In the post-race-conscious admissions landscape, one of the hottest topics is legacy admissions. Many argue that legacy admissions unfairly benefit affluent students, which, in turn, can thwart efforts to build diverse campuses. Others argue that to pull legacy admissions practices just when legacy pools start to become more diverse is counterproductive—and that colleges need legacy preference to maintain connections to (and donations from) alumni. Colleges across the country are reckoning with this very question right now.
Some have already taken action in eliminating legacy preference—loudly, like Wesleyan University, or without fanfare, like the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech, which simply updated their Common Data Sets to reflect that alumni/ae connection is “not considered.” Others are devising new ways to be inclusive of legacy relationships without including a formal “box”—for example, in 2023 the University of Virginia introduced a new essay question that allows students to write about their relationship with the institution, and they include language around relationships that might include being descended from laborers who worked there.
Below is a list of states and colleges that are popular with Private Prep students and that do NOT consider legacy in the admissions process.*
States
California — all public and private universities
Colorado — all public universities
Florida — all public universities
Georgia — all public universities
Maryland — all public and private universities
Virginia — all public universities
Individual College
Amherst College
Baylor University
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Bryn Mawr College
Carlton
Carnegie Mellon University
Clark University
Cooper Union
Emerson College
Hunter College (CUNY)
Indiana University
MIT
Purdue University
Rutgers
University of Illinois — Urbana Champaign
University of Miami
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill
University of Pittsburgh
University of Connecticut
University of Texas — Austin
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin — Madison
Wesleyan University
*Information sourced from colleges’ Common Data Sets and/or institutional press releases.
It is important to note that, just because a school has stated that it does not officially consider legacy status, that does not necessarily mean that students can’t or shouldn’t write about a family connection to a school in a “why us?” essay. While legacy status may not give an official boost the way it once did at some schools, it can still be a compelling part of demonstrating interest and highlighting fit. Colleges still want to admit students who will come; legacy may be a part of that story for some students.
Need more personalized guidance on crafting your college application? Contact our college admissions team.
