Better start forking it over.

If your Ivy (or any other for that matter) alma mater knows you have significant money and your kid applies and you have given little or nothing, could that actually hurt?

These schools withstood significant pressure to end legacy admissions preference post-covid and now face a financial landscape that makes full-pay students more critical than ever. And university boards are chomping at the bit to claw to back every scrap of privilege they and their private equity friends feel they were robbed of when we spent five minutes in 2020 caring about racial equity and justice.

So, no, being a legacy won’t hurt you in admissions.

Maybe Trump will make them admit more legacies.

I think it can be hurtful if you have not donated a large amount. Schools do not want to admit too many legacies because it looks bad, and legacies as a group tend to be more qualified than the rest of the applicant pool. DC got into several Ivies, including Yale, but not another Ivy where she was a legacy.

Anonymous wrote:Increasingly, Ivies are looking to spread the wealth to others. In part, that might be a decision to counterbalance the notion that they are rich and insular. So, if you’re a legacy, they say your lineage already got a helping hand. Now, it’s time for other, smart, poor kids to get a leg up.

Absolutely they giving fgli a huge leg up.

But no, they are not giving up on legacy. Not at all.

Anonymous wrote:Increasingly, Ivies are looking to spread the wealth to others. In part, that might be a decision to counterbalance the notion that they are rich and insular. So, if you’re a legacy, they say your lineage already got a helping hand. Now, it’s time for other, smart, poor kids to get a leg up.

Some were full pay struggling to make payments, working several jobs…helping hand?

Anonymous wrote:Increasingly, Ivies are looking to spread the wealth to others. In part, that might be a decision to counterbalance the notion that they are rich and insular. So, if you’re a legacy, they say your lineage already got a helping hand. Now, it’s time for other, smart, poor kids to get a leg up.

That's not correct but other parts are okay.

Increasingly, Ivies are looking to spread the wealth to others. In part, that might be a decision to counterbalance the notion that they are rich and insular. So, if you’re a legacy, they say your lineage already got a helping hand. Now, it’s time for other, smart, poor kids to get a leg up.

Not as much as before but still significant enough to be helpful. If your kid can't get in, it's not because of that.

It's not, but it isn't as much of a positive as people think. I have cousins who are HYP alumni, big athletic booster and biggish donors. Their kids all went to or are going to LACs because legacy wasn't enough to get them in. One of them graduated phi beta kappa from a NESCAC, so clearly no slouches academically, but no love from their parents' alma mater.

No

The only ivy where my kid is applying is my alma mater. I don't think it will help much, but I have no reason to think it will hurt.

No ivy will ever abandon legacy preference. Never!

Given the sensitivity of the Ivies and top colleges, would it actually hurt to be a legacy? In the past, it gave a leg-up but I am wondering if it hurts more than helps this coming year.

What's your take?