Illegitimate Acceptance: Ethical Dilemma

rockvillemom
Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:17:39 +0000

Just want to weigh in on this as someone who works in a hs college counseling office. Every year, without fail, we have parents who come in for a meeting and tell us about the “amazing connection” they have at XYZ university and how their child is guaranteed to get in. It rarely works. The ones who get some preferential treatment are legacies where the family has given considerable money over generations - that will always play. But the typical “amazing connection” - usually they know someone on the board of trustees - I’d say it suceeds maybe 1/3 of the time.

And OP - you are correct in that if you do get in - you will always wonder if you got in on your own merit or if this connection did the trick. And you will never know the answer to that question. So, you really have to look within yourself and determine if that will bother you endlessly. Personally, I say go for it. Kids use hooks like legacy, URM, recruited athlete, etc., all the time - so you might as well apply ED and give it a shot.