How does legacy admission really work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard that at some places legacy is most valuable if your child applies ED. I've even heard that if your child is a legacy it can be a negative if they don't apply ED and their chances in RD go down, though I'm not sure about that. And I think this all varies a lot from school to school.

And some schools like siblings.

Honestly, these rumors are tedious. What you’ve heard versus the reality is different.

It depends entirely on specifics and the strength of your kid’s application. For marginal kid you may be right. But they likely weren’t getting in anyway. How many other institutional priorities did the kid hit in the review process other than legacy? If you haven’t hit more than one, your chances are slim.

My kid got into our double parent legacy T10 in regular decision.
Also multiple other T20.
This entirely depends on the applicants profile…. and how much engagement you’ve had with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say there is no connection between the development office and the admissions office (but top top donors are in a different category, I suppose). Development officers aren't supposed to ask for donations from alum whose kids are in the current application cycle (heard this directly from ours). I'm not sure how it really works. We've had family members get in with legacy and also rejected with legacy.

Some colleges have a development officer sit in admissions. It’s important to know which schools those are. Ask your schools college counseling team.

Not so at our HYP. Dev office and admissions are completely separate. Would you really ask your school counseling team? I would feel silly since we’re not mega donors. DC was accepted. We’re just not al donors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say there is no connection between the development office and the admissions office (but top top donors are in a different category, I suppose). Development officers aren't supposed to ask for donations from alum whose kids are in the current application cycle (heard this directly from ours). I'm not sure how it really works. We've had family members get in with legacy and also rejected with legacy.

Some colleges have a development officer sit in admissions. It’s important to know which schools those are. Ask your schools college counseling team.

Not so at our HYP. Dev office and admissions are completely separate. Would you really ask your school counseling team? I would feel silly since we’re not mega donors. DC was accepted. We’re just not al donors.

We’re just normal donors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say there is no connection between the development office and the admissions office (but top top donors are in a different category, I suppose). Development officers aren't supposed to ask for donations from alum whose kids are in the current application cycle (heard this directly from ours). I'm not sure how it really works. We've had family members get in with legacy and also rejected with legacy.

Some colleges have a development officer sit in admissions. It’s important to know which schools those are. Ask your schools college counseling team.

Not so at our HYP. Dev office and admissions are completely separate. Would you really ask your school counseling team? I would feel silly since we’re not mega donors. DC was accepted. We’re just not al donors.

I know for a fact, it is true at two T10 schools.

If you have a private college counselor, I would ask them. Why are you posting if you don’t need the help for the next cycle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

And then either crickets when DC doesn’t get in, or the full court press if they do. Did they actually flag the file as development priority? Probably not.

It’s a dirty money game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard that at some places legacy is most valuable if your child applies ED. I've even heard that if your child is a legacy it can be a negative if they don't apply ED and their chances in RD go down, though I'm not sure about that. And I think this all varies a lot from school to school.

And some schools like siblings.

Honestly, these rumors are tedious. What you’ve heard versus the reality is different.

It depends entirely on specifics and the strength of your kid’s application. For marginal kid you may be right. But they likely weren’t getting in anyway. How many other institutional priorities did the kid hit in the review process other than legacy? If you haven’t hit more than one, your chances are slim.

My kid got into our double parent legacy T10 in regular decision.
Also multiple other T20.
This entirely depends on the applicants profile…. and how much engagement you’ve had with the school.

Glad you can generalize on one data point. I know several kids who got into peer schools, are even arguably better schools, RD while they were rejected from their parents alma mater RD, often with parents who were fairly actively involved - not huge donors, but consistently gave something and went to reunions, etc. I am smart enough to know that there are countless factors that go into this so even though I have a few data points I would not generalize, which is why, unlike most DCUM posters who are so ridiculously self-assured and think they know everything, I led with "I've heard" rather than "I know" to reflect that it is likely not a universal conclusion, particularly not across different schools.

For all of these things, the exception to the rule is the rule. Which is why it is important to know the details of the specific schools one is focused on, though even then, the schools are unlikely to give a straight answer on something like this and there will be data points showing conflicting information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

And then either crickets when DC doesn’t get in, or the full court press if they do. Did they actually flag the file as development priority? Probably not.

It’s a dirty money game.

Yup. I have a reunion coming up. There is a huge split between those who want to use this as another excuse to kiss the school's backside in order to try to help their kids get in, then those who are further along in the process who spent lots of time sucking up in the past, then junior was rejected, so the parents are very bitter and are not going to donate anymore and might not even come to reunion. Then obviously many people somewhere in the middle.

[Anonymous]

Lee Coffin, Dean of Admissions for Dartmouth, says on his podcast The Admissions Beat that legacy is not a thumb on the scale, but is a "feather on the scale." So, basically, a tie breaker. I believe it's a tiebreaker at Princeton also, because they have said previously that legacy only "mattered" to a small number of kids (I think they said maybe 33 or something like that, don't quote me).

My legacy kid got into an Ivy where we donate small amounts, but was rejected to a lower tier college (DH's alma mater) where we donated zero, so I do think (from a data point of 1) that giving something - even if small - for at least a few years does matter.

Finally, my legacy kid wanted to shoot for HYPMS and was rejected early, but still got into my legacy school RD, so I don't think it's essential that they apply early, but that's what we were told by many people. I know someone who applied early to their parent's legacy school and got in early, but I think they sort of felt like they *had* to apply early there or would have "no chance" at it.

[Anonymous]

My kid was waitlisted at my SLAC alma mater but I’m still donating and going to reunions. Our schools don’t owe us anything and they don’t owe our kids anything. It’s not personal. If our kids can’t make the admissions cut, so be it.

[Anonymous]

Everything is school specific.

What works at Dartmouth is not how it works at Brown is not how it works at Northwestern is not how it works at Penn.

You need to research your specific school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not go to a fancy school, but I am interested in how legacy admission works to the Ivies as my DC and their friends enter into this college application time. I get that kids who have a parent who went to an Ivy get some kind of boost in their admission consideration, but is there anything else involved? Like does the boost only happen if the parents have made contributions to the university? If so, how much is enough to get the extra boost? Do the parents have to be active alumni - going to reunions and sports games and otherwise talking up the university? Does legacy work “better” if there are multiple generations? What if the current applicant has really bad grades? Can that be overcome with a legacy consideration?

I am really just curious about how this rarefied world works.

No, legacy doesn't get you in if you don't already have the stats. The applicant still has to be qualified. It just gets you a closer look or maybe acts as a tiebreaker. As an HYP alum, I have many friends whose kids did not get in. I don't think it's as big a boost as people seem to think it is. Now maybe if you're a huge donor, you're in a different category. Can't speak to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

My DC was accepted early to my T5 alma mater the same year I chaired my 25th reunion (didn’t feel like I should decline when offered the position, lol). I only donated $100 though, as per usual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

My DC was accepted early to my T5 alma mater the same year I chaired my 25th reunion (didn’t feel like I should decline when offered the position, lol). I only donated $100 though, as per usual.

Oops, I misremembered the timing—they were accepted the admissions cycle *after* my 25th reunion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

My DC was accepted early to my T5 alma mater the same year I chaired my 25th reunion (didn’t feel like I should decline when offered the position, lol). I only donated $100 though, as per usual.

At some schools chairing the reunion and being that involved as an alum is actually more valuable than $100,000 donation. Some top schools track that type of involvement heavily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You go to your 25th reunion where you are wined-and-dined and they start the not-so-subtle fundraising pressure, knowing that you're likely to have DCs who are old enough that you're thinking ahead to college, but young enough that they aren't in the window of the admissions cycle. You may also start to get lots of friendly texts and emails from development people who want to meet you for coffee or whatever on their planned visit to your city. You engage these people politely, perhaps donate more than you'd otherwise consider donating, and hope for the best when your DC applies (if they apply . . . both of ours chose to apply ED to schools that weren't either of our alma maters).

My DC was accepted early to my T5 alma mater the same year I chaired my 25th reunion (didn’t feel like I should decline when offered the position, lol). I only donated $100 though, as per usual.

At some schools chairing the reunion and being that involved as an alum is actually more valuable than $100,000 donation. Some top schools track that type of involvement heavily.

Glad I said yes then!