College Admissions Counseling Blog

There was an interesting article in the the Chicago Maroon, the official student newspaper of the University of Chicago regarding legacy admissions. The title of the article indicates that there is no admissions advantage at Chicago by being a legacy. However, comments by dean of admissions, Ted O'Neill, don't seem to support that view at all. In fact, the article quoted O'Neill as follows:

“It is most accurate to say that we wish to treat alumni children with the same care and respect we treat all applicants, and, when it comes to doing the kind of reading we do—careful, painstaking, comprehensive—we do not ignore the fact that a student has a connection to the University that may be meaningful,” O’Neill said in an e-mail interview. “Of course, the meaning has to be conveyed in the kind of application a prospective student writes.”

O'Neill seems to be saying that legacy status is indeed considered by the University of Chicago in the admissions process. But as is the case at most colleges, you need to bring something to the application process besides just being a legacy. In other words, you can't rely on your legacy status to compensate for poor grades or poor test scores.

These statements by O' Neill seem to reinforce the common believe that legacy status is indeed one of the factors examined by colleges in making its admissions decisions.

For the text of the whole article go to the Maroon's online edition for March 6, 2007.