4 ms·

There are many pathways to do this without explicit policy. If MIT wanted to show this explicitly they could release a dataset with admission outcomes and paren

There are many pathways to do this without explicit policy. If MIT wanted to show this explicitly they could release a dataset with admission outcomes and parent/relative donation history.

gumby 3y ago
How would they link them? It's been decades since I applied to MIT but I noted that they were the only application that didn't ask if you had any relatives who'd attended.
squokko 3y ago
Does the application have a spot to mention your relatives who attended MIT? And if not, how would they have such a dataset?
- technothrasher 3y ago
  My alma mater (University of Rochester) doesn't have an explicit legacy admittance policy, but they do have a "legacy scholarship" where you can potentially get $5K-$10K if you check off that your legacy on your application. I have always assumed this was code for "we do have a legacy admittance policy, be we don't want to say we do". Irrelevant for me, apparently though, because my kid has said there's no way he's going to go to the school I went to <shrug>.
  - squokko 3y ago
    I don't mean this as any insult to the University of Rochester but I don't think that any of this national conversation around legacy admissions and privilege is relevant to them.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - andyinfrance 3y ago
    Hi Technothrasher, sorry to jump this thread, was reading about a thread 46 days ago where you have made ecu replacements for 308’s I presume that’s with the Bosch K-Jetronic and Magneti Marelli 801/802a ecu’s? Can you contact me about these I’m interested, thanks
ke88y 3y ago
That's true. It's also true that even more subtle types of social capital can be extremely influential. And it's further true that these types of subtle influencing factors are much harder to address than overt corruption. But even with all of that said: not having legacy admissions is better than having legacy admissions.
- iudqnolq 3y ago
  Not having explicitly legacy is probably often better, but I think it could frequently be effectively the same. If any non-rigourous scoring is done by people who know about legacy and whose bosses can be contacted informally by legacy parents to pass along complaints I'd wonder if it could be effectively just as bad.
  - ke88y 3y ago
    To be sure, it's not a panacea and there are more subtle ways to work the same influence networks. I liken it to Jim Crow: systemic racism didn't end the day that Jim Crow laws were struck down, but a world without those statutes is undeniably a step in the right direction. So too here: it's not perfect, it doesn't solve the issue once and for all, but it's unquestionably better than the alternative.
    - wnc3141 3y ago
      The door revolves on upon graduation as it does on admittance . MIT seats are scarce because so many want access to the influential network of MIT alum, as MIT students might be favored in highly sought after jobs. MIT maintains the scarcity by not increasing enrollments thereby giving seats only to the remarkably well prepared or well resourced high school students. Bur it makes me wonder 1) Why must the brand MIT be such a ticket to supposedly meritocratic job market? And 2) why must college attainment be seen as the only way of passage into the middle class? Jim Crow effects persist today because of the dearth of social capital for many black Americans that both prevents entry into a highly selective launchpad into gainful careers and only has such power for the outsized role social capital plays in job prospects.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

There are many pathways to do this without explicit policy. If MIT wanted to show this explicitly they could release a dataset with admission outcomes and parent/relative donation history.

gumby 3y ago

How would they link them? It's been decades since I applied to MIT but I noted that they were the only application that didn't ask if you had any relatives who'd attended.

squokko 3y ago

Does the application have a spot to mention your relatives who attended MIT? And if not, how would they have such a dataset?

technothrasher 3y ago
My alma mater (University of Rochester) doesn't have an explicit legacy admittance policy, but they do have a "legacy scholarship" where you can potentially get $5K-$10K if you check off that your legacy on your application. I have always assumed this was code for "we do have a legacy admittance policy, be we don't want to say we do". Irrelevant for me, apparently though, because my kid has said there's no way he's going to go to the school I went to <shrug>.
- squokko 3y ago
  I don't mean this as any insult to the University of Rochester but I don't think that any of this national conversation around legacy admissions and privilege is relevant to them.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- andyinfrance 3y ago
  Hi Technothrasher, sorry to jump this thread, was reading about a thread 46 days ago where you have made ecu replacements for 308’s I presume that’s with the Bosch K-Jetronic and Magneti Marelli 801/802a ecu’s? Can you contact me about these I’m interested, thanks

ke88y 3y ago

That's true. It's also true that even more subtle types of social capital can be extremely influential. And it's further true that these types of subtle influencing factors are much harder to address than overt corruption. But even with all of that said: not having legacy admissions is better than having legacy admissions.

iudqnolq 3y ago
Not having explicitly legacy is probably often better, but I think it could frequently be effectively the same. If any non-rigourous scoring is done by people who know about legacy and whose bosses can be contacted informally by legacy parents to pass along complaints I'd wonder if it could be effectively just as bad.
- ke88y 3y ago
  To be sure, it's not a panacea and there are more subtle ways to work the same influence networks. I liken it to Jim Crow: systemic racism didn't end the day that Jim Crow laws were struck down, but a world without those statutes is undeniably a step in the right direction. So too here: it's not perfect, it doesn't solve the issue once and for all, but it's unquestionably better than the alternative.
  - wnc3141 3y ago
    The door revolves on upon graduation as it does on admittance . MIT seats are scarce because so many want access to the influential network of MIT alum, as MIT students might be favored in highly sought after jobs. MIT maintains the scarcity by not increasing enrollments thereby giving seats only to the remarkably well prepared or well resourced high school students. Bur it makes me wonder 1) Why must the brand MIT be such a ticket to supposedly meritocratic job market? And 2) why must college attainment be seen as the only way of passage into the middle class? Jim Crow effects persist today because of the dearth of social capital for many black Americans that both prevents entry into a highly selective launchpad into gainful careers and only has such power for the outsized role social capital plays in job prospects.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]