Legacy Admissions: Yes or No

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

What is your position on legacy admissions?

  • Support

    Votes: 19 27.1%

  • Against

    Votes: 51 72.9%
  • Total voters
    70
D

dokein

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2009
Messages
339
Reaction score
0
Members do not see this ad.
I vote no. I do not think that tradition and intra-familial connections outweighs the necessity for as much fairness as possible in all aspects of the admissions process.

Legacy is not merit-based.

Anyone else have an opinion and why?
 
No, but I bet my opinion would be different if either of my parents had gone to med school. :laugh:
 
Legacy children suck. Private schools do need donors though : )
 
I would assume that applicants with legacy status at a certain school will have a higher chance of matriculating if accepted. Thus, they are given a marginal amount of preference.
 
Down with the aristocrats!
 
I don't have any doctors in my family nor legacy status anywhere (but possibly tulsa undergrad?...), but I feel that in the situation where you are choosing two equal candidates, legacy (ie father or mother came from the school) indicates at least one positive link in the medical community... I suppose i'm fishing here to make the exact explanation, but I can see a school thinking they are making a safer bet on a decision if a parent has attended the school and has a good track record in the field.

I haven't even touched on the effect of multiple generations of students from a family on giving to a school, though that would fall under "benefits of legacy admission for a school" and not whether or not it is ethical.
 
theWUbear said:
I don't have any doctors in my family nor legacy status anywhere (but possibly tulsa undergrad?...), but I feel that in the situation where you are choosing two equal candidates, legacy (ie father or mother came from the school) indicates at least one positive link in the medical community... I suppose i'm fishing here to make the exact explanation, but I can see a school thinking they are making a safer bet on a decision if a parent has attended the school and has a good track record in the field.

I haven't even touched on the effect of multiple generations of students from a family on giving to a school, though that would fall under "benefits of legacy admission for a school" and not whether or not it is ethical.
Click to expand...

Do you think that is still true given the graduation rates of most schools being in the high 90s percents?
 
I imagine a few of the people who vote no on this may confuse this poll with "good or bad: students who get research, names on papers, and other advantages undeservedly because their parents use their influence".
 
I don't know that being a legacy is enough to get you in. Having a family member graduate or be a big time donor is probably only enough to get you looked at. You still need to be a qualified applicant.
 
I think that there is probably less of an advantage to accepting legacies in med school than in undergrad. My undergrad had a TON of legacies, because my university was pretty old and there were people whose family had gone there for generations. It was for the sake of tradition and my school emphasized that heavily. As another poster said, legacies also make good donors. However, I don't know if people have such a strong attachment to their med school as to their undergrad?

I think that if two applicants are "equally" qualified (I know this is hard to determine), why not give the spot to the legacy? They probably ARE more likely to attend, because of family pressure and tradition and such. And with so many qualified applicants, there has to be some way of choosing which ones get admitted. Legacy status is one of the nitpicky ways to do that.
 
Jolie South said:
I don't know that being a legacy is enough to get you in. Having a family member graduate or be a big time donor is probably only enough to get you looked at, not to get you in. You still need to be qualified.
Click to expand...

Not to mention actually graduating.
 
TheMightySmiter said:
They probably ARE more likely to attend, because of family pressure and tradition and such. And with so many qualified applicants, there has to be some way of choosing which ones get admitted. Legacy status is one of the nitpicky ways to do that.
Click to expand...

Given that there are many more students who want to get in versus who actually get in, do you think that more likely attendance is an important factor?

note: i'm not beign argumentative, just curious
 
Jolie South said:
I don't know that being a legacy is enough to get you in. Having a family member graduate or be a big time donor is probably only enough to get you looked at. You still need to be a qualified applicant.
Click to expand...

This. I don't think legacies are shoo-ins just because daddy donated a mill to the school. I'm not a legacy or anything, but I think it makes sense from a medicine-as-a-community standpoint. Pre-meds forget how almost the entirety of the rest of the world works: it's who you know.
 
FlowRate said:
This. I don't think legacies are shoo-ins just because daddy donated a mill to the school. I'm not a legacy or anything, but I think it makes sense from a medicine-as-a-community standpoint. Pre-meds forget how almost the entirety of the rest of the world works: it's who you know.
Click to expand...

My GF claims that her family has a deal with the Univ of Miami where any family descedant can go to med school for free....

I am not sure if they will get help getting in though....but still 👍
 
J DUB said:
My GF claims that her family has a deal with the Univ of Miami where any family descedant can go to med school for free....

I am not sure if they will get help getting in though....but still 👍
Click to expand...

Yes I think I saw it in the newspaper. It was a buy one get one free tuition deal.
 
dokein said:
Given that there are many more students who want to get in versus who actually get in, do you think that more likely attendance is an important factor?

note: i'm not beign argumentative, just curious
Click to expand...

I think it's a factor, maybe not an important one though. I mean, if you consider two people to be basically equal in terms of qualification, you'd probably want to accept the one who you think is more likely to attend.
 
How many students per incoming med school class do you think get in solely on a legacy type connection? I feel like for an unqualified applicant to get into med school just because of legacy there's got to be a building on campus with their last name on it or something like that.
 
sustentacular said:
How many students per incoming med school class do you think get in solely on a legacy type connection? I feel like for an unqualified applicant to get into med school just because of legacy there's got to be a building on campus with their last name on it or something like that.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. Stanford flat out told my father that you need to donate in the 7 figures to be "auto admitted" and that was for undergrad.
 
sustentacular said:
How many students per incoming med school class do you think get in solely on a legacy type connection? I feel like for an unqualified applicant to get into med school just because of legacy there's got to be a building on campus with their last name on it or something like that.
Click to expand...

Would they really still admit this person? I mean, you wouldn't want your peers to know that the only reason you got in was because your family's money.

Mace1370 said:
Pretty much this. Stanford flat out told my father that you need to donate in the 7 figures to be "auto admitted" and that was for undergrad.
Click to expand...

😱 I feel like more people are in this position than you think.
 
the marginal amount of legacy students encourage alumni donation which in turn can help fund the education of the rest of the student body. to me it's a good thing..
 
FloatOn said:
Would they really still admit this person? I mean, you wouldn't want your peers to know that the only reason you got in was because your family's money.

😱 I feel like more people are in this position than you think.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should have said "underqualified" I didn't really mean completely unqualified to be in medical school. I certainly wouldn't want people thinking I only got into school because of my family, but then again I don't really have to "worry" about being in that sort of position :laugh:. I'm sure there are some applicants that wouldn't really care what other people thought as long as they were in school.
 
I personally vote no on this, though I can see both sides. I've made a list! (Because yes, I am a dork who makes lists like crazy)

Pros to Legacy Admissions:

  • Income for the school (usually as donations)
  • Can benefit QUALIFIED applicants, as they're likely to be reviewed more carefully
Cons to Legacy Admissions:

  • Unfair to first-generation college students
  • Can result in unqualified applicants being admitted
  • It goes against the "Nobility Clause" in the US Constitution by granting hereditary privilege, and as such is technically illegal.
There are a few points. Those are the only objective ones I could think of. Most of the arguments are inherently subjective anyway. But I can't do much until it's put on a ballot, which may never happen. Oh well.
 
No. I strongly disagree with it.

In one of my interviews, there was a girl in our group whose father was one of the interviewers (I kid you not) - Obviously, he didn't interview her but he did interview other people in our group (and we had to be careful about what we said about him). But this girl was the most arrogant, snobbish, and rude person ever - if I was an adcom and saw her behave the way she did, I would never allow her to be admitted into medical school (no matter how good her GPA or MCAT was).. simply because there was no way I could fathom this girl being empathetic towards anyone.

Many people are rude but they are usually able to hide or mask this during interviews, and can behave properly for a couple of hours. But this girl didn't even bother. And I think part of it was because she knew she would be guaranteed acceptance (because her father was one of the big guys there) - so she didn't even bother feigning humility. This really bothered me.

(And, yes, I do know that one personal experience does not really provide support nor opposition to this... but I'd be against this even if it was not for my experience)
 
I definitely say no, as someone who has no doctors in his family and will be the first college graduate on one side.

I believe in meritocracy (as did Napoleon :laugh:).
 
strummin said:
No. I strongly disagree with it.

In one of my interviews, there was a girl in our group whose father was one of the interviewers (I kid you not) - Obviously, he didn't interview her but he did interview other people in our group (and we had to be careful about what we said about him). But this girl was the most arrogant, snobbish, and rude person ever - if I was an adcom and saw her behave the way she did, I would never allow her to be admitted into medical school (no matter how good her GPA or MCAT was).. simply because there was no way I could fathom this girl being empathetic towards anyone.

Many people are rude but they are usually able to hide or mask this during interviews, and can behave properly for a couple of hours. But this girl didn't even bother. And I think part of it was because she knew she would be guaranteed acceptance (because her father was one of the big guys there) - so she didn't even bother feigning humility. This really bothered me.

(And, yes, I do know that one personal experience does not really provide support nor opposition to this... but I'd be against this even if it was not for my experience)
Click to expand...

Ew. I feel disgusted on your behalf.
 
Jolie South said:
I don't know that being a legacy is enough to get you in. Having a family member graduate or be a big time donor is probably only enough to get you looked at. You still need to be a qualified applicant.
Click to expand...

There was a Princeton paper published on this issue (actually URM acceptance rates and their effects on Asians etc.). The legacy children get quite a boost (50 SAT points on the 1600 point scale). I hope he or she posts it.

Meritocracy...where is it?
 
dokein said:
I vote no. I do not think that tradition and intra-familial connections outweighs the necessity for as much fairness as possible in all aspects of the admissions process.

Legacy is not merit-based.

Anyone else have an opinion and why?
Click to expand...

No. Med school admissions should be based on aptitude and ability. If a legacy student is qualified, he/she should not have trouble getting in anyway. But the system doesn't work that way, and never will, regardless of what we think SHOULD happen.
 
I don't understand some people on this forum. There's no way to know how much legacy or donation status helps students. Medical aren't any more transparent with how they handle those applicants than anyone. It could very well play a large part in their acceptance rates.
 
yes. schools can do whatever they want. if you dont like it, then move to a different country.
 
This is not med school info per say but I don't think my school admits legacy undergrads more readily than anyone else (in fact-along with minorities, they also consider first generation college student status). But, once the legacies get in on their own...they get some nice stuff. Not sure if med school functions the same way though.
 
mipp0 said:
There was a Princeton paper published on this issue (actually URM acceptance rates and their effects on Asians etc.). The legacy children get quite a boost (50 SAT points on the 1600 point scale). I hope he or she posts it.

Meritocracy...where is it?
Click to expand...

I was talking about med school.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Yes or No: Academic Consulting Firms
Replies
7
Views
3K
Sandman23
S
M
Legacy Admissions at Harvard
Replies
21
Views
3K
MateoGM416
MateoGM416
U
Are Admissions to Top Undergrad or Top Med School Harder?
Replies
3
Views
742
eigen
eigen
P
Seeking Advice: Post Bacc or SMP or none?
Replies
2
Views
1K
Goro
Goro
S
  • Question Question
Passport Admissions
Replies
1
Views
804
AsclepiusAdvisingLLC
AsclepiusAdvisingLLC
Top