What is Harvard's big dumb bet on legacy admissions?

For decades, sharing a last name with an alum of a prestigious university was a surefire way to get a leg up in the college-admissions gantlet — especially if they were a big donor.

What is the legacy scandal with Harvard?

Harvard is also now the subject of a civil-rights probe by the US Department of Education, after a lawsuit alleged the school gave overwhelming preference to white, wealthy students by prioritising legacy and donor applicants.

How does Harvard know if you are legacy?

A Harvard legacy student is someone with a family tie to Harvard University, often being the child or grandchild of a Harvard alumnus. Legacy status can influence college admissions to varying degrees across different schools, including Harvard, but it's just one aspect considered in the application process.

How much easier is it to get into Harvard as a legacy?

Even if their legacy status weren't considered, they would still be about 33 percent more likely to be admitted than applicants with the same test scores, based on all their other qualifications, demographic characteristics and parents' income and education, according to an analysis conducted by Opportunity Insights, a ...

Are legacy admissions dying?

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.

Civil rights group challenges Harvard’s legacy admissions practice

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.

What's wrong with legacy admissions?

The end of affirmative action has triggered a reconsideration of legacy admissions. When universities extend advantages to the families of donors and alums, they discriminate against others, especially lower-income and Black students.

Why does Harvard like legacy students?

Given how Harvard and other high-status schools have valued legacy students, it's unlikely they will give up the practice easily, even with the Department of Education investigating the practice. These institutions say legacy admissions help foster relationships with alumni and promote an intergenerational community.

Do grandparents count as legacy Harvard?

A legacy is someone who is related to an alumnus of a school—usually a child of a graduate. More distant relations (such as aunts, uncles, and cousins) rarely count. Grandparents sometimes, but not always, count. To take an example, if your mom graduated from Harvard College, you'd be considered a Harvard legacy.

Do siblings count as legacy Harvard?

Yes. Very real. The schools know that parents are more likely to send siblings to the same school. That helps them get a higher yield.

Does Harvard favor legacies?

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. About 67.8 percent of these applicants are white, according to court papers.

How many people at Harvard are legacy?

Legacy students made up 36 percent of the class of 2022, according to a Harvard Crimson survey. And documents from the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College case revealed that nearly 70 percent of Harvard's donor-related and legacy applicants are white.

Does Harvard prefer legacy students?

Not just Harvard but all Ivy League institutions, considered some of the world's most prestigious, give consideration to legacy status. Other leading institutions, including New York University, Georgetown University, Vassar College and Michigan State University, also follow the practice.

Who are the famous Harvard rejects?

John Kerry, D-Mass, Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner, NBC "Today" show host Meredith Vieira, former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw, New Yorker magazine editor David Remnick, CNN founder Ted Turner, folk rock legend Art Garfunkel, Matt Groening, creator of the animated television series "The Simpsons," ...

What percent of Harvard legacies are white?

But Chica Project, ACEDONE and GBLN point out one major problem with this ruling: Nearly 70% of donor-related and legacy admits to Harvard are white.

What percentage of students at Harvard are legacy?

43 percent of those students are either legacies, children of faculty, kin of donors or a recruited athlete. 75 percent of them would not have gotten in if not for special status (National Bureau of Economic Research).

Does Harvard legacy matter?

The only thing being in a legacy family at Harvard does is give a slight advantage in being accepted for admission. After that, there is no indication of who is a legacy and who is not in terms of dorm assignments, id cards, getting into classes, or grades.

Who does Yale consider legacy?

Legacy students are those who have had a family member attend Yale, and are usually given preference during the admissions process.

Does Yale take 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.

Who got rid of legacy admissions?

States have taken matters into their own hands. California enacted a law in 2020 that requires colleges to submit potentially embarrassing annual reports on legacy admissions. In 2021, Colorado became the first state to ban legacy preferences in public universities.

What colleges are getting rid of 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 kind of student is Harvard looking for?

There is no formula for gaining admission to Harvard. Academic accomplishment in high school is important, but the Admissions Committee also considers many other criteria, such as community involvement, leadership and distinction in extracurricular activities, and personal qualities and character.

Is Penn getting rid of legacy?

For the Class of 2026, Penn Admissions updated its information webpage, removing the section implying that legacies should apply through the Early Decision program. The First Friday drop-in hours — designed specifically for the children of Penn alumni, faculty, and staff — were also discontinued.

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? What is your relationship to that alumnus? Who is that alumnus?

What are the disadvantages of being a legacy student?

The bigger drawback is that legacy admissions tend to reenforce a lack of diversity in a university. Historically, since most college students were white and upperclass, legacy admissions are likely to be white and upperclass. By definition, they will not be first generation college students.