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"mediocre children of alumni" This is an unfair description of the advantage of legacy at an elite school. It's typically an edge, like playing a sport or belo
by mobilefriendly 7y ago
"mediocre children of alumni" This is an unfair description of the advantage of legacy at an elite school. It's typically an edge, like playing a sport or belonging to an under-represented demographic.
- virtuous_signal 7y agoI'm aware that it's typically an edge; what I mean by "mediocre" is not a personal description, but rather the state of being quantitatively less meritorious than those students who gained admission without the legacy edge.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- CydeWeys 7y agoThe non-mediocre children of alumni can still get in. "Mediocre" is being used here in a relative sense.
- michaelt 7y agoIf the impact of legacy is small - equivalent to gaining 0.01 points of GPA - then if they need legacy to be admitted, they're only 0.01 points above being rejected - one of the least qualified students at the school. And if the impact is large - equivalent to 1 point of GPA - then there are legacy admissions a full GPA point worse than the least capable of their non-legacy peers, which is even worse. I agree mediocre is inaccurate, because mediocre means half way to the top, and students who need legacy admissions are at the very bottom of the class.