Stanford bringing back legacy preference and test required

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are they struggling for money or something? I don't see why these multibillion dollar institutions need legacy admissions. If you have the money to pull weight for legacy, your child doesn't need legacy for admission, they have every other advantage in the book

legacy builds stronger connections to the school. simple as that. and wealth begets wealth

[Anonymous]

Losers. Gotta keep those legacy donors happy lol!

Nothing says "meritocracy" than born on 3rd base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The legacy isn't new either- basically they are just turning down State grant funding so they don't have to comply with the California legacy prohibition

Wait until the lawsuit. If diversity can’t be considered neither can legacy preference. That’s not merit.

Legacy is much worse than a diversity preference. Stanford really showing you what and who they value.

[Anonymous]

Would it count for my kids if my brother went there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Losers. Gotta keep those legacy donors happy lol!

Nothing says "meritocracy" than born on 3rd base.

well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would it count for my kids if my brother went there?

no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Legacy tend to be just as qualified on testing and GPA. I’m using old data, but it makes sense. As a person who attended a top college, I now understand how being a legacy helps kids perform better. For example, my kids are studying for the SAT, while my husband and I just took the test. We encourage our kids to develop relationships with teachers and seek extra help when necessary. Non-legacies may not understand the smarts are necessary but not sufficient to outperform their peers.

I am fine if a college wants to consider legacy but this post sounds silly. Believe it or not, even parents that did not go to standford understand the need for SAT prep.

Yeah, but my husband was 1st gen and my family didn't go to fancy schools. My college counselor encouraged me to apply to HBCUs even thought I ended up being a NMSF in the 1990s. My parents encouraged me to apply to my state school even though I had top grades. They didn't know what it took to get admitted to HYPMS. If my parents had gone through the admissions process, I can definitively say I would have had a leg up.

The internet has democraticized prep and admissions, so maybe the lack of having parents who tell a student that it is necessary to "prep" sounds silly to you, but that was my and my husband's reality. Sorry I didn't grow up privileged like you!

I wasn’t first gen but from the Midwest and we didn’t prep for the SAT. Our school had no college counselor. The 90s were a different era. May as well been Little House on the Prarie.

For the last 20 years, parents are getting fake diagnosis for extende time. It’s not better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The past 5ish year have been … something. Stanford is going back to legacy preference and test required. Sorry folks!

https://stanforddaily.com/2025/08/06/stanford-to-continue-legacy-admissions-reinstate-standardized-test-requirements/

Hadn't they already gone back to test ? What's the big news?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Legacy tend to be just as qualified on testing and GPA. I’m using old data, but it makes sense. As a person who attended a top college, I now understand how being a legacy helps kids perform better. For example, my kids are studying for the SAT, while my husband and I just took the test. We encourage our kids to develop relationships with teachers and seek extra help when necessary. Non-legacies may not understand the smarts are necessary but not sufficient to outperform their peers.

I am fine if a college wants to consider legacy but this post sounds silly. Believe it or not, even parents that did not go to standford understand the need for SAT prep.

Yeah, but my husband was 1st gen and my family didn't go to fancy schools. My college counselor encouraged me to apply to HBCUs even thought I ended up being a NMSF in the 1990s. My parents encouraged me to apply to my state school even though I had top grades. They didn't know what it took to get admitted to HYPMS. If my parents had gone through the admissions process, I can definitively say I would have had a leg up.

The internet has democraticized prep and admissions, so maybe the lack of having parents who tell a student that it is necessary to "prep" sounds silly to you, but that was my and my husband's reality. Sorry I didn't grow up privileged like you!

I wasn’t first gen but from the Midwest and we didn’t prep for the SAT. Our school had no college counselor. The 90s were a different era. May as well been Little House on the Prarie.

For the last 20 years, parents are getting fake diagnosis for extende time. It’s not better!

Look at the test prep business that have started in 21st century

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Losers. Gotta keep those legacy donors happy lol!

Nothing says "meritocracy" than born on 3rd base.

Absurd. As a non-legacy family, if this was an option for us - or you - of course we’d happily take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Losers. Gotta keep those legacy donors happy lol!

Nothing says "meritocracy" than born on 3rd base.

Absurd. As a non-legacy family, if this was an option for us - or you - of course we’d happily take it.

Wrong. Supporters of merit-based admissions don’t support legacy. You can’t support both. Pick one.

[Anonymous]

More full pay helps buffer against higher costs from the endowment tax and other monetary pressures from the administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Legacy tend to be just as qualified on testing and GPA. I’m using old data, but it makes sense. As a person who attended a top college, I now understand how being a legacy helps kids perform better. For example, my kids are studying for the SAT, while my husband and I just took the test. We encourage our kids to develop relationships with teachers and seek extra help when necessary. Non-legacies may not understand the smarts are necessary but not sufficient to outperform their peers.

I am fine if a college wants to consider legacy but this post sounds silly. Believe it or not, even parents that did not go to standford understand the need for SAT prep.

Yeah, but my husband was 1st gen and my family didn't go to fancy schools. My college counselor encouraged me to apply to HBCUs even thought I ended up being a NMSF in the 1990s. My parents encouraged me to apply to my state school even though I had top grades. They didn't know what it took to get admitted to HYPMS. If my parents had gone through the admissions process, I can definitively say I would have had a leg up.

The internet has democraticized prep and admissions, so maybe the lack of having parents who tell a student that it is necessary to "prep" sounds silly to you, but that was my and my husband's reality. Sorry I didn't grow up privileged like you!

This was almost everyone in the 90s. I was at a very good public school but my parents were first in their families to go to college and went to a regional branch of the state school system.

I honestly don’t know anyone who did an SAT prep course - don’t think studying for it was really a thing back then. Maybe I reviewed my vocab words from English class?
Everyone does not need to go Ivy.

[Anonymous]

They never got rid of legacy preferences. This is presented as though it is some sort of swing back, but actually it is the University announcing they will not accept a specific set of state-provided funds, which means they can exempt themselves from a recently adopted law.

As for whether legacies are more qualified, the data is unclear. Some studies have shown that they are moderately more qualified than the average applicant, but that advantage goes away. If you control for SES. That is, alumni of elite schools tend to raise kids who present with all of the advantages of wealth. The big difference, however, is that legacies are much much more likely to accept the offer, which jukes the rankings and makes the school look good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Losers. Gotta keep those legacy donors happy lol!

Nothing says "meritocracy" than born on 3rd base.

well said

Well, no… if they’re born on third base, and they’re the ones scoring, technically they’re the winners.

I don’t support this but I don’t think whatever thinking this is helps anyone, least of all the commenter.