Reply to The Legacy Advantage at Selective Ivys

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[quote=Anonymous]From where I sit, it feels inevitable that legacies would be better qualified than other applicants. Smart people with lots of privilege (social, intellectual and financial capital) tend to do well at magnifying those advantages for their children.

30 years ago, I was a middle-class student at an Ivy. Though I had near perfect test scores and GPA, and I took every AP offered in my FCPS school, there is no way I was as prepared for college as most of my classmates.  In contrast, my DC has received every possible advantage. She was raised with the habits of mind that I copied from others.  Because of all the privilege she enjoys, she goes to a Big 3, she's interned in places that most college students would envy, and she has a deeper, more intellectual understanding of the world. My alma mater would be lucky if she wants to go there. At the same time, she would be just as successful in life if she goes to a less prestigious college.

If an Ivy League school's goal was merely to produce the next generations of leaders, legacies like my daughter would probably be even more disproportionately represented.  To the extent they want to create access to the top and social mobility for the middle/bottom, then they have to admit more people like me - strivers who start a little less prepared and need to run fast to keep up.  It is a continual balancing act and a never ending challenge.[/quote]

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