My hot take on this is that the colleges / universities want a certain share of their students to hail from wealthy and elite backgrounds. It just makes the sch

My hot take on this is that the colleges / universities want a certain share of their students to hail from wealthy and elite backgrounds. It just makes the schools more desirable, for people that want to make connections / break into that social circle. And they've probably calculated that these legacy admits donate back to the school, along with becoming more involved as they get adults - and start to plan for their own children. Not saying that it's right - but power and prestige has always been informal selling point of attending elite colleges. Also, I know this is just undergrad...but elite MBA programs are far worse. Basically just a 2-year social club for rich kids to travel, connect, and party around the world, while getting some education on the side.