Legacies at Yale??

AdmissionsAddict
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:37:35 +0000

Being a legacy does not mean there’s a high chance you might be less deserving. I’m not going to find the link now (you can search my old posts b/c I’ve posted it several times), but in an interview about legacies, President Levin stated that legacies as a subset of admitted freshman have higher GPAs and standardized test scores that the overall pool of students. Legacy status is only a teeny tip unless you’ve got family members who have donated substantial sums of money. You wouldn’t believe the legacies that I’ve seen rejected. People on this board who haven’t followed Yale admissions over the long term tend to put more weight on legacy status and URM status than either actually deserve.

Ditto to what kwijiborjt said about how legacies are treated/perceived on campus.