You went to Yale and now your kid is dreaming of following in your footsteps. That’s great. However, you might be wondering to yourself, “Since I went there, is that going to help their chances?” We hear this all the time from alumni parents. It’s not as simple of a question to answer as you might think. We do a ton of research every year. We talk to admissions officers, compile data from class statistic reports, we read alumni newsletters and school papers. Even with all that, the weight of legacy in admissions can still be a difficult question to tackle. We wanted to break down everything we know about legacies at Yale and try to answer some of the most common questions we get from parents. So let’s dive in.
How does Yale define “legacy?”
Yale doesn’t define “legacy” on the admissions website or in its materials. However, they do report a certain number of admitted students have “legacy affiliation” every year. While they don’t formally define what this means on their website, their newspaper does say that “legacies” are students with a parent that went to Yale. Dean of Admissions, Jeremiah Quinlan has also said that legacies are those with at least one parent who went to Yale in speeches.
We tend to believe this since it’s somewhat of an industry standard. However, we aren’t surprised that Yale is a little cagey when it comes to talking about legacy status. In 1925, Yale was only the second college to institute a policy that favored students of alumni in an effort to reduce the number of Jewish students attending the college. It’s not a pretty history and most likely one that Yale wants to distance itself from. So we kind of understand why they might not want to be too upfront.
You might be saying, “but that’s nearly 100 years ago!” This is true, but there is still a lot of controversy surrounding legacy admissions at Yale. Yale College Council Senate passed a resolution in 2021 to stop legacy preference. While there has been some pushback, Dean Quinlan has not indicated that the process needs to change. So at least for now, Yale does look at legacy status for those with a parent that went to Yale.
How many legacies get into Yale?
This is a bit of a hard question to answer. Yale, like most colleges, doesn’t usually publish their legacy acceptance rate. However, they do release the percentage of legacy students for each freshman class.
Their numbers are close to a lot of other Ivy League schools we have looked into. Which makes sense. The Ivy League tends to stick together when it comes to certain trends. However, it’s important for us to not only consider the number of legacy students on campus, but we are also interested in their acceptance rate.
The last time Yale published a legacy acceptance rate was in 2005. Usually, this data would be too old for us to consider. Trust us, a lot can change in college admissions in over 15 years. But since it is the last time we got any information, we thought we would try to use it in a very rough calculation. In 2005, the acceptance rate for legacies was about 30% and 14% of the then-new class of 2008 were legacies. The class of 2008 had an overall acceptance rate of 9.9% with 19,674 applicants and 1950 students accepted. Since 14% of those students were legacies, we are looking at about 273 legacies on campus that year. Meaning about 910 legacies applied.
The class of 2025 was also 14% legacy. However, it has gotten harder to get into Yale. The class of 2025 had an overall admissions rate of 4.6% with 46,905 first-year applicants. (This is a huge jump that we have seen across college application numbers.) 1,789 students were let in and of these students around 250 students were legacies. While the number of applicants has exploded since the early 2000s, the legacy numbers are actually pretty consistent. We aren’t seeing a big dip in the number or percentage of legacies on campus even though the acceptance rate took a huge dip. Furthermore, in our professional opinion, we would bet that while the number of students who apply went way up, we don’t think that the number of legacies who applied rose the same way. Mostly because there is not an endless supply of legacies in any given year.
This is all to say, the acceptance rate for legacies probably isn’t still 30%, but it might be closer to that than you would think if you just looked at overall admissions. While we can’t give you a specific acceptance rate, we would venture an educated guess that the legacy acceptance rate is still much higher than the overall acceptance rate.
Ok? But will my legacy kid get in?
Even in 2004, only 30% of legacies were getting in. Meaning 70% were not. If your kid is serious about following in your footsteps, they need to stand out. Their chances of getting in are better than the overall population, but it’s still competitive. And many Yale legacy candidates are very accomplished. “It is a common misconception that legacy students have lower academic credentials than the overall student body,” Quinlan wrote. “In fact, the opposite is true.” Many legacy students come from families that value education. This often translates to going to good high schools and getting good grades.
Many legacy students have been dreaming of going to Yale their whole lives and have worked super hard in high school to get a shot at making those dreams a reality. These students usually have great test scores and grades and have curated an impressive list of activities. For your student to stand out in this field, they need to have a great application. Legacy students might get in at a higher rate, but they need to be just as competitive as non-legacy students.
Your student needs good grades, great test scores, solid activities, and some “wow factor.” Some legacy’s “wow” will come from getting scouted for gymnastics or their father donating a library, but the majority of “wows” will come from great essays and applications. We work with students every day on what makes a stand-out application and having amazing writing is part of that. Working with a college counselor can really help applications shine. We know it might sound disingenuous since you know we are college counselors, but having someone work with your student to make their application the best that it can be, can be the difference-maker when it comes to standing out in this competitive field.
Not every legacy gets into Yale. Most don’t. But being a legacy can help top students get in. Even with legacy status, students should push themselves to be the best candidate they can be. This process can be confusing, scary, annoying, etc. but it doesn’t have to be. Get organized, take plenty of time, and consider getting help if you are overwhelmed. Students need to put their best foot forward and turn in a great application if they want to be the next generation at Yale.
Need help applying to the Ivies? We can do that. Reach out here.