Description: Watch an Informational Video on Legacy’s Role in College Admissions Decisions. College Admissions Consulting from Ivy Coach.
Transcription: Thomas: Hello. We are about to present you a scenario after which we are going to ask you which of our children has the greatest chance of admission to Yale.
Rebecca: You will be given no additional information. So, your guess should be based exclusively on the information we share with you. Assume everything else, such as standardized test scores, grade point average, and strength of extracurriculars are equal between our two daughters. And so we begin.
Thomas: Hello, Rebecca. The workday just started and yet here we are on a coffee break.
Rebecca: Thomas, I can’t even think about work right now. My daughter kept me up all night last night. She is applying to colleges and cannot seem to get her act together.
Thomas: Oh, I have a daughter the same age. She just finished up her applications. I am hoping she goes to my alma mater. She applied to ten schools.
Rebecca: Where did you go?
Thomas: Yale, go Bulldogs!
Rebecca: My daughter is applying there as well. You are lucky. Your daughter is a legacy. That will help her case for admission.
Thomas: I hope so. Where did you go?
Rebecca: I did not go to a college. Neither did my husband. My daughter would in fact be the first in our family to go to college. But she is applying to all of these great schools, and I am worried she won’t get in.
Thomas: I see.
Rebecca: Your daughter has such a leg up. She will get into Yale. You went there. You must give them money every year.
Thomas: No. Tuition was so much when I went there. I never felt the need to give them any more money than I had to.
Rebecca: I see. I would imagine the school would call you every year asking for money.
Thomas: Yes, it’s extremely annoying. I’ll give them money when they let my kid into the school. It will be hard enough to cover the tuition.
Rebecca: Yes, tuition is so steep. I don’t know how I would cover it. This job doesn’t pay enough. As Jimmy McMillian, of the Rent is Too Damn High Party said in the last gubernatorial election in New York, the rent is too damn high.
Thomas: I agree. And that is all of the information you have.
Rebecca: So, based only on this conversation, whose daughter would stand a better chance of admission to Yale?
Thomas: It’s a tough one. On the one hand, my daughter has a legacy. Top universities love to support family traditions. It’s important.
Rebecca: But schools also love to admit students who are the first person in their families to go to a college. It makes our country stronger. It’s important.
Thomas: While legacy is important, those phone calls that I got ever year to give money, the ones I ignored, mattered. Schools look to see if you have a history of giving. Even if it is $50 a year, it shows you care. I didn’t show my love for Yale by supporting their endowment. Why should they show their love for me by accepting my daughter? That might just come back to bite me in the butt. Also, legacies should apply through the school’s Early program. They should not apply Regular Decision. They need to show their commitment to the school.
Rebecca: So, based only on this information, it seems my daughter stands a better chance of admission to Yale.
Thomas: And so it seems.
