Originally Posted by
Legion
That's not their fault, and in many cases, the parent alumni of the legacy applicant achieved success as a result of their own admission as a student who was not rich or powerful when they graduated.
If lefties accepted their own arguments, that would mean Obama's daughters would not be eligible for legacy consideration at the same schools their father graduated from.
Leftists never think these things through, but you're smart enough to do so.
Legacies are not limited to the "Ivy League".
Legacies are not limited to the elite.
A college applicant is said to have legacy status at a college if a member of the applicant's immediate family attends or attended the college. In other words, if your parents or a sibling attend or attended a college, you would be a legacy applicant for that college.
When a college extends an offer of admission, it wants the student to accept that offer. The rate at which this happens is called the "yield." A high yield means a college is getting the students that it wants, and that will help the school meet its enrollment goals. A legacy applicant is coming from a family that is already familiar with the college, and that family familiarity and loyalty typically leads to a better yield than the general applicant pool.
In general, colleges and universities are most interested in seeing if your immediate family members attended. For example, if you are using The Common Application, the "Family" section of the application will ask you about the education level of your parents and siblings. If you indicate that your parents or siblings attended college, you'll be asked to identify the schools. This is the information that colleges will use to identify your legacy status.
Some Common Mistakes Related to Legacy Status
Assuming that legacy status will make up for a mediocre academic record is a false assumption. Colleges and universities are not going to admit students, legacy or not, who are unlikely to succeed. Legacy status tends to come into play when the admissions officers are comparing two equally qualified applicants. In such cases, the legacy applicant will often have a slight advantage.
Some colleges don't consider legacy status at all, and for those that do consider it, legacy status is just a small factor in admissions decisions. Several pieces of the application will almost always carry more weight than legacy status.
First of all, you will need to have a strong academic record. Without it, you are unlikely to be admitted whether you're a legacy or not. Along similar lines, SAT scores and ACT scores are going to be important unless a school is test-optional. Selective colleges will also be looking for meaningful extracurricular involvement, positive letters of recommendation, and a winning application essay. Legacy status won't compensate for significant weaknesses in any of these areas.
Johns Hopkins University removed legacy status from its admissions equation in 2014, and the result was that the percentage of legacies in the first-year class dropped from 12.5% in 2009 to just 3.5% in 2019. Other prestigious schools including MIT, UC Berkeley, and CalTech also do not consider legacy status in their admissions process.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-legacy-status-788436
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