The End of Legacy in Admissions?

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Big news in California, where Governor Gavin signed a law that bans the consideration of legacy In college admissions for all colleges in Cali, whether public or private.  The law is slated to go into effect in Fall 2025.

It's clearly a reaction to the Varsity Blues scandal of 2017, which featured celebrity and wealthy parents bending and breaking rules to get their kids into California colleges USC and Stanford, among others. But how much will change?

I was interviewed on NewsNation in the wee small hours of the morning today and, as usual, didn't have time to spit out all my talking points that I'd like you to know. So here's an abridged version:

How big a "problem" is legacy admissions?.  At Stanford and USC, approximately 14% of the class admitted in 2024 were legacies.  Apparently most of them were within the academic range of the entire admitted class.

Point #2.  There are no penalties for violating the new law, so how effective can it be?

Point #3:  Donors (many of whom are alumni) provide colleges a ton of money for need-based aid. Approximately 50% comes from wealthy donors, so this could hurt low income families if the new law creates a chilling effect on alumni donors.  

Point #4.  Governor Newsom's statement that everyone "should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work" rings hollow, as most elite colleges take the majority of their admitted students from "feeder" private and public high schools...

...such as the Branson School, where Newsom's daughter goes, (tuition: $62,590), where the administration has a pipeline to elite colleges, kids engage in the "right" extracurricular activities and hire expensive private consultants (like me) to give them the competitive edge over other privileged students.

Finally, what's the big deal with Stanford and USC?  I'm not being facetious, I have two children in similarly (not identically) elite colleges myself.

But I also know that there is zero correlation between where you go and how successful you'll be.

But there's no denying that the college acceptance landscape is ever twisting, turning and turbulent.  I've been in the college advising field for more than 22 years, and can tell you unequivocally that last year was THE MOST challenging year ever.

If you have a college-bound teen and you want to discuss how we can help give them the edge over their competition (which is typically tens of thousands of nearly-identical college applicants), you're invited to schedule a quick chat with us, to see if we could be a good, mutual fit.  Here's where to go, there's a link under the video of today's interview:

Book a Call

- Andy "Resting Sarcastic Face" Lockwood

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