NYU to Remove Legacy Status Question from Common App
The university will change its Common Application and publicly available data to reflect that it does not consider alumni relations in admissions.
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by Bruna Horvath
This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.
NYU will no longer ask applicants whether they are children of alumni on the Common Application, a move to help clarify that it does not consider legacy-status in the applications process.
The university will also stop marking alumni relations as “Considered” in admissions on its Common Data Set — an annual report of university statistics that includes applicant demographics — and will change the category to “Not Considered.” NYU spokesperson Joseph Tirella said that the CDS was marked this way because of the question regarding alumni ties being included in the Common App, and not because the university uses the information in admissions decisions.
Tirella also said that only 1.5% of the admitted class in the fall 2021 admissions cycle were legacy applicants, while 22% of the class were first generation applicants.
“We appreciate that it has caused confusion, especially now, when the issue of legacy admissions is being scrutinized,” Tirella wrote in a statement to WSN. “And, to repeat: NYU does not admit students on the basis of legacy; being the child of an alum is not a factor in our admissions decision-making; we don’t pay heed to legacy status in shaping a class; and NYU doesn’t have legacy ‘tips.’”
Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.