Affirmative Action for the Wealthy

…and otherwise well connected.

What is a legacy admission?

In the college admissions process, “legacy” applicants are students with some kind of familial tie to a university. An applicant normally has legacy status at a college if a member of the applicant’s immediate family attends or attended the college, but at certain schools it might also mean a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or cousin. Some institutions restrict their consideration to “primary” legacy, meaning children (or grandchildren) of alumni; others are happy to extend it in any direction, and include both undergraduate and graduate alumni. (source)

Hit the linky for a list of top colleges who do and do not consider legacy status. Guess what—in the Ivy Leagues, up to 25% of students are there because daddy, mummy, cousin it or some other stray relation went there before them.

The “tip” that legacy applicants receive is not insignificant, although quantifying it is difficult because most schools guard those data from public view. Those tips tend to go to applicants who, as the children of elite college graduates, already enjoy a number of economic and educational benefits. It’s a bit like giving Tacko Fall, at 7’6”, the tallest player in the NBA, a pair of elevator shoes.

A 2007 study of 30 highly selective colleges found that legacy applicants were three times more likely to be admitted as equally qualified non-legacy applicants. Legacy applicants at Harvard are roughly six times more likely to be admitted than non-legacy and non-athlete applicants are. (source)

I only mention it but MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which has been rated as the second best U.S. university by U.S. News and World Report, does NOT consider legacy status in admissions—all merit-based. Princeton, coming in at number one, and Harvard, ranked as number three, do.

…roughly one-in-seven students at Harvard are there at least in part because of a legacy, adding, “Reducing or eliminating this practice could create new opportunities for all kinds of students who normally don’t have a chance of getting into a top school. (source)

Which Trump toadies went to Ivy League schools?

• Josh Hawley, Stanford class of 2002 and Yale law class of 2006
• Ted Cruz, Princeton class of 1992 and Harvard law class of 1995
• JD Vance, Yale Law class of 2013
• Elise Stefanik, Harvard class of 2006 
• Tom Cotton,  Harvard 1998 and Harvard Law 2002

Undoubtedly there are many, many more. How many of these merde-buckets got in on their own merits and how many because of familial connections?

Amy Covid Barrett’s daughter, by the by, is a legacy admission at Notre Dame. Affirmative action for me but not for thee.

I feel compelled to point out here that zombies eat brains. Therefore, in the zombie apocalypse MAGAts and the politicians they believe have been elected to represent them, will be totally safe.

More proof that god either doesn’t exist or just doesn’t give a fuck.