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I thought this was common practice in US universities, in the form of so called 'legacy admissions' [1]? [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences

by q3k 6y ago

I thought this was common practice in US universities, in the form of so called 'legacy admissions' [1]? [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences

Ericson2314 6y ago
Goverment-run universities presumably have slightly less ludicrously corruption-condoning rules in place.
- basementcat 6y ago
  If one considers a university as a hedge fund with an education and research division, then it is rather sensible to have policies designed to increase the likelihood of wealthy individuals providing incoming capital. I was in graduate school when I first learned that writing good grant proposals (and other skills related to acquiring large quantities of money) was arguably more valuable than doing good science.
joncp 6y ago
Since Berkeley is public, there's an expectation of more fairness. ... I'm more surprised it was only 64 kids.
- worstestes 6y ago
  That's only counting those who were caught
- compiler-guy 6y ago
  They were extremely conservative in their counting. It wasn't enough to have suspicious circumstances, they had to be able to prove it. The real number is likely much, much higher, and they say so.
WillPostForFood 6y ago
You can get a legacy preference (child or relative of a graduate) without being a donor, though both often come into play.
MiroF 6y ago
I don't think public institutions like Cal engage in legacy admissions, but I'm not sure? Many schools give a general boost for legacy, but it is not always so tit-for-tat as the transactions that occurred here with Cal. They'll often have a different non-legacy pipeline for large donor -> admission. For instance, at Harvard, there is the legacy SCEA process, but there is also the "z-list" process which is the more direct "children of billionaires" route.
pvg 6y ago
No, legacy admissions are at least to some extent rule based, rather than outright cheating which what this stuff is - people don't go to jail over legacy admissions, for instance. UC Berkeley doesn't have legacy admissions to begin with.
morpheuskafka 6y ago
There are some universities and colleges that choose openly or non-openly consider. However, the policy of the UC System Board of Regents expressly forbids legacy and donor preference. Additionally, as a public institution there are due process concerns with not evaluating applications in accordance with the published factors and criteria, which in this case do not include legacy.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Additionally, as a public institution there are due process concerns with not evaluating applications in accordance with the published factors and criteria, which in this case do not include legacy. Those would simply be fraud considerations in a private institution that charges an application fee. Of course, a private institution also has Equal Protection / (Substantive) Due Process considerations at play as to what the published factors and criteria can be, as well as (Procedural) Due Process considerations as to whether it actually follows them.

by q3k 6y ago

Ericson2314 6y ago

Goverment-run universities presumably have slightly less ludicrously corruption-condoning rules in place.

basementcat 6y ago
If one considers a university as a hedge fund with an education and research division, then it is rather sensible to have policies designed to increase the likelihood of wealthy individuals providing incoming capital. I was in graduate school when I first learned that writing good grant proposals (and other skills related to acquiring large quantities of money) was arguably more valuable than doing good science.

joncp 6y ago

Since Berkeley is public, there's an expectation of more fairness. ... I'm more surprised it was only 64 kids.

worstestes 6y ago
That's only counting those who were caught
compiler-guy 6y ago
They were extremely conservative in their counting. It wasn't enough to have suspicious circumstances, they had to be able to prove it. The real number is likely much, much higher, and they say so.

WillPostForFood 6y ago

You can get a legacy preference (child or relative of a graduate) without being a donor, though both often come into play.

MiroF 6y ago

I don't think public institutions like Cal engage in legacy admissions, but I'm not sure? Many schools give a general boost for legacy, but it is not always so tit-for-tat as the transactions that occurred here with Cal. They'll often have a different non-legacy pipeline for large donor -> admission. For instance, at Harvard, there is the legacy SCEA process, but there is also the "z-list" process which is the more direct "children of billionaires" route.

pvg 6y ago

No, legacy admissions are at least to some extent rule based, rather than outright cheating which what this stuff is - people don't go to jail over legacy admissions, for instance. UC Berkeley doesn't have legacy admissions to begin with.

morpheuskafka 6y ago

There are some universities and colleges that choose openly or non-openly consider. However, the policy of the UC System Board of Regents expressly forbids legacy and donor preference. Additionally, as a public institution there are due process concerns with not evaluating applications in accordance with the published factors and criteria, which in this case do not include legacy.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> Additionally, as a public institution there are due process concerns with not evaluating applications in accordance with the published factors and criteria, which in this case do not include legacy. Those would simply be fraud considerations in a private institution that charges an application fee. Of course, a private institution also has Equal Protection / (Substantive) Due Process considerations at play as to what the published factors and criteria can be, as well as (Procedural) Due Process considerations as to whether it actually follows them.