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Argumentative Essay: Should Schools Be Paid?

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Similar to the hundreds of colleges which still give preferential treatment to legacy applicants, Harvard admits close to 30% of its students had previous generations attend their school. Generally, students who get in through legacy applications are wealthy and under qualified for the colleges that they’re attending. Although there are students who deserve to attend the school due to their academic potential, many are there because they have two very important things: money and parents who attended the school. A vast majority of the colleges which still give preferential treatment to their legacy applicants, weigh receiving donations from affluent student over building an academically fit class for the institute. Although schools receive donations …show more content…

Legacy applicants tend to be from upper class America and most of the time, white. The answer to why schools continue giving preferential treatment to legacies is unfair but clear and understandable. Despite what colleges may say about close alumni relationships being the reason for legacy admissions, the real reason is money. An alum who has a good experience and a child attending the school is more likely to donate. If the alum comes from a wealthy family, they are even more likely to donate, increasing their child’s chance of being admitted into the school. For example, Stanford alums tend to become more economically successful than the general population. Stanford alums have an average mid-career salary of $114,000 versus the $51,017 national median household income. Colleges keep this in mind during their admissions process, which is why underqualified students are attending elite schools they aren’t academically fit for. This ends up impacting more than just the thousands of deserving applicants who are turned away to make space for legacy students. By doing this, college students begin becoming impacted as well. With the admission of under qualified legacies, colleges are forced to “water down” or simplify material to avoid having a majority of their students failing

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