<p>As always, JHS did a great job answering your question. I can personally attest to his post as I am a legacy student with a very anti-UofC mother. From the way she talks about her time there Hannah Gray was the bane of her college experience and my interest in UofC is 100% of my own accord. </p>
<p>I realize I fall into a slightly different era than JHS was describing, as my mom graduate in '92 so she is at the very very tail end of the whole despondent alumni trend–things have gotten much better over the past 10-15 years–but still her general tone in regards to UofC is less than favorable. </p>
<p>In comparison to schools where legacy is traditionally more considered, Chicago has a significantly lower amount of active alumni, especially those who like to donate. For example my mom has only donated 50$ in the past 15 years to her Alma matter and that was after we visited because she was pleasantly surprised and saw “promise” in the new Chicago. Along these same lines during an information session I attended, the issue of legacies was addressed as, “Obviously if your dad donates a library to the school it wont go unnoticed by the admissions office; however, for the most part we want to see who you are not your parents and factors such as essays and activities are much more important.” So I guess we can assume Booth’s kids will get in (haha) but as for me, I was deffered–maybe my mom should have donated a little more :-P</p>