Originally Posted by Val
An article from the Harvard Crimson says that legacy admissions are five times as high as non-legacy admits: Harvard Crimson


This is bizarre. What does this even mean? That the percentage of legacies getting in from the pool of legacies applying is 5 times the amount of non legacies getting in from the pool applying? So there is a good chance that out of the 50000 applying many are not so great candidates. Not all of those 50K applying have great SAT scores or great anything. They just apply. Also, the rate of athletes applying and getting in is approx 70%, I heard. Don't quote me. And JudAU's heresay is similar to what my DH experienced when he was fundraising from his class. Who applied, who got in. How much some people paid -- millions and their kid did not get in. Even reading college confidential. There were legacies that did not get in and were surprised. They thought their scores and grades were good. I also think that when and who is reading your app makes a difference. Are you on the bottom of a pile, nearing the end of an evening? Why the essay seems to make such a difference. You wake the person up.