3 ms·

conflates a couple of things: the legacy tip itself and the fact that legacies tend to have stronger academic profiles to begin with (they come from advantaged

conflates a couple of things: the legacy tip itself and the fact that legacies tend to have stronger academic profiles to begin with (they come from advantaged households). A skeptic can fairly say "of course legacy admits do well, they're better applicants"

rayiner 3mo ago
> they come from advantaged households They also tend to be smarter because smarter people have smarter kids.
- steveBK123 3mo ago
  Sure, but not at the admittance rate that legacies get. There's been stats & studies showing for example some Ivys with ~3% admit rates having something closer to ~12% for legacy applicants. Most people applying to an Ivy are already self-selecting as pretty exceptional applicants (putting aside the delusional) and the legacy admits had same/worse SATs, etc. edit: just looked it up, Harvard is at ~34% legacy admit rate versus regular 6% admit rate..
  - rayiner 3mo ago
    A study of a top 25 school showed that legacy admitted students had identical scores than non-legacy: https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-why-elite-colleges-cant-give-up-legacy-admissions/ https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-why-elite-colleges-... “Among the admitted legacies, grades and test scores were indistinguishable from non-legacy students. Both groups had an average SAT score that surpassed 1430.” At Harvard, my understanding is that the legacy admits have slightly higher test scores than non-legacy admits.
    - steveBK123 3mo ago
      Legacy SATs were about 30pts lower per Harvard Crimson in 2023 https://features.thecrimson.com/2023/freshman-survey/academics-narrative/ https://features.thecrimson.com/2023/freshman-survey/academi...
      - dastbe 3mo ago
        "The average SAT score among legacy students was 1543, while it was 1515 for non-legacy students."
        steveBK123 3mo ago
        Thanks my reading comprehension was low last night it would appear
pc86 3mo ago
> legacies tend to have stronger academic profiles Maybe for Harvard, but I'm not sure a legacy for some random private liberal arts school nobody has ever heard of (or $STATE University) will be any more academically gifted than someone whose parents both went to college anyway. Maybe we need to differentiate between "legacy of a school" and "legacy of a school with a historically high academic quality"

rayiner 3mo ago

> they come from advantaged households They also tend to be smarter because smarter people have smarter kids.

steveBK123 3mo ago
Sure, but not at the admittance rate that legacies get. There's been stats & studies showing for example some Ivys with ~3% admit rates having something closer to ~12% for legacy applicants. Most people applying to an Ivy are already self-selecting as pretty exceptional applicants (putting aside the delusional) and the legacy admits had same/worse SATs, etc. edit: just looked it up, Harvard is at ~34% legacy admit rate versus regular 6% admit rate..
- rayiner 3mo ago
  A study of a top 25 school showed that legacy admitted students had identical scores than non-legacy: https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-why-elite-colleges-cant-give-up-legacy-admissions/ https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-why-elite-colleges-... “Among the admitted legacies, grades and test scores were indistinguishable from non-legacy students. Both groups had an average SAT score that surpassed 1430.” At Harvard, my understanding is that the legacy admits have slightly higher test scores than non-legacy admits.
  - steveBK123 3mo ago
    Legacy SATs were about 30pts lower per Harvard Crimson in 2023 https://features.thecrimson.com/2023/freshman-survey/academics-narrative/ https://features.thecrimson.com/2023/freshman-survey/academi...
    - dastbe 3mo ago
      "The average SAT score among legacy students was 1543, while it was 1515 for non-legacy students."
      - steveBK123 3mo ago
        Thanks my reading comprehension was low last night it would appear

pc86 3mo ago

> legacies tend to have stronger academic profiles Maybe for Harvard, but I'm not sure a legacy for some random private liberal arts school nobody has ever heard of (or $STATE University) will be any more academically gifted than someone whose parents both went to college anyway. Maybe we need to differentiate between "legacy of a school" and "legacy of a school with a historically high academic quality"