Between the hordes of prospective students covering the Hill and skyrocketing SAT scores, admissions at Tufts is becoming increasingly competitive. With massive tour groups and long lines at the bookstore, it's hard for Jumbos to forget that the class of 2011 is on its way.
But according to a recent study published in the journal "Social Problems," not all freshmen are created equal: Legacy students who are given greater preference in college admissions are likely to suffer academically once they are admitted.
The study was based on a survey of freshman at 28 elite universities, including Tufts. It found that legacy students who benefited from their legacy status received a boost equivalent to 47 SAT points during the admissions process, and that once they enrolled, legacy students were more likely to get poor grades or drop out.
The Tufts Admissions Office repeatedly declined to comment on any aspect of the legacy admissions issue.
According to Gina LaGuardia, the Editor-In-Chief of the CollegeBound Network, increased contention about affirmative action and application subjectivity has made universities less likely to discuss legacy status in recent years.
"Few colleges admit to legacy status being a factor in the admissions process," LaGuardia said.
College admissions experts acknowledged that discrepancies between legacy and non-legacy students may exist, but cautioned against overgeneralizing the issue.
"Legacy offspring who have gone through their entire lives letting mom or dad pave their way may not be accustomed to the hard work that top-tier colleges often demand, and could struggle academically once enrolled," Sally Rubenstone, a senior counselor at Collegeconfidential.com, said in an e-mail to the Daily. "But the typical 'elite college' legacy student has already been successful in his or her own right and is no more likely to flounder than the non-legacy [students]."
Amy Wintermeyer, a college guidance counselor at the Archer School for Girls, a Los Angeles private school, had a similar view.
"These schools are very selective as it is - even if a university is preferentially choosing legacy students, they are still going to be qualified students who deserve to be where they are going," Wintermeyer said. "I have a hard time believing that [legacy students] at these universities are really struggling."
While they were skeptical about how legacy admissions affected students' performance, most experts agreed, however, that legacy status does play at least a slight role in college admissions.
"Think of legacy status as being like a little star next to an applicant's name," Rubenstone said. "Except in atypical cases, a candidate will need more than just a single star to be admitted to the most selective colleges, but getting even one star is a head start in the selection process."
LaGuardia said legacy status will neither make nor break an applicant's chances at admission, but agreed that legacy applicants are given an extra boost.
"According to an article we did on the topic in 'College Bound Teen,' being the child of an alum seemed to play a bigger role at some private colleges, which depend on alumni support as a means of fundraising," LaGuardia said.
According to Wintermeyer, the importance of legacy status varies greatly between colleges and universities.
"Although the amount that legacy factors into the process really depends on the school, some schools do not make [their emphasis on legacy admissions] a secret, and will actually encourage legacy students to apply early," Wintermeyer said.
The University of Pennsylvania, for example, publicly encourages legacy application. It has established an Alumni Council of Admissions (ACA), which is a "resource for alumni families who have children or grandchildren going through the undergraduate admissions process at Penn," according to the ACA Web site.
The University of Pennsylvania Web site also reveals to prospective legacy students that "the legacy tie is a positive supplement to your application."
Admissions experts also said that, while most colleges consider legacy status during admissions, certain legacy students receive more of a boost than others.
"The child of a very wealthy or involved alum may get a different level of consideration that the progeny of your more garden-variety grads," Rubenstone said.
Wintermeyer said many students will choose to apply to a parent's alma mater in order to receive legacy consideration.
"As a college guidance counselor, I've had several cases where a student would apply to their parent's alma mater even if it wasn't their first choice, just in case it would make a difference," Wintermeyer said.
Freshman Jeff Stone is one student who experienced pressure from his parents to follow in their footsteps. "My parents were very adamant about me applying to their joint alma mater," he said.
According to Thomas William, the Senior Associate Director off Alumni Relations at Tufts, students whose parents are involved in alumni activities may be more likely to apply.
"Hopefully, when alumni participate in events and activities on campus ... they are exposed to the beautiful enhancements to our facilities [and] can listen to the exciting research that our faculty are doing, thus encouraging their children to be interested in attending," William said.
But even when they do receive legacy preference, some students are turned off by the idea of following in their parents' footsteps.
"I've seen students eager to go to a particular college because they've been raised with raves about that school from mom or dad, or they have fond memories of attending reunions and homecoming games since toddlerhood," Rubenstone said. "But I've also seen teenagers who take an 'enough already' view of the parental schools, and who seem to make a point of favoring other colleges just to prove it."
Legacy students at Tufts had mixed views.
"I was initially kind of repelled by the idea of falling directly in my parents' footsteps. I wanted to be independent and have my own unique college experience," said freshman Mimi Taskier, whose father went to Tufts. "But I eventually looked at it from a very objective perspective, and am so happy that I applied and eventually decided to come."
Other legacy students had different reasons for applying to Tufts without parental influence.
"I didn't base my perception of Tufts off of the fact that my dad went here, because I know that his experience 30 or 40 years ago was so different than what it is to students now," freshman and legacy student Leigh Cooper said.
Freshman Kelsey Lamere agreed. "I would say that my dad [having gone to Tufts] influenced my decision to apply, but it didn't necessarily influence my decision to come here," she said.
