Interesting news about Harvard admissions

[dbilmes]

This is sports-related, since recruited athletes at Harvard, who are mostly white, must make up a substantial number of the students described in this study.
"43% of Harvard's white students are either recruited athletes, legacy students, on the dean's interest list"—donors' kids—"or children of faculty and staff. Three-quarters of these applicants would have been rejected" otherwise."
Surprisingly, it takes a British newspaper to break this story.
This is a link to the study cited in the newspaper story, but it has a paywall.
I'd be interested in similar statistics for Cornell and other Ivies. My guess is that while the percentages may vary from school to school, it would come to the same conclusions.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'd like to hope that the percentage at Cornell are lower.

[DL]

"Meanwhile in stark contrast, African American, Asian American and Hispanic students make up less than 16% of ALDC students."

16% of that population sounds closer to actual population levels than I would have expected.

[CU77]

Non-paywalled link to preprint of the study:

http://public.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/legacyathlete.pdf

[cuhockey93]

43% of Harvard's white students are either recruited athletes, legacy students, on the dean's interest list"—donors' kids—"or children of faculty and staff. Three-quarters of these applicants would have been rejected" otherwise.

But Harvard has a 5% acceptance rate. If you took Harvard's current class excluding athletes and legacies and applied the studies metrics, what percentage would be "rejected otherwise"?

[nshapiro]

" Additionally, there
is widespread concern about the "fairness" of college admissions. Applicants with greater
academic preparation and accomplishments expect to be admitted at higher rates relative to
less qualified applicants. "

OMFG!!! How dare they discriminate to prefer more qualified candidates!

Still reading, but I have already found two things that they did not control for:

1. Early Decision (which matters less at Hahvahd, since they have a non-binding Early Action) - My younger son was told that legacies are expected to apply early decision, since they should know if Cornell is the right place for them.

2. Athletic Department pre-screening - Saying that recruited athletes are almost guaranteed admission completely ignores the fact that admissions pre-screens recruited athletes, letting coaches know if they would be admitted before the application process is complete.

[profudge]

Thanks for pointer to the latest.  There was an article in SLATE on the web dated Oct. 3rd, 2019, that covered a Judges opinion towards beginning of court case on the issue of Admissions ...  

    Havard Isn't Off the Hook   -   A federal court upheld affirmative action at the university.  Now it needs to stop admitting so many legacies and athletes.

[Trotsky]

There is Harvard, for smart kids.  And there is "Harvard," for rich kids.

This is true for every Ivy (even our beloved), but especially for HYP.

[David Harding]

There is Harvard, for smart kids.  And there is "Harvard," for rich kids.

This is true for every Ivy (even our beloved), but especially for HYP.

50+ years ago a Harvard alumnus visited my high school to talk with anyone who showed up and I came away with a few good lines.  Someone asked about study abroad and the rep said that Harvard doesn't support study abroad. "We bring the best scholars in the world to Harvard, so there is no reason to go anywhere else."  He also explained that 10% of the students will be in the bottom 10% of their class, which would be devastating to those who could get into Harvard based on academic prowess.  The bottom 10% was therefore reserved for athletes and children of alumni.

[upprdeck]

seems like people want it both ways.. Do they only except the highest qualified kids? Do they except a mixed pool of kids?  It like if you  go to a HS that has no AP courses and you get to college and some kids come in with 15-20 credits is that fair?

[marty]

seems like people want it both ways.. Do they only except the highest qualified kids? Do they except a mixed pool of kids?  It like if you  go to a HS that has no AP courses and you get to college and some kids come in with 15-20 credits is that fair?

A few weeks ago an in-law cousin whose son is applying to engineering schools spun a tale that I have been doubting. His son's top choice is Cornell with RPI a close second.  (He has a Rensselaer Medal that at first meant 30k/yr off tuition but due to stalling on his part has been upped to 35k.)

We were talking about Cornell and I mentioned that I was amazed that the recent pictures of Cornell Chem E classes look to be 50/50 male/female. The dad stated that many engineering schools are attempting to get a 50/50 mix and that because of the application metrics Cornell is able to accept women as half of their incoming class.

Does anyone reading this know if this is true?

[Al DeFlorio]

seems like people want it both ways.. Do they only except the highest qualified kids? Do they except a mixed pool of kids?  It like if you  go to a HS that has no AP courses and you get to college and some kids come in with 15-20 credits is that fair?

A few weeks ago an in-law cousin whose son is applying to engineering schools spun a tale that I have been doubting. His son's top choice is Cornell with RPI a close second.  (He has a Rensselaer Medal that at first meant 30k/yr off tuition but due to stalling on his part has been upped to 35k.)

We were talking about Cornell and I mentioned that I was amazed that the recent pictures of Cornell Chem E classes look to be 50/50 male/female. The dad stated that many engineering schools are attempting to get a 50/50 mix and that because of the application metrics Cornell is able to accept women as half of their incoming class.

Does anyone reading this know if this is true?

At least half women, I'm told by engineering school fundraiser.  Times have changed.

[Scersk '97]

He has a Rensselaer Medal that at first meant 30k/yr off tuition but due to stalling on his part has been upped to 35k.

The offer was only $5000/yr back in 1993, IIRC. Man, even accounting for inflation, they're paying out serious money to Medal winners now.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I can tell you that back when I was applying to colleges, my cousin was a professor in the Harvard Business School.  She told me that despite that fact, she had zero influence in getting me accepted.  For the record, I didn't get accepted there.

Also for the record:  I applied to Sucks simply so I could turn them down. Cornell was always my first choice, hands down.

[marty]

seems like people want it both ways.. Do they only except the highest qualified kids? Do they except a mixed pool of kids?  It like if you  go to a HS that has no AP courses and you get to college and some kids come in with 15-20 credits is that fair?

A few weeks ago an in-law cousin whose son is applying to engineering schools spun a tale that I have been doubting. His son's top choice is Cornell with RPI a close second.  (He has a Rensselaer Medal that at first meant 30k/yr off tuition but due to stalling on his part has been upped to 35k.)

We were talking about Cornell and I mentioned that I was amazed that the recent pictures of Cornell Chem E classes look to be 50/50 male/female. The dad stated that many engineering schools are attempting to get a 50/50 mix and that because of the application metrics Cornell is able to accept women as half of their incoming class.

Does anyone reading this know if this is true?

At least half women, I'm told by engineering school fundraiser.  Times have changed.

My question is whether the 50/50 admission rate is achieved by preference given to women.