I met a kid who got into Harvard today who is NOT a legacy

[Anonymous]

OK, not the kid but the dad. He drove a cab we took in NYC. I know lots of people who went to Harvard undergrad but most are old, like me, and are usually legacies and they went to Harvard when their acceptance rate was in the double digits.

So here's what a kid who got in this year looks like who is not a legacy:

Born in Bangladesh, moved to the US when he was 3 yrs old.
Parents now live in Bangladesh for most of the yr. Dad owns his NYC taxi medallion. (And for this who don't know medallions cost 1 mil+). The dad is a journalist in Bangladesh. Mom is a MD, Ob-Gyn.

Perfect SAT scores in all 3 sections. Goes to Stuyvesant HS.
His twin sister, who got 2368 on the SATs is going to Cornell.
They have an older brother at Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Interesting backgound, but that is just one kid. There are still plenty of kids getting into Harvard from traditionally overrepresented groups. I doubt the Harvard class of 2017 will be lacking in Asian math majors or suburban Jews.

[Anonymous]

I thought SAT scores were always in multiples of 10. How do you get a 2368?

[Anonymous]

OP: I don't know anything about current SAT scoring so I may have just heard it wrong. Dad has a thick accent so it may have been 2360.

All the kids are getting a full ride, too. Not sure how since he owns the medallion but that's being nitpicky. I was impressed

[Anonymous]

Of course he got into Harvard! what a great story for their glossy marketing materials....please !!

[Anonymous]

Some smart genes in that family. Good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course he got into Harvard! what a great story for their glossy marketing materials....please !!

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

My brother got into Harvard 7 years ago and turned them down. He is now at HBS though.

[Anonymous]

Strange. All my friends that got in were NOT legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother got into Harvard 7 years ago and turned them down. He is now at HBS though.

How is that relevant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some smart genes in that family. Good for them.

OP here: I agree and the fact that the kid got accepted from NYC. Dad told me they live in Woodside, Queens. Harvard has a ~6% acceptance rate for non-legacies in general but I'm sure it's much lower for the NYC metro area. Very impressive.

[Anonymous]

Why is the dad driving a cab??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is the dad driving a cab??

He owns the medallion so that's how he makes a living in the US. Lots of immigrants with professional graduate degrees from their home country work at similar jobs after immigrating to the US. Nothing new...

[Anonymous]

Well, considering that less than 10% of any class is legacies, the odds of meeting a non-legacy kid were very much in OP's favor. There seems to be some confusion between two different statistics: the fact that 30% of legacy kids are accepted is mathematically different from the fact that 10% of the incoming class is legacies.

[Anonymous]

So what? My stepson just got into Harvard. Both his parents went to state schools in California. Mom works as a nurse. DH works as a math teacher in middle school.