<p>The issue of legacies with Chicago is different than with other schools. Whether or not there was a legacy preference, and how strong it was, wasn’t really tested very much, and wasn’t a big issue, until the last couple of years.</p>
<p>The College was at its nadir, in terms of size and in terms of student happiness, when the current generation of parents was in college. So Chicago has a relatively small number of alumni in that cohort, and many of that small number feel ambivalent about the University. Their kids have not – at least not until recently – been applying in large numbers. I know a bunch of Chicago alumni, and so far only one of their kids has applied. (She was accepted and chose to go elsewhere. Her parents – both alumni of the College, one also a Law School alumnus and the other the daughter and granddaughter of College alumni – were angry because the College didn’t do enough to recruit her.) And until 5-6 years ago Chicago was admitting half or more of the students who applied (especially EA). </p>
<p>So no one really knows, as a practical matter, what Chicago’s policy actually is. They just don’t have enough experience administering it.</p>