Legacy admissions offer preferential consideration to students seeking admission at an institution if the applicant’s parents or relatives attended the same institution. The prospective student, or the “legacy” will often see an increase of admissions odds if they have legacy connection. While most institutions practice some form of legacy admission, this connection can significantly benefit applicants at highly selective institutions. While this can certainly be exciting for students with legacy connections, this practice can hold controversy as sometimes students who are legacies at a college or university can have an easier time with admissions and acceptances than applicants who are not legacies. For example, a legacy applicant and a non-legacy applicant could have comparable credentials for admission, and the legacy applicant already has an advantage over the non-legacy applicant.
In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down affirmative action during the college admissions process, legacy admissions are now increasingly being called into light. In fact, there have already been multiple lawsuits filed over this controversial practice. At Harvard, a civil rights group has filed a lawsuit against the university, stating that legacy admissions are discriminatory as Harvard has a predominantly white alumni network. The suit states that this gives an unfair advantage to mostly white applicants, which contradicts the Supreme Court decision to remove race as an admissions factor.
As we continue to see more debate around the college admissions process and the consideration of legacy applicant status, it is possible that more educational institutions will revise their legacy protocol in the coming admission cycles. Some colleges only allow for students to declare legacy status if their parents or grandparents attended the institution, while others allow for legacy status to stretch all the way to cousins, nieces, and great great great grandparents. That being said, some colleges could narrow down legacy status from extended family to immediate family members like parents and siblings, while others could do away with legacy admission entirely.
We have reviewed current legacy information for this newest admission cycle which began on August 1, 2023. Below is a list of some of our students most applied to universities and what Common Application colleges and universities are inquiring about legacy status in the Family section of their admissions questions and which familial relations are considered valid for legacy status:
Alabama
University of Alabama: Yes (parents, grandparents, or guardian)
Auburn University: Yes (parent, grandparent, or sibling)
Arizona
University of Arizona: No
California
Loyola Marymount University: Yes (parents, grandparents, siblings)
Stanford University: Yes (any relative)
University of Southern California: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling)
Colorado
University of Colorado Boulder: No
Colorado College: Yes (parent, sibling, stepsibling, grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin)
Colorado State University: Yes (any relative)
University of Denver: Yes (any relative)
Connecticut
University of Connecticut: Yes (any relative)
Yale University: Yes (parent, grandparent, legal guardian, sibling, stepparent)
District of Columbia
The George Washington University: Yes (any relative)
Florida
University of Florida: Yes (any relative)
Florida State University: No
University of Miami: Yes (any relative)
Rollins College: Yes (any relative)
Georgia
Emory University: Yes (parent or sibling asked first, any other relative in next question)
University of Georgia: Yes (parent/guardian, sibling)
Georgia Institute of Technology: Yes (any relative)
Illinois
University of Chicago: Yes (parent/guardian, sibling)
Northwestern University: Yes (parent, stepparent, guardian, grandparent, sibling)
Indiana
Indiana University: No
University of Notre Dame: Yes (any relative)
Louisiana
Louisiana State University: No
Tulane University: Yes (parent, sibling, grandparent)
Maine
Bates College: Yes (grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin, great grandparent, great aunt/uncle, parent, step-parent, sibling)
Bowdoin College: Yes (parent, grandparent, step-parent, guardian, sibling, aunt/uncle, or other relationship)
Colby College: Yes (grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin, sibling, or other type of relative)
Maryland
Johns Hopkins University: Yes (parent step-parent, legal guardian, grandparent or sibling–Question asked for data purposes only and will not be viewed by the admissions counselors or affect the admissions decision)
University of Maryland: Yes (mother or father)
Massachusetts
Amherst College: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling or aunt/uncle–This information is for data purposes only and will not affect the admission decision)
Babson College: Yes (parent, guardian, sibling, aunt/uncle, grandparent)
Boston College: Yes (parent, step-parent, or sibling)
Boston University: Yes (parent, sibling, or grandparent)
Emerson College: Yes (grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, parent or sibling)
Harvard University: Yes (parent and sibling)
University of Massachusetts Amherst: No
Northeastern University: Yes (grandparent, parent, sibling)
Tufts University: Yes (parent or sibling)
Williams College: Yes (parent, stepparent, legal guardian, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, or cousin)
Michigan
University of Michigan: Yes (grandparent or sibling)
Mississippi
University of Mississippi: No
New Hampshire
Dartmouth College: Yes (sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle)
New Jersey
Princeton University: Yes (parent, stepparent, guardian, sibling)
New York
Barnard College: Yes (aunt, cousin, grandmother, great aunt, great grandmother, mother, or sister)
Colgate University: Yes (aunt/uncle, cousin, godparent, grandparent, great grandparent, legal guardian, parent, sibling, step aunt/step uncle, step cousin, step grandparent, stepparent, step sibling)
Columbia University: Yes (parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, step-parent, legal guardian)
Cornell University: Yes (parent or grandparent)
Fordham University: No
Hamilton College: Yes (parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Yes (parent, stepparent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, sibling, stepsibling)
New York University: No
Skidmore College: Yes (parent, sibling, grandparent, legal guardian, aunt/uncle, cousin)
North Carolina
Davidson College: No
Duke University: Yes (parent, stepparent, grandparent, guardian, or sibling)
Elon University: Yes (parent, stepparent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Yes (parent or stepparent)
North Carolina State University: No
Wake Forest University: Yes (parent, stepparent, or guardian)
Ohio
Case Western Reserve University: Yes (parent, aunt/uncle, cousin, grandparent, great grandparent, sibling)
Denison University: Yes (sibling, parent, grandparent, great grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin)
Miami University (Ohio): Yes (mother, father, sibling, other)
The Ohio State University: No
Oregon
University of Oregon: No
Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University: Yes (parent, grandparent, self)
Haverford College: Yes (aunt/uncle, parent, sibling, grandparent)
Lafayette College: Yes (any relative)
Lehigh University: Yes (parent, grandparent, stepparent, sibling, aunt/uncle)
University of Pennsylvania: Yes (parent, legal guardian, stepparent, grandparent)
Villanova University: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt/uncle, cousin)
Rhode Island
Brown University: Yes (parent, legal guardian, sibling)
South Carolina
College of Charleston: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt/uncle)
Clemson University: Yes (grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse)
Furman University: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling)
University of South Carolina: Yes (parent, legal guardian)
Wofford College: Yes (parent, sibling, grandparent, great grandparent, great great grandparent, great great great grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin)
Tennessee
Rhodes College: Yes (sibling, aunt/uncle, parent, cousin, grandparent)
University of the South (Sewanee): Yes (aunt/uncle, parent, sibling, cousin, grandparent)
University of Tennessee Knoxville: Yes (grandparent, sibling, aunt/uncle, or cousin)
Vanderbilt University: Yes (grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin, sibling) **other than those listed on the Common Application, so parents are also taken into consideration
Texas
Rice University: Yes (parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, aunt/uncle)
Southern Methodist University: Yes (sibling, cousin, grandparent, great grandparent, parent, aunt/uncle)
University of Texas at Austin: No
Texas Christian University: Yes (sibling, stepsibling, grandparent, parent, stepparent, aunt/uncle, cousin)
Utah
University of Utah: Yes (parent or grandparent) **information used for non-resident students wanting to be considered for the Alumni Non-Resident U Tradition Award and Heritage Scholarships
Vermont
Middlebury College: Yes (parent, sibling, stepparent, legal guardian, aunt/uncle, cousin, grandparent)
University of Vermont: No
Virginia
James Madison University: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling)
University of Richmond: Yes (parent, grandparent, sibling, stepsibling, half-sibling)
University of Virginia: No legacy questionnaire but there is an optional short answer question asking about personal or historical connections with UVA (If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs.)
Virginia Tech: Yes (parent, stepparent, grandparent, step grandparent, sibling, stepsibling)
Washington and Lee: Yes (parent, sister, brother, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, great-grandparent)
William & Mary: Yes (parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin, niece/nephew)
Washington
University of Washington: Freshman application will become available on September 1st
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin Madison: No
Scotland
University of St. Andrews: Yes (any relatives)
Thanks to our fabulous The College Sage summer intern, Lindsey Prus for her compilation and assistance with this blog. Go Tigers!
