Would it surprise you that 43% of white students at Harvard University fit neatly into one of the following categories: recruited athletes, legacies, development cases (a.k.a. Z List cases), and/or children of faculty/staff? If you’re a regular reader of Ivy Coach’s college admissions blog, it likely doesn’t surprise you one bit. After all, we’ve extensively detailed over the years how the majority of legacy applicants to our nation’s highly selective universities are white. However, this pool has been growing more diverse as the children of underrepresented alumni come of college age. We’ve also detailed extensively how the majority of recruited athletes at these institutions, to the surprise of many, are white. 

Surprisingly enough, sports like squash, water polo, swimming, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, and golf just don’t attract many underrepresented minority applicants. And it’s likely not too big a surprise that the majority of donors to these institutions are white. The wealthy alumni’s children have a leg up in the admissions process, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy rooted in privilege.

ALDCs Form 43% of Harvard’s White Student Body. That’s a Problem.

As Taya Bero writes for The Guardian in a piece entitled “Turns out, Harvard students aren’t that smart after all,” “Ever wondered what it takes to get into Harvard? Stellar grades, impressive extracurriculars and based on a recently published study, having deep pockets and a parent who either works or went there. Those last two are pretty important for Harvard’s white students because only about 57% of them were admitted to the school based on merit.

What Does ALDC Stand For?

In reality, 43% of Harvard’s white students are either recruited athletes, legacy students, on the dean’s interest list (meaning their parents have donated to the school) or children of faculty and staff (students admitted based on these criteria are referred to as ’ALDCs’, which stands for ’athletes’, ’legacies’, ’dean’s interest list’ and ’children’ of Harvard employees). The kicker? Roughly three-quarters of these applicants would have been rejected if it weren’t for having rich or Harvard-connected parents or being an athlete.”

How can Harvard address what would appear to many to be a systemic flaw in its admissions process? Is it doing away with legacy admission? Eliminating recruiting slots for sports like squash and golf? Not offering an advantage to the children of faculty and staff? No, not even close.

No, SCOTUS Did Not Put Race to Bed in Elite College Admissions

While Harvard advocated for Affirmative Action during its 2023 SCOTUS case, the case was ultimately decided in favor of outlawing it. So now that race-based Affirmative Action is off the table, how can Harvard claim to be meritocratic when recruited athletes, Z-list children of major donors, and legacy students all get an unfair leg up against students who rightfully deserve a place on campus based on the strength of their applications? In other words, how can Harvard continue to perpetuate what some call “Affirmative Action for the rich?”

This just goes to show that despite the outlawing of Affirmative Action, race is very much still a factor in the elite college admissions process. Not only do white students benefit from these implicit advantages, but the Roberts Loophole has also allowed underrepresented minority students to articulate how race has impacted their lives in college essays and supplemental materials. Race hasn’t gone anywhere, and the sooner elite schools can acknowledge how their very own policies perpetuate systemic bias, the sooner the higher education landscape will actually reflect merit and not privilege.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance To Non-ALDC Students For Harvard Admission

Ivy Coach has worked with many ALDC and non-ALDC students through the years to help them earn admission to Harvard. If you would like to enlist our help in navigating the systemic barriers keeping your child from receiving just consideration in the Ivy League admissions process, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch with an outline of our services led by our team of former elite college admissions officers, including Ivy Coach’s Chad Faber, a former Harvard admissions officer.