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> >They use legacy, money, ability about equally as admission standards. > No they don't. Harvard, like just about every university these days, has need-blind
by jbapple 14y ago
> >They use legacy, money, ability about equally as admission standards.
> No they don't. Harvard, like just about every university these days, has need-blind admissions.
"Need blind" doesn't imply "legacy blind" or "blind to the political connections of the applicant's family". Harvard may not distinguish between someone who can pay and someone who can't, but I would be surprised if they didn't distinguish between someone who can pay for tuition and someone who can pay for a new wing of the library.
- superuser2 14y agoAbsolutely. I'm addressing the statement that money is used as an admissions standard. If the name rings a bell to the admissions counselor, I'm sure that helps, but the people who make decisions in a need-blind admissions process don't get to see your bank account balance.
- justin66 14y agoI always assumed that they kept a small, fixed percentage of their seats open for legacy admissions. I thought this was actually something accounted for in their written policies. Perhaps not anymore. The interesting thing is that, whatever political interests they want to indulge, they need not be swayed by a potential student's family's ability to fund a new building any more than they need be swayed by a poor but gifted student's inability to pay full tuition. Their endowment is the largest of any university in the world, at $26 billion, and there is no shortage of people willing to give them more.