What is a College Legacy Student? What you need to know

A recent report in the New York Post suggests that The Supreme Court may strike down affirmative action for college admission.

If your parents attended your school choice, it would probably favor you. However, if your parents didn’t, you may be one of those screaming controversial.

Legacy preference has been a thing for generations among top colleges in the US. A study of thirty elite colleges found that primary legacy students are an astonishing 45% more likely to get into a highly selective college.

So, while we await a court injunction on this preference during college admission, let’s learn about legacy students.

If you got here wondering what is college legacy student, read this exciting debate on who they are and why they should stay.

What is a College Legacy Student?

Institutions or organizations consider certain applicants based on their familial relationship with alumni. This consideration is known as legacy preference.

A college legacy student is any student who has a close family member as an alumnus of their college. This act dates back to the 1920s when top-tier universities used this preference to maintain spots for Anglo-Protestants.

During this period, there was an uproar that the Jews, Catholics, and Asians were increasingly taking spots at the schools. By 1992, about 76 universities had legacy preferences during college admission.

Currently, over 10% of each class at Ivy League schools gets in through the legacy preference. The University of Notre Dame and Georgetown consider legacy status as one criterion during application.

While some universities only consider immediate family members, others extend to a larger family. In more precise terms, legacy students refer to students at a private university in the US whose parents attended the same college.

What Counts as a Legacy Student?

For some schools, your legacy status only counts if your father or mother attended the same college. Others will extend their definition of legacy across to grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Whichever, to be a legacy student, you must have a member of your family as an alumnus of the college. It is important to note that legacy is not the only criterion to gain admission.

So, if your scores are bad or you miss out on other eligibility requirements for a course, your legacy status may not mean much during your admission process.

Is Legacy Status Important During College Admission?

Yes, most top universities across the nation give some preference to students whose parents are alumni of the college.

So, if you are looking to apply to a college your parents attended, your legacy status could be the boost you need to gain admission. Unfortunately, not all schools consider this.

Even if your parents were ex-students of the college of your choice, the university will not give you a preference if it does not consider this status.

Last year, figures show that Harvard legacy students were four times more than non-legacy students. I believe this explains how important your legacy status is if you are one.

What Schools Consider College Legacy Students?

At least 75 schools out of the top 100 colleges in the US consider the legacy students. This list includes all Ivies and other top private universities in the country.

Find below your choice of college in the US and their legacy student preference status.

Part I: Top 100 Universities

University Name	Status
Princeton University	Legacy Considered
Harvard University	Legacy Considered
Columbia University	Legacy Considered
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Legacy Not Considered
Yale University	Legacy Considered
Stanford University	Legacy Considered
University of Chicago	Legacy Considered
University of Pennsylvania	Legacy Considered
California Institute of Technology	Legacy Not Considered
Johns Hopkins University	Legacy Not Considered
Northwestern University	Legacy Considered
Duke University	Legacy Considered
Dartmouth College	Legacy Considered
Brown University	Legacy Considered
Vanderbilt University	Legacy Considered
Rice University	Legacy Considered
Washington University in St. Louis	Legacy Considered
Cornell University	Legacy Considered
University of Notre Dame	Legacy Considered
University of California-Los Angeles	Legacy Not Considered
Emory University	Legacy Considered
University of California-Berkeley	Legacy Not Considered
Georgetown University	Legacy Considered
University of Southern California	Legacy Considered
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Legacy Considered
Carnegie Mellon University	Legacy Considered
University of Virginia	Legacy Considered
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill	Legacy Considered
Wake Forest University	Legacy Considered
Tufts University	Legacy Considered
New York University	Legacy Considered
University of Florida	Legacy Not Considered
University of California-Santa Barbara	Legacy Not Considered
University of Rochester	Legacy Considered
Georgia Institute of Technology	Legacy Considered
Boston College	Legacy Considered
University of California-Irvine	Legacy Not Considered
University of California-San Diego	Legacy Not Considered
William and Mary	Legacy Considered
University of California-Davis	Legacy Not Considered
Tulane University	Legacy Considered
Boston University	Legacy Considered
Case Western Reserve University	Legacy Considered
Brandeis University	Legacy Considered
University of Texas-Austin	Legacy Not Considered
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Legacy Not Considered
University of Georgia	Legacy Not Considered
University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign	Legacy Not Considered
Northeastern University	Legacy Not Considered
University of Miami	Legacy Considered
Pepperdine University	Legacy Considered
Lehigh University	Legacy Considered
Villanova University	Legacy Considered
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Legacy Considered
Santa Clara University	Legacy Considered
Ohio State University-Columbus	Legacy Not Considered
Purdue University-West Lafayette	Legacy Not Considered
Florida State University	Legacy Not Considered
University of Maryland-College Park	Legacy Considered
Syracuse University	Legacy Considered
University of Washington	Legacy Not Considered
University of Pittsburgh	Legacy Considered
University of Connecticut	Legacy Considered
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	Legacy Not Considered
George Washington University	Legacy Considered
Loyola Marymount University	Legacy Considered
Fordham University	Legacy Considered
Southern Methodist University	Legacy Considered
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Legacy Considered
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Legacy Considered
Texas A&M University-College Station	Legacy Not Considered
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	Legacy Considered
Clemson University	Legacy Considered
Virginia Tech	Legacy Considered
American University	Legacy Considered
Baylor University	Legacy Considered
Yeshiva University	Legacy Not Considered
Indiana University-Bloomington	Legacy Considered
Howard University	Legacy Considered
Stevens Institute of Technology	Legacy Considered
North Carolina State University-Raleigh	Legacy Considered
Texas Christian University	Legacy Considered
University of Denver	Legacy Considered
Gonzaga University	Legacy Considered
Brigham Young University-Provo	Legacy Not Considered
Michigan State University	Legacy Considered
Binghamton University-SUNY	Legacy Considered
Stony Brook University-SUNY	Legacy Considered
University of San Diego	Legacy Considered
Colorado School of Mines	Legacy Considered
University of California-Riverside	Legacy Not Considered
University at Buffalo-SUNY	Legacy Not Considered
Elon University	Legacy Considered
University of Iowa	Legacy Not Considered
Marquette University	Legacy Considered
University of California-Santa Cruz	Legacy Not Considered
University of Delaware	Legacy Considered
University of Utah	Legacy Considered
University of California-Merced	Legacy Not Considered
Auburn University	Legacy Considered
University of Arizona	Legacy Not Considered

Williams College	Legacy Considered
Amherst College	Legacy Considered
Swarthmore College	Legacy Considered
Pomona College	Legacy Not Considered
Wellesley College	Legacy Considered
United States Naval Academy	Legacy Considered
Bowdoin College	Legacy Considered
Claremont McKenna College	Legacy Considered
Hamilton College	Legacy Considered
Washington and Lee University	Legacy Considered
Carleton College	Legacy Considered
Middlebury College	Legacy Considered
Grinnell College	Legacy Considered
Vassar College	Legacy Considered
Colby College	Legacy Considered
United States Military Academy	Legacy Not Considered
Haverford College	Legacy Considered
Davidson College	Legacy Considered
Smith College	Legacy Considered
Wesleyan University	Legacy Considered
Colgate University	Legacy Considered
Barnard College	Legacy Considered
Bates College	Legacy Considered
University of Richmond	Legacy Considered
Harvey Mudd College	Legacy Considered
Colorado College	Legacy Considered
Macalester College	Legacy Considered
United States Air Force Academy	Legacy Considered
Scripps College	Legacy Considered
Bryn Mawr College	Legacy Considered
Kenyon College	Legacy Considered
Berea College	Legacy Not Considered
Bucknell University	Legacy Considered
Mount Holyoke College	Legacy Considered
Pitzer College	Legacy Considered
Skidmore College	Legacy Considered
College of the Holy Cross	Legacy Considered
Oberlin College	Legacy Considered
Lafayette College	Legacy Considered
Occidental College	Legacy Considered
Thomas Aquinas College	Legacy Considered
Franklin and Marshall College	Legacy Considered
Trinity College	Legacy Considered
Denison University	Legacy Considered
Union College	Legacy Considered
Dickinson College	Legacy Considered
Whitman College	Legacy Considered
DePauw University	Legacy Considered
The University of the South	Legacy Considered
Connecticut College	Legacy Considered
Furman University	Legacy Considered
Centre College	Legacy Considered
St. Lawrence University	Legacy Considered
Spelman College	Legacy Considered
Rhodes College	Legacy Considered
Gettysburg College	Legacy Considered
Wabash College	Legacy Considered
Bard College	Legacy Considered
Agnes Scott College	Legacy Considered
Wheaton College	Legacy Considered
Reed College	Legacy Considered
Sarah Lawrence College	Legacy Considered
St. John’s College	Legacy Considered
Lawrence University	Legacy Considered
St. Olaf College	Legacy Considered
Kalamazoo College	Legacy Considered
College of Wooster	Legacy Not Considered
Wofford College	Legacy Considered
Hobart and William Smith Colleges	Legacy Considered
Muhlenberg College	Legacy Considered
Knox College	Legacy Considered

Are There Types of Legacy Students?

While there is no tag on legacy students to identify as primary or secondary, most universities opt for the former.

For some of the schools in our list above, they do not care if your great aunt or closest uncle is an alumnus. They are only interested in “Did your parents attend the same college?”
A direct parental connection means your legacy status is primary. Otherwise, it is secondary.

This means there are two types of legacy students. Primary legacy students and secondary legacy students.

Why Legacy Preference?

Legacy preference sounds like a great idea to students with alumni parents. However, this preference in college admission has come under scrutiny by nonbenficiaries. At the moment there is an ongoing lawsuit against Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

It is okay to bother why schools include this preference during admission screening. Many have asked the same question as you.

Legacy preference dates back to the 1920s, when this mode was employed to retain slots for Anglo-Protestants in elite universities. For most schools, it is simply a way to acknowledge those who helped lay the foundation.

Those who kick against this practice suspect that legacy schools do this in expectation of huge financial benefits. Well, recent research suggests otherwise. This study reveals that legacy schools had no advantage in fundraising over non-legacy schools.

So, if this favors you take advantage of it now.

How Do Colleges Ask About Legacy Status?

Now that you have satisfied your curiosity about college legacy status, it’s time to know which questions during your application refer to it.

Most colleges will enquire about your college legacy status with three questions.
If you are using the Common Application, you may see any of these questions while filling out your form.

•  Are you related to an alumnus?
• What is your relationship to that alumnus?
• Who is that alumnus?
• Have your relatives ever attended (name of university?)
• What is your relationship with this relative?

Does Harvard Accept Legacy Students?

Yes, Harvard accepts legacy students. Getting into Harvard is an exhaustive task. You must be ready down to your scores and grades.

However, students whose parents had attended Harvard receive some preference. Atlantic alleges, that students who enter Harvard through legacy consideration earn lower grades than their counterparts.

It also posits that only a few of these applicants are strong candidates and deserve the spot. For Harvard, you must be a primary legacy student to receive this consideration. While explaining why Harvard admits so many Legacy students to NPR, Harvard President Lawrence Bacow says, “Their applications tend to be well put-together,”.

“They have deep knowledge of the institution. So it’s a self-selected pool, which, as a group, by almost any metric, looks very, very good relative to the broader applicant pool.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Legacy preference is a thing for most private universities in the US. It would favor your admission process if your parents were alumni of your school choice.

If not, you must fine-tune your other eligibility criteria to increase your chances of admission. This article explains in detail what college legacy means, how it affects your college application, and the top universities considering College legacy status.