Ending Legacy Admissions at Johns Hopkins • Hacker News Board

Re: Ending Legacy Admissions at Johns Hopkins

#101

Post by jeegsy » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

virtuous_signal wrote: post #21

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another group that stands to lose are those students who were admitted on merit and no longer have access to “mediocre” students with good connections.

That's true, and in addition to the claim that legacy admits make the entire college experience more affordable for everyone else, is probably the strongest objection. I would venture the following: if we agree on the norm that "power should stop being transferred dynastically or through nepotism in a modern civilized society", and abolishing legacy preferences bring us closer to this norm, then the negative effects…

I always hesitate with these sorts of effects calculations. Depending on how long or how transient these negative effects are, a lot of folks could get screwed through no fault of their own.

Re: Ending Legacy Admissions at Johns Hopkins

#102

Post by jeegsy » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

dan-robertson wrote: post #46

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another group that stands to lose are those students who were admitted on merit and no longer have access to “mediocre” students with good connections.

This relies on a correlation between “legacy” and “good connections”. But if it’s about good connections, why not just have a policy like: “if you’re sufficiently good you get in and if you don’t have a ton of money we can provide scholarships to make things more affordable or free; and if you’re ok but rich, you can pay 2x the usual rate for admission up to some quota of these admissions” You could even replace “ric…

isnt this what happens already?

Re: Ending Legacy Admissions at Johns Hopkins

#103

Post by jeegsy » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 6:05 PM UTC

jl2718 wrote: post #83

peterwwillis wrote: post #38

There's huge waiting lists for international students to get into Hopkins. What this will probably result in is that it makes headroom for more international students to get in (because if you're sourcing "qualified and promising students from all backgrounds" there's probably gonna be more of those across the whole globe rather than locally). Also, the Pell Grant averages just over $4K, going up to about $6K. The tu…

Good point. Somebody did the math and found out that internationals are worth more than legacies.

An important point. Internationals typically have to pay in full at a higher rate.