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"stringent requirements" like "oh, one of your parents was a student here? here, you're in". Harvard is one-third legacy[1]. > at five Ivy League schools, Da
by Manishearth 9y ago
"stringent requirements"
like "oh, one of your parents was a student here? here, you're in".
Harvard is one-third legacy[1].
> at five Ivy League schools, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Penn and Brown, as well as 33 other colleges, there are more students from families in the top one percent than from the entire bottom 60 percent.
stringent requirements, sure, but certainly not the right kind.
[1]: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/harvards-incoming-class-is-one-third-legacy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/harvards-incoming-class-is-o...
- vthallam 9y agoThat alone doesn't get you an admission. When 2 students has equal test scores, GPA and everything else, your family association definitely helps. This doesn't mean, they accept not so smart people because their parents went to the same school.
- hyperhopper 9y agoExactly, the argument is that it shouldn't matter.
- PeterisP 9y agoHaving one-third legacy isn't really that strong evidence of a bias - legacy can be easily explained by (a) the fact that people who can choose between the top schools are likely to prefer Harvard for legacy reasons; and (b) the fact that academic success in general (and thus the ability to perform well in any school) is highly hereditary - all three of nature+nurture+socioeconomic status are strong influencers, and all are highly hereditary; so we should expect that a much higher proportion (compared to average) children of Harvard graduates have the innate qualities that would allow to choose among top schools even if there was no legacy bias.