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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yawn.  White privileged folks prevail as usual w/ alumni connections and donations.[/quote]

True - it is the kids of these white "First Geners" who are now UMC who are screwed![/quote]

Well (I'm the PP you're agreeing with and a quasi-first gen myself), not exactly screwed.  My UMC kid has directly benefited from the upward mobility that Harvard educations gave her parents.  Harvard was a life-changing experience for me, but it'd be more of the same for DC -- she was born into that transformed life.  Doesn't it make more sense to give access to the kids for whom Harvard will make the most difference vs. kids who start out with so many advantages that they're going to do well whether they go to Harvard or not?  I get why legacy preferences exist (($$$)), but I wish they didn't.  [/quote]

Interesting position.  I went to HYP as a distinct non-legacy (most of my family has traditionally chosen, and been accepted to, a different part of the alphabet).  But I am completely UC (if you do not measure it in dollar terms).  I met my husband at college, and he was the product of an economically severely impoverished environment that ABC extricated him from.  He is also not white.  The schools in this area are good enough that we had not considered packing off our children.  But honestly I do kind of hope that what the college created (the progeny of an ultimate WASP and a very poor minority student) will help our kids get the same education we got (we cannot afford, and have never entertained, the possibility of any of our kids attending private school here because we think the public environment is much more healthy). Our donations are pro forma at this juncture because we believe that ABC and our church deserve much more money.

We have moved back to my home city (DC) where I did not know a single kid who went to public school (except kids who came from Mann to NCS).  Now private is the exception.  Our kids had no alternative.  We never had family money just prestige and my husband has taken the option of working for the armed forces despite his Ivy education (which I firmly support).  Honestly I think legacies are more than just about money, but it is possible that some legacies are more likely to hit the financial jackpot and donate to the university than others.  This is in contrast to those legacies who already come from not only wealthy but prestigious families (or maybe just wealthy - that is all that seems to matter now)  We would donate substantially if we succeeded, but if not perhaps our children or grandchildren would score an economic coup, and we owe our university a great debt for creating our family.  The brains and intellectual prowess my kids have come much more from my husband, and I realize that.  Furthermore my extended family is much more partial to another Ivy.  I hope they give us a shot, but we will see how far legacy preference goes when all you have is the legacy and not the money (but of course they took a chance on my husband who is a minority and given that my children are treated as such I have no qualms about which box to check on the forms)[/quote]

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