California bans legacy admissions

[simpsongal]

At public and private schools: 

www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/california-bans-legacy-admissions-colleges-00181655

Curious to see how this does - will they just find a away around it?  Will Cali roll it back if endowments start to drop?  Will other states follow suit? Will private schools give back state funding to avoid the requirement (assuming that's possible)?

[bugandbibs]

I have mixed feelings on this.

I don't think it will hurt donations for any significant endowments. Admissions are going to know if someone is connected or not and make decisions accordingly. It's just one piece of the puzzle for who gets accepted. Where it might open the door or equalize things a bit is for students who the only difference on paper is the legacy admission aspect.

Much like generational wealth, there is a snowball effect to education levels and for many of us who are the children of immigrants I worry that this may be something we are being shut out of just when it might be helpful. I received a partial legacy scholarship to university. My mother got her degree from my university when I was a senior in high school. I never would have been able to attend financially without it.

[jinkies]

I'm having trouble articulating myself in a way that doesn't sound bitter, and I'm really not.

But I don't understand what this is trying to accomplish? There are a LOT of problems with college admissions but I don't see this as one of the more significant ones.

[sakoro]

Legacy admissions only make a difference for Stanford and Caltech which have 3% acceptance rates or USC and Harvey Mudd with 12% acceptance rates. The UC schools, Cal State and CalPoly have never looked at legacy as an admissions criteria. And the other private universities in California are not nearly as competitive.

Wealthy connected people will land on their feet and find other ways to get in (tutoring, college admissions counselors, volunteer trip in a developing country, unusual sport).

The law requires the universities to issue a report every year but there isn’t much teeth. I suppose people could bring class action law suits if there were high profile cases of legacy admissions.

[neverfstop]

I think this is good, but I don't recall where I read why....lol. I think it's another form of enshrined privileges and was seen as anti-affirmative action (i.e. often letting in rich, white people) over more qualified candidates. I don't know how much actual effect this policy will have, but I support the sentiment.

[laladypoet]

this will really impact their donations...

[pinkdutchtulips]

Oct 2, 2024 18:33:55 GMT -5 sakoro said:

Legacy admissions only make a difference for Stanford and Caltech which have 3% acceptance rates or USC and Harvey Mudd with 12% acceptance rates. The UC schools, Cal State and CalPoly have never looked at legacy as an admissions criteria. And the other private universities in California are not nearly as competitive.

Wealthy connected i tpeople will land on their feet and find other ways to get in (tutoring, college admissions counselors, volunteer trip in a developing country, unusual sport).

The law requires the universities to issue a report every year but there isn’t much teeth. I suppose people could bring class action law suits if there were high profile cases of legacy admissions.

When I applied to the CSUs in the early 90's there was a spot on the application to list any family members who were CSU grads and in the mid 90's when I applied to the UCs there was a similar line. More for demographic purposes than legacy admissions. When my bil applied to the UCs in the mid 2010's that line was gone. 

[Susie]

I'm curious how this gets enforced.  

I was a recruited athlete as an undergrad, and when I went for my recruiting visit, they sent me home with a particular colored envelope that I was to use when I mailed in my application, to indicate to admissions that I was recruited.  Obviously that is hella hella old school, but I'm sure there are ways that kind of thing can show up for legacies too.