4 ms·

I was shocked when I first learned what legacy students were. Everyone talks about the uk bring super classist but legacy students would never fly over here. Th

by ck425 6y ago

I was shocked when I first learned what legacy students were. Everyone talks about the uk bring super classist but legacy students would never fly over here. The US seems to have some seriously blatant classism. The other obvious one is the teeth obsession.

zozbot234 6y ago
> I was shocked when I first learned what legacy students were. Also known as "grandfathered" students. Meaning, if your grandpa went to Harvard, you can apply to Harvard as a legacy student and get a way lower bar on the literacy test.
raincom 6y ago
That's because America has a better propaganda or PR department: no classes in America, just hard work alone!!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ghshephard 6y ago
Well, the feeder schools are pretty classist. I went to Jr. High School in '81 (in Canada, no less) with a student who had a spot reserved for him at Eton (from birth - Apparently by being a descendant of Lord Cecil Martin), which has a high transfer rate to the big colleges in England.
war1025 6y ago
> The US seems to have some seriously blatant classism. We just like to dress it up and call it "Meritocracy". Nevermind that your merits are that you were born into a wealthy, well-connected family.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  Anybody who calls legacy admissions "meritocracy" is just lying. Proponents of meritocracy take it as a design goal, not a normative description of all existing systems. If you want meritocracy then you want to get rid of legacy admissions.
- LudwigNagasena 6y ago
  I have never heard legacy admission being called "meritocracy"
emiliobumachar 6y ago
Interesting, thanks for sharing. Do the children of British nobility actually face the same academic bar as everyone else to join Oxford and Cambridge? If not, what accounts for the difference?
- ck425 6y ago
  Yes. With the exception of the time Prince Charles went to Cambridge The difference is that private schools normally get better exam results. That's slowly changing now due to quotas and schemes to help disadvantaged kids. A lot of parents are apparently questioning the value to private schools over living in an area with good state schools. For Oxbridge specifically there's also the interview. I don't know much about it but private schools definitely train their kids for these and I don't doubt there's unconscious bias there. Also Oxbridge is so posh that a lot of lower socio-economic kids go to interview and then run for the hills.

by ck425 6y ago

zozbot234 6y ago

> I was shocked when I first learned what legacy students were. Also known as "grandfathered" students. Meaning, if your grandpa went to Harvard, you can apply to Harvard as a legacy student and get a way lower bar on the literacy test.

raincom 6y ago

That's because America has a better propaganda or PR department: no classes in America, just hard work alone!!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

ghshephard 6y ago

Well, the feeder schools are pretty classist. I went to Jr. High School in '81 (in Canada, no less) with a student who had a spot reserved for him at Eton (from birth - Apparently by being a descendant of Lord Cecil Martin), which has a high transfer rate to the big colleges in England.

war1025 6y ago

> The US seems to have some seriously blatant classism. We just like to dress it up and call it "Meritocracy". Nevermind that your merits are that you were born into a wealthy, well-connected family.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
Anybody who calls legacy admissions "meritocracy" is just lying. Proponents of meritocracy take it as a design goal, not a normative description of all existing systems. If you want meritocracy then you want to get rid of legacy admissions.
LudwigNagasena 6y ago
I have never heard legacy admission being called "meritocracy"

emiliobumachar 6y ago

Interesting, thanks for sharing. Do the children of British nobility actually face the same academic bar as everyone else to join Oxford and Cambridge? If not, what accounts for the difference?

ck425 6y ago
Yes. With the exception of the time Prince Charles went to Cambridge The difference is that private schools normally get better exam results. That's slowly changing now due to quotas and schemes to help disadvantaged kids. A lot of parents are apparently questioning the value to private schools over living in an area with good state schools. For Oxbridge specifically there's also the interview. I don't know much about it but private schools definitely train their kids for these and I don't doubt there's unconscious bias there. Also Oxbridge is so posh that a lot of lower socio-economic kids go to interview and then run for the hills.