Between 2014 and 2019, Harvard University accepted legacy students at a rate of 33%—more than five times the percentage of Harvard University's 6% overall acceptance rate in the same period.[1][2]
Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. It is most controversial in college admissions,[3] where students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students. The practice is particularly widespread in the college admissions in the United States; almost three-quarters of research universities and nearly all liberal arts colleges grant legacy preferences in admissions.[4]
Schools vary in how broadly they extend legacy preferences, with some schools granting this favor only to children of undergraduate alumni, while other schools extend the favor to extended family, including: children, grandchildren, siblings, nephews, and nieces of alumni of undergraduate and graduate programs.[5] A 2005 analysis of 180,000 student records obtained from nineteen selective colleges and universities found that, within a set range of SAT scores, being a legacy raised an applicant's chances of admission by 19.7 percentage points.[6]
Legacy preferences are controversial, as the legacy students tend to be less qualified and less racially diverse than non-legacy students.[7] However, legacy students are economically beneficial to universities, as they are perceived to be more likely to donate to their university after graduation and have parents who are perceived to be more generous donors.[7] Legacy preferences are particularly prevalent at Ivy League universities and other selective private universities in the United States.[8]
^"High Time to End Legacy Admissions". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
^Blumberg, Yoni; Martin, Emmie (April 7, 2019). "Harvard's freshman class is more than one-third legacy—here's why that's a problem". CNBC. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
^Soave, Robby (June 29, 2023). "Of course legacy admissions should follow affirmative action to the grave". Reason.com. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
^Kahlenberg, Richard D. (2010). "Introduction". In Kahlenberg, Richard D. (ed.). Affirmative-Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions. New York: The Century Foundation Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-87078-518-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Golden, Daniel (2010). "An Analytic Survey of Legacy Preferences". In Kahlenberg, Richard D. (ed.). Affirmative-Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions. New York: The Century Foundation Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-87078-518-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Golden (2010), pp. 74–76
^ abCastilla, Emilio J.; Poskanzer, Ethan J. (2022). "Through the Front Door: Why Do Organizations (Still) Prefer Legacy Applicants?". American Sociological Review. 87 (5): 782–826. doi:10.1177/00031224221122889. ISSN 0003-1224. S2CID 252458129.
^Bhatia, Aatish; Miller, Claire Cain; Katz, Josh (July 24, 2023). "Study of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own Qualification". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
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admissions in the United States, separate from merit, athletic, racial and legacypreferences, whereby applicants from wealthy families are more likely to be granted...
Thayer, who only applied to Yale University and was rejected due to legacypreferences; Darryl "Hands" Holloway, who lost his athletic scholarship after...
whether the applicant is a first-generation university applicant, legacypreferences, volunteer work and work experience as 'considered'. Of those students...
was announced by President Harry Elam that Occidental eliminated legacypreferences to the children of alumni in admissions. At the beginning of every...
explicitly banned racial preferences, and in response some laws have failed attempting to explicitly legalize race preferences. Affirmative action is intended...
ranking whether the applicant is a first-generation college applicant, legacypreferences, state and geographical residence as 'considered'. Volunteer work...
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clout scandal University of Texas at Austin admissions controversy Legacypreferences The one exception to Professor McClay's statement (at the time it...
that, while legacypreferences are long established and constitutional for institutions of higher education (colleges and universities), legacy enrollment...
admissions criteria may include an interview, personal background, legacypreferences (family members having attended the school), ability to pay tuition...
large, race-based affirmative-action preferences in admissions, so-called "Top-X" alternatives to racial preferences—in which the highest-graded students...
preference, race, and nationality. Other more subtle methods included restrictions on scholarships, rejection of transfer students, and preferences for...
2015. Mandery, Evan J. (April 24, 2014). "Opinion | End College LegacyPreferences". The New York Times. "Why I'm Skipping My Harvard Reunion (A Call...
athletic ability, interest the student demonstrates in the college, legacypreferences (family members having attended the school), race, ability to pay...
hoarding". End legacy admissions — "...there is one step toward more equal opportunity that could be simple and immediate: ending legacypreferences in college...
international applicants. In 2021, it also eliminated preferences for students whose parents are alumni ("legacies"). Amherst College offers 41 fields of study...
Occupy Harvard. Privately owned public space Educational privilege Legacypreferences Harvard Corporation Mary Carmichael and Billy Baker., "Occupy Harvard...
Education Reform Strategy (2012); Affirmative Action for the Rich: LegacyPreferences in College Admissions (2010); Rewarding Strivers: Helping Low-Income...
promoted within the company. Similarity heuristic is sometimes used in legacypreferences to strengthen the candidacy of applicants in admissions of educational...
Swaraj Bhavan are also preserved to commemorate Nehru and his family's legacy. In 1997, Nehru was voted as the greatest Indian since independence in India...
To deal with packet permutations (due to dynamically updated route preferences) and to datagram losses (unavoidable when fast sources send to a slow...
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