We work with a lot of legacies every year and every year we have to explain to parents that legacy isn't the make or break at top schools like Duke. What do we mean by this? Well, a lot of parents we work with think that just because their student is a legacy, it means they will get in. However, that isn't true. Colleges don't talk very openly about legacy admissions and that leaves parents in the dark, so we wanted to break down what is really going on with legacy admissions at Duke and what you can do to get your legacy in.
Cornell Legacy Strategy
All schools are at least a little secretive about legacy admissions. They don’t give exact facts or figures, but you might get some hints at information. Cornell is more secretive than most. They publish almost nothing about legacy admissions or their policies around it. This is why we get a little cautious when alumni parents start saying things like “oh course my kid will get into Cornell, they are a legacy!” We understand why parents think this, but especially at a super secretive school like Cornell, it isn’t backed up by data. So we wanted to break down everything Cornell has said about admissions and what in, our professional opinion, is your student’s best shot at getting in.
Princeton Legacy Strategy
"Well, I went to Princeton, so of course…" This is a sentence we hate to hear from parents because it usually ends with something to the effect of "my child will get in." We work with a lot of legacies. And many legacy parents believe that their kid getting into a top school like Princeton is a shoo-in. But that simply isn't the case. Legacy admissions are a lot more complicated and a lot more competitive. So let's break it down.
UPenn Legacy Strategy
“Hurrah, Hurrah! He’s going to be a quaker just like his mother!” is something we hear from parents all the time. It always gives us pause. Mainly because most alumni parents don’t really understand legacy admissions at top schools like Penn. They assume their kids will automatically get in, or that it’ll be significantly easier, which just isn’t the case. So if you are a legacy parent (or a student thinking of applying to your dear old parent’s alma mater), let’s break down legacy admissions at Penn.
Yale Legacy Strategy
“Of course, my kid is going to get into Yale. I went there, so they are a legacy!” We hear this way too much. And we hate to hear this because it is really not true, and we don’t like breaking bad news! Most legacies don’t get into Yale. It is the cold hard truth. But, if you are a legacy and you’re interested in your child getting in, read on. Let’s break down what legacy admissions really look like at Yale and how you can best support your legacy as they apply.
UPenn Legacy Guide
We work with legacy students all the time and the most common question we hear is from parents: “Will my legacy kid get in?” The answer can be slightly more complicated than you might think. At top schools like Penn, not every legacy gets in. Actually, most legacies do not get in. It’s just too competitive. So we wanted to break down all the ins and outs of legacy admission at Penn and answer some of the most common questions we get from alumni parents.
Harvard Legacy Strategy
We hear it all the time, “My kid is a legacy so of course, they are going to get in.” We, however, hate hearing this. Mostly because it's simply not true. And it's especially not true at a school like Harvard. Harvard has one of the lowest if not the lowest acceptance rate in America… really take that in. Of course, something as simple as legacy status is not going to make a student a lock.
Legacy Admission Guide for U Chicago
“What’s up with U Chicago legacy admissions?” It’s a harder question to answer than you might think. We work with legacy students often, so we make it our job to fully understand legacy admissions at top schools. This means looking at data, talking to admissions officers, and doing research. For many schools, this gives us a full picture of what to expect when applying as a legacy. For some others, it isn’t quite as clear-cut. U Chicago is unfortunately one of the latter. However, we still wanted to talk about legacies at U Chicago and give some tips for students who are hoping to follow in their family's maroon footsteps.
Cornell Legacy Guide
If you Google “Cornell Legacy admissions,” not a lot comes up. The University keeps quite a bit close to the chest. This makes sense. Legacy admissions can be a controversial subject and in recent years, many have called for the practice to be abolished. Not being too upfront about legacy admissions is something we have seen from many top schools. However, we work with legacy students often and feel it’s important for us to follow legacy admissions trends closely. We pour over data, talk to admissions officers, and track stats across the Ivy League and we want to share that knowledge with you. So today, let’s dive into the ins and outs of legacy admission at Cornell.
USC Legacy Guide
So you went to USC and now your kid wants to go, you might be asking yourself, will your alumni status help get them in? If so, how much will it help? We work with legacy candidates all the time and navigating legacy admissions at top schools can be more complicated than you think. Especially, because a lot of what we know about legacy admissions on USC’s campus today comes from a recent state audit. This might sound odd, but it’s actually a really good thing. We comb through data and talk to insiders every year and legacy admissions data is one of the topics that universities tend to obscure as much as they can. Having a recent official record is kind of a godsend! So today we wanted to break down the ins and outs of legacy admissions at USC and answer some of our most asked questions.
Michigan University Legacy Guide
We work with a wide range of legacy students every year and we always get questions from parents about how their children’s legacy status will affect the admissions process. Because of this, we decided to do a series on our blog breaking down legacy admissions at top schools across the US. We thought it was important to include the University of Michigan, not only because it’s a great school that our students love, but because it has one of the most confusing legacy policies out there. So we wanted to break down some of the ins and outs of legacy status at U Mich.
Brown University Legacy Guide
Most universities like to keep a couple of secrets. One of the most heavily guarded secrets is the truth about legacy admissions. Some top schools, like Brown, barely publish anything about legacies. We love getting to the bottom of tough questions, especially ones important to our clients. We talk to insiders, sift through data, and watch trends closely to get as much information as we can to help our students. We have been doing a series about legacy admission at top schools. We get a lot of questions about Brown (mostly because they don't make a lot of info readily avaible.) With this in mind, we wanted to answer some of the most common questions we get from parents about Brown.
Columbia University Legacy Guide
“Does being a legacy help their chances of getting into Columbia?” It’s a question we get all the time from concerned alumni parents. Legacy admissions can be difficult to get to the bottom of. Many schools do not like to publish a lot of information about legacy admissions and Columbia is one of them. Every year we talk to admissions officers, go through data, and forecast admissions trends, and getting good information can be harder than it looks. So we wanted to break down some of the ins and out of legacy admissions at Columbia and try to answer some of our most asked questions.
Dartmouth Legacy Guide
“I went to Dartmouth, do you think my kid will get in?” It’s a question we get often from parents. Legacy admissions are a hard topic to talk about. They can be controversial and many schools simply do not want to discuss them but still do them behind closed doors. Most alumni parents don’t know much about legacy admissions, so we wanted to help by answering some of our most asked questions. Legacy admissions can be confusing, so we wanted to cover all the ins and outs of navigating legacy status at Dartmouth.
UCLA Legacy Guide
We often work with students who are legacies. Legacy status can help at many top schools but not all of them. And in general, the topic of legacy status isn’t the easiest to navigate. We have been working on a series of guides to help parents navigate legacy status at top schools and today we want to talk about UCLA.
Vanderbilt University Legacy Admissions Guide
Vanderbilt seems like a school where legacy admissions would run rampant. Something about the south, a great baseball program, and a $10.9 billion endowment just makes it feel like Vandy is a place that would care about legacy admissions. We work with legacies all the time and get constantly asked about legacy admissions at Vanderbilt. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt is extremely tight-lipped when it comes to legacy admissions data. Nevertheless, we wanted to break down what they have said about legacy admissions, what we know, and tips for getting in as a legacy.
UC Berkeley Legacy Guide
It isn’t uncommon in Northern California to see a child dressed up head to toe in UC Berkeley merch. These kids often go on to dream of going to Cal just like their parents did. We work with a lot of these kids and we always get questions from their parents about if their legacy status will help them get in. We have been doing a series on the ins and outs of legacy status at top schools and wanted to dive into what UC Berkeley says about legacy status and what that can mean for your applicant.
Stanford Legacy Guide
We were recently talking with a UC Berkeley staff member who said, “Well Berkeley doesn’t do legacies, but who the heck knows what’s going on at Stanford?” Well, we do… To be fair, we make it our business to know everything there is to know about admissions at top schools, and recently, due to a California law, we know quite a bit about legacy status at Stanford. We work with children of alums all the time and the same sort of questions come up again and again. So today we wanted to break down some of the most asked questions when it comes to being a legacy applicant at Stanford.
Duke Legacy Guide
We work with legacy students every year and parents always have questions about legacy admissions. It might seem simple, but at top schools like Duke, it can be more complicated than you think. We have been doing a series on legacy admission and wanted to break down legacy admissions at Duke and answer some of our most frequently asked questions.
MIT Legacy Guide
Parents ask us all the time about legacy admissions. Usually, they help… however that’s not always true. Some schools simply don’t consider legacy admissions. And if you are an MIT grad whose kid is hoping to go, legacy really isn’t going to help them. This can shock a lot of parents so we wanted to break down a bit about why this is and what it means for your student.