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Family
tradition
Being
a legacy does help in application process
Applications
to the university still request alumni information from
prospective students despite criticism of the practice.
Angelica
Rosas
TCU
will continue to ask for family information about prospective
students in the admissions process, even though some state
schools have decided against it because some people say
legacy inquiries are unfair.
Texas A&M University, one of the first public universities
in the state to stop requesting legacy information, came
under attack by the state legislature and minority-rights
activists. They claim the practice is unfair to minority
applicants and first generation college students.
Ray Brown, dean of admissions, disagrees with eliminating
legacy questions. The admissions staff invests great care
in shaping the next freshman class so additional information
helps, he said.
“When you eliminate all these considerations from
the admissions process, you’re left with grades,
test scores and class rank,” Brown said. “That’s
it: a formula.”
In each incoming class, 15 to 20 percent of the students
have a legacy connection, Brown said. TCU counts legacies
as students who have parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents
or siblings that have graduated from TCU.
Brown said legacy students are favorable because they
are repeat customers who are familiar with the school.
This is the situation for Case Martinec, whose parents,
Dinah and Gary, attended TCU in the ‘70s. His grandfather,
Lee Joynor, was also a Horned Frog a decade earlier. Martinec
said being the son and grandson of TCU alumni was information
he added to his application.
“I wouldn’t say it got me in, but it was a plus,”
said Martinec, a sophomore biology major. “It was
favorable because the university probably likes kids to
know what school they want to attend.”
Wes Waggoner, admission practices chair for the Texas
Association for College Administration Counseling, said
legacy admissions are unfair because they give preference
to some students while unfairly excluding some minorities
and first-generation college students.
“Legacy advantage in the admissions process excludes
to a great extent persons of color, persons with disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds, and first-generation college
students,” Waggoner said. “Students who already
have many advantages in life get yet another one.”
At Southern Methodist University, legacies are looked
upon as regular students who don’t get points for
family ties, said Robert Bobo, a public relations officer
at SMU. However, he estimated that 25 percent of the SMU
incoming class have family connections to the school.
At Baylor University, the freshman class is comprised
of about 26 percent of students who are legacies, said
public information officer James Stean.
Brown said students are not admitted to TCU solely on
connections. He said transcripts carry 60 percent of the
weight, SAT or ACT carries 20 to 25 percent of the weight,
and 15 to 20 percent weight is given for all other information,
including: essays, counselor and teacher recommendations,
the optional page, geographic considerations and choice
of major considerations. |
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Sarah
Chacko/Photo Editor
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| Four
generations of Horned Frogs: (From left to right)
Lee A. Joyner, Dinah Martinec, Gary Martinec and
Case Martinec. Sophomore biology major Case Martinec
listed his family’s history at TCU when he
applied. |
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