Reply to Legacy acceptance rate at Brown

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Legacy acceptance rate at Brown"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Brown alum from a long time ago here.

Comparing Brown legacy admission rate to other Ivies is a bit misleading because Brown has a broader definition which includes siblings. At least one other Ivy does this, but most do not. Studies at Brown have shown that when multiple siblings attend Brown the rates of giving and donated amount and participation in alumni activities is higher than overall stats for alumni so Brown gives siblings legacy status. But that means that more applicants are in the legacy "bucket. "

The admissions consultation program was NOT in lieu of a legacy bump. They co-existed. The program was originally put in place when Brown had "early action" rather than "early decision" and Harvard, Yale and Princeton had early decision.

Brown and other private colleges granting legacy preference know that alums who donate at good but not developmental levels get angry when their kids or grandkids don't get in. They stop giving. They rewrite their wills to omit Brown as a beneficiary. Three Ivy alum magazines come to my household and most years; they each print a couple of angry letters from alums whose kids or grandchildren are rejected. They usually say something like "I have been secretary of my class for the last 20 years, I have donated every year since I graduated and in the last 5 years have given $5,000 a year, but my grandson who was president of his senior class at a top suburban high school and the yearbook editor with a 4.0 with 4 APs and a 1490 SAT was rejected! [b]I will NEVER give the college another dime[/b]."

I used to wonder why the colleges print these letters, but I think it's a subtle way to let alums know that their kids and grandkids might be rejected too. 
There's another top school that had the college consultation program and Brown copied it. The purpose of the program was I suspect to get alums like the letter writers above get used to the idea that admission to Brown for their kids and grandkids was unlikely and for Brown to help them find a good fit for them. The hope was that these alums would gradually come to terms with reality so that they would NOT stop giving. Apparently, it had worked at the other college.

The program was short lived. [/quote]

This is the problem with legacy preferences.  It turns the alumni relationship transactional rather than emotional.
20 years ago, Brown could have admitted that grandkid with a 4.0 and 1490 SAT but now it can't.  The most competitive schools have to get away from legacy admissions or just make the seats at their schools hereditary.[/quote]

This is an interesting point.  By keeping seats limited at these institutions, it makes it harder to show love to alum and still allow seats for others in order to diversify the class in a variety of ways.  So many seats are spoken for.  Getting harder for these schools to both evolve the brand and not upset constituencies. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics