How many colleges consider legacy admissions maybe more than you think?

New data shows, for the first time, how widespread the practice may be. Nearly 600 colleges consider whether applicants' parents, siblings or other relatives attended the institution to which they are applying, according to data published Tuesday by the National Center for Education Sciences.

How many colleges consider legacy?

Nearly 600 colleges consider an applicant's legacy status during their admissions process, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

How much does being a legacy help your college admissions odds?

A study of thirty elite colleges, found that primary legacy students are an astonishing 45% more likely to get into a highly selective college or university than a non-legacy. Secondary legacies receive a lesser pick-me-up of 13%.

Do legacy students have a higher chance?

A research group at Harvard conducted an analysis of a dozen elite schools — including the Ivy Leagues, Stanford, and the University of Chicago — and determined that, among applicants with similar test scores, legacy applicants were far more likely to be accepted into the school their parents attended than those whose ...

Is it easier to get into college as a legacy?

The short answer is that being a legacy is very likely to increase your chances of being admitted to an individual college or university, particularly a very elite one. As of last year, the estimated admission rate for Harvard legacies was more than four times that of non-legacies!

How many colleges consider legacy admissions Maybe more than you think

Do Ivy Leagues care about legacy?

In short, Ivy League and other top schools typically admit legacies at two to five times their overall admission rates. Among top universities, the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University are known to weigh legacy status heavily in their application processes.

Which top colleges don t consider legacy?

Why do colleges care so much about legacy?

The “logic” is that legacy students are most likely to matriculate, most likely to graduate, most likely to be happy with the school, and most likely to donate. They continually support the school. Students are familiar with what their parents do and did, and where they went to school.

How do colleges know if you're a legacy?

Colleges can include questions about legacy status in their supplements on the Common Application, and it's often just two or three questions. Are you related to an alumnus?

Do colleges favor legacies?

Although being a legacy often helps students get admitted to a competitive college, many experts agree that the true value of legacy status is contextual – it depends on both the institution and the applicant.

Why are legacy students more likely to get in?

A legacy admission is both more likely to enroll and to be retained. The applicant knows what they are getting into and what the campus life is like. They also have someone who can provide advice. The applicant also has an existing if indirect relationship with the university.

Do grandparents count as legacy?

A number of schools consider applicants to be legacies if their parents or grandparents are alumni. Make sure that you think about where your grandparents went to school, and look into whether any of the schools to which you are applying use this definition.

What percent of Harvard is legacy?

Harvard gives preference to applicants who are recruited athletes, legacies, relatives of donors and children of faculty and staff. As a group, they make up less than 5 percent of applicants, but around 30 percent of those admitted each year.

Does Penn care about legacy?

“Legacies who apply to Penn—like all applicants—receive thorough consideration in the application process.” The most important markers in the application process are scores and grades. The rest of the application can't make up for subpar grades and scores.

Do siblings count as legacies?

Some institutions, such as Stanford and UNC, only consider "primary legacy" status—where one or both applicant's parents are alumni. Yet, most schools will also grant favor to "secondary legacies" who claim a grandparent, sibling, or other non-parental familial affiliation to the school.

What percent of Yale class is legacy?

Eleven percent of the Yale College class of 2027 are legacies, according to the admissions office's First-Year Class Profile. This number marks a slight decrease in legacy population from the class of 2026, which has 12 percent legacy students, and the class of 2025, which has 14 percent legacy students.

What is a double legacy?

Being a "double legacy" at the University of Southern California (USC) means that both of your parents are alumni of the school.

Will colleges get rid of legacy admissions?

A 2022 report from nonprofit think tank Education Reform Now found that colleges were turning away from legacy admissions. Eighty-nine percent of college admissions directors did not support the use of legacy admits, and three-quarters of public colleges and universities didn't even provide a legacy preference.

Who has gotten rid of legacy admissions?

In 2021, Colorado became the first state to ban legacy preferences in public universities. Similar bills have emerged in New York and Connecticut.

What schools don t care about legacy?

Some schools, though, are publicly rejecting the practice. New York University, Michigan State University and Bryn Mawr College all told The Washington Post they do not use legacy preferences and will make that clear on a survey, known as the Common Data Set, that had previously shown otherwise.

What schools have gotten rid of legacy admissions?

Does Cornell care about legacy?

So, if you are both a great student and a legacy applicant at Cornell, you will have a better chance of admission than other applicants, but there are no guarantees.

What percent of legacy admissions are white?

The complaint argues that legacy admissions are tantamount to racial discrimination because Harvard grants preferential treatment to legacies – 70% of whom are white.

Does NYU care about legacy?

“And, to repeat: NYU does not admit students on the basis of legacy; being the child of an alum is not a factor in our admissions decision-making; we don't pay heed to legacy status in shaping a class; and NYU doesn't have legacy 'tips. '”

Does Dartmouth consider legacy?

Dartmouth happens to be the first institution to implement legacy admission. And it had a specific purpose — severely curbing the presence of ethnic and religious minorities like Jews and Catholics.