Worst Stats for an Admitted Legacy?

cobrat
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:07:11 +0000

There was one Harvard Summer School classmate from another Ivy who recounted having an obnoxious roommate who bragged about being a legacy admit with a combined post-1995 SAT score barely cracking 1000 whose family supposedly donated several million behind closed doors. He was relieved when his freshman year ended and he no longer had to live with that roommate.

Another account is from an older relative who personally knew a luminary in the modern Chinese literary world. Said luminary’s son ended up getting into an Ivy 30+ years ago because some lit Profs and a Dean were fans of his work. When they heard and confirmed his son was applying, they enthusiastically supported his candidacy and thus, he was admitted despite having what were mediocre HS record/SATs. Unfortunately, that special admission turned out to be a curse as the son was unable to cope with the academic rigor/workload and committed suicide before the end of his first year.

The older relative happened to meet him on the very day he was in the states to wrap up his son’s affairs and to bring him home for a family funeral. Very tragic.