Why do secondarys ask if we have any family that graduated from there?

[Dr. Stalker]

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Why do secondarys ask if we have any family that graduated from there?

 

[CerseiLannister]

I think legacy counts, but not sure how much. (guessing not too much)

 

[JustAPhD]

Legacies.

 

[redsox93]

The secondarys ask to find out if there are any legacys for people with relations to alumni in their familys.

 

[Donald Juan]

They are trying to figure out whether or not to extend you an interview.

 

[Ibeenjammin]

Purely for fun

 

[kavorca]

Why do you think they would ask it?

 

[gyngyn]

We want to know where the blow-back is going to come from.

 

[kavorca]

I told one of our admissions committee member while I was a student that my kid was getting into this school no matter how dumb he was.

 

[gyngyn]

In a 2013 AAMC survey* where 127 medical admissions offices responded, found legacy is the second to last in importance at public schools and third to last in importance at private schools as a demographic factor in offering both interview invitations and acceptance. Only gender (at public schools) and gender and state residency (at private schools) are less important

*https://www.aamc.org/download/434596/data/usingmcatdata2016.pdf
see page 3 (pdf p7) Table 1. Mean Importance Ratings of Academic, Experiential, and Demographic Application Data Used by Admissions Committees for Making Decisions about Which Applicants to Receive an Interview Invitation and Offer Acceptance (N=127)

And even though we care this little, it comprises a huge proportion of our administrative time!

 

[gyngyn]

Its hard to find that one legacy who's grandfather might leave enough to have a new wing named for!

Everyone who ever attended has a kid with a 500 MCAT...

 

[vendtex]

Everyone who ever attended has a kid with a 500 MCAT...

The big donors score in the mid 520s

 

[Avicenna]

nepotism. schools are all about minimizing social mobility and keeping the powerful in power.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

We want to know where the blow-back is going to come from.

When you say blow back what do you mean? Dr. Smith calls the admissions office angrily saying "why did my son Jack smith get an interview what's the matter with you people!!! rawr"

If so, what do you guys do at that point?

 

[gyngyn]

When you say blow back what do you mean? Dr. Smith calls the admissions office angrily saying "why did my son Jack smith get an interview what's the matter with you people!!! rawr"

If so, what do you guys do at that point?

Yes, many parents, donors, and trustees believe that they have special privileges.

 

[LizzyM]

When only 600 of 6,000 applicants can be interviewed, plenty of very qualified people are going to be passed over for lack of resources (personnel, space, etc). If you can cull the applications from alumni's kids and double check to see if there are a dozen or so who maybe should end up on the short list but might have otherwise been spiked for lack of space, you do everyone a favor.

The thing is, you can have someone at a top 20 who would not otherwise make the cut but who is perfectly capable of doing well, graduating in four years and matching well. Do you give them a shot? It is a very serious moral question.