartmouth for such a long time. It could change, but I'm 100 % sure one of those three will be my ED school and 90 % sure it's going to be Dartmouth.
And my list: Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Bates, Bowdoin, Middlebury,Trinity, Colgate, and Dartmouth. That's only 9 schools. I have to add 3 more - probably 2 safeties and 1 reach/match, because my school GC said 12 apps is the right number - I have so many "lottery" schools and even with my stats they're a lot of reaches. Penn/Georgetown would be 10 and 11, and Duke would be 12. It will probably be 1 or 2 of those 3 though, and then I need another safety at least. I'm not sure yet, I don't need a final list until September.</p>
<p>*12 schools is probably a lot for some people but my GC feels that based on last year's results, 10-12 apps is optimal. Just for me because I really want specific things in a school, and for most people 8-10 apps are probably fine. But anyway, that's why I'll have so many.</p>