Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:58     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:Unapologetically.

You are not donors.


She didn’t say that. She said they aren’t big “benefactors “
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:57     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.


Maybe all of you should have strived a little more in high school.


Maybe you should check your own post: being a legacy helps. You said it yourself. You look silly denying it now.


Of course it helps. And if you had strived more in high school you’d have something to help your kid. But you didn’t - own the consequences of your failures.


Attacking a stranger on the internet doesn’t improve your argument.

Legacy is a hook. It gets an applicant an unearned advantage.

Why are you fighting this?
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:55     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.


Maybe all of you should have strived a little more in high school.


Maybe you should check your own post: being a legacy helps. You said it yourself. You look silly denying it now.


Of course it helps. And if you had strived more in high school you’d have something to help your kid. But you didn’t - own the consequences of your failures.


I was admitted to 2 Ivies and went to a state school on a full ride instead. My parents couldn't afford to pay for the Ivies. ddddGuess their parents should have worked harder in their teens but they were busy taking a boat across the Atlantic to the US.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:53     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:Legacy is not the boost people think it is- lots of qualified legacies don’t get in. Some legacies who do get in might have an additional hook (athlete, URM, donor). Unfortunately, it can be hard for kids to understand that when they’re all caught up in this process, and feeling like they don’t have any control over certain things (and they really don’t have control over certain things).


It’s a boost.

Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:51     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Legacy is not the boost people think it is- lots of qualified legacies don’t get in. Some legacies who do get in might have an additional hook (athlete, URM, donor). Unfortunately, it can be hard for kids to understand that when they’re all caught up in this process, and feeling like they don’t have any control over certain things (and they really don’t have control over certain things).
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:37     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.


Maybe all of you should have strived a little more in high school.


Maybe you should check your own post: being a legacy helps. You said it yourself. You look silly denying it now.


Of course it helps. And if you had strived more in high school you’d have something to help your kid. But you didn’t - own the consequences of your failures.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:35     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.


Maybe all of you should have strived a little more in high school.


Maybe you should check your own post: being a legacy helps. You said it yourself. You look silly denying it now.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:31     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
DH family 4 generations legacy.

I didn't take my kids SAT or ACT.
I didn't do my kids school work
I didn't help my kid do their college apps

I didn't ......

Tell anyone that asks to FOCUS
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:31     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
It’s called a hook. Without it, your kid would have been just another kid in the ocean of high-stat applicants. Would he have gotten in without legacy status? Maybe, but even less likely. Your kid won a lottery spot. No need to be apologetic, but also imperative to understand that he does not “deserve” a spot due to his stats, as plenty of other kids like him (with or without legacy status) were inevitably rejected.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:27     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.


Maybe all of you should have strived a little more in high school.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:24     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.


Not as tough as it is for non-legacies, right? It helps.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:23     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To the OP: please note that so many of these responses are clearly from people who do not have legacy status to offer to their kids.

The vast majority of legacies would be there anyway, or worst case it is a tie-breaker. There are a few well-publicized cases of kids who get a big boost from it. These tend to be filthy rich kids so it is very obvious.

If these kids are too dumb to understand it, let them live in their sad little world. Tell your child to hold their head high and know that they fully deserve to be there and not to care what these small people think.


+1 - people without legacy at top schools build it up in their minds into something it’s not. Most of my classmates’ kids are not getting into my college with it’s 4 % admissions rate either


+1

It helps but it’s still tough.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:21     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:“Yep.” Because it’s true. Top schools are a lottery. Most applicants have the same impeccable application. Legacy buys you a fat stack of lottery tickets.


It’s the truth.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:21     Subject: Re:How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Anonymous wrote:OP, what are the chances you think kid would have been admitted without double legacy? If you say anything more than 10%, you are delusional.

I reckon you think it would be more like 50/50 or 40/60…

You can’t have your cake (admission) and eat it too. You made the choice to go with the potential legacy benefit and it worked: you have a great outcome, and no right to complain.


What school? I thought many have explicitly removed any legacy preference. For example aren’t all the VA schools (including UVA, William Mary etc) very clear that they no longer use legacy in admissions decisions per recent changes to state law?
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 20:21     Subject: How to respond when kid gets into school and is Legacy
Right now is the toughest time, it will get better as more acceptances roll in for others in your kid's class. It's not just legacies that face this, athletes and URM's do as well. In the grand scheme of things your admitted legacy student has a good problem.
By the way there will be some of this at college too- the unhooked kids faced much longer odds and they know it. . .