Legacy Admissions

College is a big step for any student. The amount of preparation needed can sometimes seem overwhelming, and making sure that a student does everything necessary can seem tiring. There are so many things a student has to do to prepare; they must apply for the college of their choice, they must fill out scholarship application, and they must make sure that they have passed all of the high school classes necessary to go on to college. The process is very overwhelming and stressful. It becomes even more stressful when there are controversies over the admission processes in American Universities. In recent years, legacy admissions, an acceptance of admission for children whose parents were alumni of the university in question, have become a source …show more content…
A few people believe that legacy admissions should be allowed because the process for admitting students to college can not be made fair. Debra Thomas and Terry Shepard wrote an article addressing this specifically. Debra Thomas is a public relations director at Rice University. Terry Shepard is the vice president for public affairs at Rice University. Together, Thomas and Shepard wrote an article titled “Legacy Admissions Are Defensible Because the Process Can’t Be ‘Fair’” that was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education on March 14, 2003. Thomas and Shepard defend legacy admissions by saying that legacy admissions are fair due to the fact that admissions in general can not be objectively judged on one principle (Thomas and Shepard 340). Thomas and Shepard discuss that students whose parents donate money to the school should be given a higher preference because the alumni gave that college preference when deciding who to donate money to (Thomas and Shepard 340). They even suggested that the college was likely to get more donations if the child attended the college (Thomas and Shepard 340). The article goes on to state a few more reasons why legacy admissions are not an injustice. Thomas and Shepard claim that legacy admissions are barely ever an issue, and that colleges rarely ever have to use that to admit students. They also assert that many legacies are turned …show more content…
For example, some people believe that universities should have the right to allow legacy admissions because it is a way for them to ensure the loyalty and generosity of their alumnis. One such author is Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker. Gladwell’s article discussing the matter of legacy admissions titled “Getting In: The Social Logic of Ivy League Admissions” was published in The New Yorker on October 10, 2005. In this article, Gladwell describes that colleges are just like businesses, and they have to make smart business decisions (Gladwell 347). Gladwell states that it makes sense for universities to be able to give preference to legacies because that would ensure further loyalty and donations from their alumnis (Gladwell 347). His finishes his brief article by asserting the fact that no student is harmed by legacy admissions, and that universities have every right to decide whether or not to remain loyal to their alumnis (Gladwell

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