It's no secret among college applicants that being a legacy can provide an edge in the increasingly competitive admissions process. As part of a comprehensive revamping of its admissions policy, students applying to the University of Michigan no longer will be awarded points for having alumni relationships.
While legacies still will be taken into account, they will be considered as one of several factors in admissions decisions.
In compliance with a June Supreme Court ruling, Michigan discarded its former undergraduate admissions procedure that allotted points to various factors of a student's application, including legacies, and instituted a new holistic policy, said Julie Peterson, associate vice president of media relations and vice president for communications at the University of Michigan.
"It is more qualitative than quantitative," she said.
Peterson said the new procedure calls for a more individualized review of applications. Admissions officers will focus more on specific aspects of a student's application and consider his or her accomplishments and experiences as a whole.
The former admissions policy was based on a 150-point system. Applicants whose parents or grandparents attended the University of Michigan were awarded four points and one point, respectively. With the new policy, alumni relations are just one of many factors taken into consideration.
Peterson said, however, that the new policy will not have a major impact on the status of the legacy factor in admissions decisions.
"Legacies are still something we consider," she said. "It's impossible to quantify, but they're generally weighing in the same."
The University of Michigan's new holistic admissions policy is similar to that of the University. According to Undergraduate Admissions Dean John Blackburn, Michigan has adapted a procedure that the University has been using for a long time. The University follows a holistic policy with no numbers, credentials or quotas.
Blackburn said legacies are a consideration in University admissions decisions.
"We give special consideration to children of our graduates," he said.
Blackburn said students of University alumni have a "slight edge." While alumni relationships have been a deciding factor in a few cases, Blackburn said about half of legacies are denied admission.
"Often just 55-56 percent of legacies are offered admissions," he said, adding that nothing is guaranteed in admissions decisions.
Sarah Wohlstadter, a freshman at the University of Michigan who had many alumni relations, said she does not think legacies are a big deal at the university. However, she acknowledged that legacies can provide an "extra push," and with only 30 percent of the student body admitted from out-of-state, having an extra push is a big deal.
"I was happy to have the legacy," she said.
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