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Of course, the private universities have no obligation to show you any data, nor do they have any reason to want to do so. In fact, it’s in their best interest to leave the question of legacy preference vague–it’s in their interest for alumni to believe in it, and for others to question it.</p>
<p>And as to the elites being the bastions of privilege: if they haven’t succeeded in fooling you, I wish they would get rid of all this financial aid for less privileged students, so more of the truly privileged could get in. (Harvard provided $158 million in financial aid to students this year, with 60% of undergrads getting financial aid. It would be very interesting to know what percentage of legacies are full pay, as opposed to the other applicants.)</p>