The Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action has sparked debate over its almighty counterpart “Legacy Admission”.
As my parents never attended US universities, I feel drawn to the discontinuation of legacy admission. I don’t want my parent’s educational background to impact my college application, disadvantaging me before the admission officer has even read other parts of my application. As recent data shows that legacy admission increases the admission of alumni children by four times, it seems that nepotism and wealth outweigh students’ merits. This means that financially privileged students would dominate the student body within the institution, significantly limiting diversity.
However, the historical significance of legacy admission – protection of collegiate places for Catholic and Jewish descendants – also puts me in a dilemma. If my position for discontinuing legacy admission was solely based on the admission disadvantages against me, I feel my justification would be too superficial and selfish. I agree with Mr. Luiz that legacy connections are important to promoting liberal arts colleges that are overlooked, making them more visible to international students.
If legacy admission were to continue, I think colleges should be more transparent with it and not use it to undermine the admission of any candidate, especially those whose parents did not even attend universities.
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