Blake McAlpin | Student Life Editor
September 15, 2023
From test scores to affirmative action, what is next to be canceled? In the top 20 schools especially, legacy is often a considered factor of admissions. Affirmative action getting the boot before legacy is outrageous. The only people who support legacy in admissions are legacy students. In my opinion, legacies are the most unfair bump in applications as they provide no context of a student besides how their parents may have raised them.
For example, junior Lincoln Stone has Harvard running through his blood. He has a unique perspective, with a brother attending Harvard and his father being an alumnus. “Dude, legacy is like hacking,” Stone said. “We’ll find out when I apply, but if I get in, that would be insane.” He followed with his statistics, and mentioned, “I have like a 3.8 unweighted GPA and a few extracurriculars. If I get into Harvard, it would be low-key because of my family.” Although he is an incredibly bright student with big goals, Lincoln does not intend to attend Harvard, however, he is curious to see how far his legacy status will take him.
In a 2019 analysis created for the plaintiffs who were fighting over the Harvard affirmative action disputes, it was reported that 43% of Harvard’s white students were made up of legacies, athletes, or children of donors. College admissions is just one big game. Play your cards in the correct order, and you may hit the jackpot.
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