r/ApplyingToCollege • u/SCREEEamo • Mar 26 '26
Serious rejected from harvard with legacy and $1M donation
i feel the legacy/donation system is extremely unfair and classist, im just posting this to show that donations and legacy status isnt an instant acceptance even with good stats. on one hand im sad i didnt get in, but on the other it makes me feel at peace knowing someone much smarter than me got into harvard 💖 plenty of you on this subreddit are way more deserving, and im proud of all of you regardless of your results!
my stats:
-1540 SAT
-4.4 weighted GPA
-full IB diploma with 4 HLs including math
-quite a few ECs and honors (nothing crazy just 2 club president positions, honor societies, volunteer clubs, FBLA nationals, and other minor awards)
- a dad who went to harvard who donated close to $1M over the course of 50 years (he's old asf, long story)
he didn't donate for me to get in, my family didn't even consider having children until much later in life with IVF (mom 77 & dad 73). without the donation/legacy i am nowhere near harvard level stats (nor would i feel deserving if i got in). donations/legacy are not everything! but they still give others an unfair advantage.
i know how hard you all have worked and im happy knowing the anxiety of college decision season is over!
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u/AtlasFan Mar 26 '26
Sorry about this. Hopefully you'll get into a school that will be great for you.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 26 '26
thank you! i got into wellesley which was my dream school 💖 don't feel bad, i was just posting to debunk the misconception that legacy = immediate acceptance. i'm happy where im ending up!
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u/Best_Interaction8453 Mar 27 '26
Yeah, unfortunately 1 M over 50 years isn’t enough to move the needle at Harvard. 3 M and a conversation with a development officer about more to come, might have gotten you in.
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
I feel like $1M at Harvard is like 10k at other schools. Maybe not even because other schools would put your name on the donor rolls in the alumni magazine.
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u/bigyellowtruck Mar 27 '26
Never know what’s enough. Grandson of someone with a building in the yard named after him didn’t get in. Applied to grad school after college magna cum laude and didn’t get in. He got the last laugh since they hired him to teach there. Woe to the kids in his classes.
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u/GrantTheFixer Mar 30 '26
Even in the early 2000s the openly “whispered” number was already 7M. And even then it was mostly a detailed convo on how to best position one’s application with insights on what the adcom looks for - an edge not that big today with so much info online.
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
Immediate, no. Increased chances, yes. There's more nuance there, because there are families who are legit 6 or 7 generations of legacy, and families whose names are on buildings. And the spots handpicked from feeder schools. $1M is a great donation. It's also true that there are a ridiculous number of alumni who give at that level. I only know this as an alum who is regularly floored by the size of the alumni class gifts. By the time people are old enough to have kids applying to college, reunion can see a class giving $150-200m, with a pool of people skewing those numbers. So yeah, one generation of legacy isn't uncommon either. The people guaranteed spots either give way more or have several generations. Wellesley is great and as you clearly understand, you are privileged and well supported.
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u/timetravel3000 Mar 27 '26
So in that sense legacy is alive and well, it’s just that the thresholds have been raised. The quid pro quo stays firmly in place.
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
I'm not sure it's even that the thresholds have been raised. It's just that a school founded in the 17th century is going to have a much bigger pool of legacy, and one generation is way better than nothing, but it can't compete with 3 or 6. Edit to add that the nature of fundraising definitely shifted in the 90s,so the pay to play amount definitely increased. The endowment at Harvard was a few billion in the early 90s. It was over 10x that 15 yrs later bc they brought in ibankers and went hard on fundraising.
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u/htxatty Mar 27 '26
Enjoy Wellesley! I toured it with my youngest daughter in June and it is beautiful!
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
thank you! maybe i'll see her one day 💖
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u/htxatty Mar 27 '26
I hope not - she’s an 8th grader and you will hopefully graduate Wellesley the same year she graduates high school. 👩🏻🎓
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
LOL hopefully not-- but she's starting the college process early which is great ! i hope she gets into her dream college :)
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u/Princester-Vibe Mar 27 '26
Wow touring college already in 8th grade?
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u/htxatty Mar 27 '26
We were in Boston for an event and she wanted to check out a couple of the colleges in the area.
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u/timetravel3000 Apr 25 '26
Many parents begin seeing whats nearby on other trips, convenient and cost effective
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u/zinniasinorange Mar 27 '26
I went to Wellesley and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. ENJOY!!!
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u/Solid_Counsel Mar 27 '26
I am not saying this to be disrespectful at all. I think you are an amazing young woman and I am sure you will do great at Wellesley!
The truth is that giving an avg of 20k per year for 50 years to Harvard is considered unremarkable. Harvard views giving as a trajectory. $20k per year for 50 years feels performative from their perspective.
With that said, your posts bring out a lot of good points.
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Apr 11 '26
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u/SCREEEamo Apr 13 '26
thank you so much, i am so so glad to hear that! 💖 congrats on both harvard and wellesley, im so excited for wellesley :)
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u/USvsKrasonv Apr 25 '26
The wealthy are telling the middle and working class to forget college, and learn a trade. They want less competition at the top universities, and more peasants for the techno fascists.
Legacy should end all together.
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u/Independent-Tart608 Mar 27 '26
i've heard you need low 8 figures to make a dent nowadays. idk about accuracy lmao.
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Mar 27 '26
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u/InterestingLoveCat Mar 27 '26
Yup Yale is a min of $10M
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Mar 27 '26
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
They love money and run endowments like hedge funds at Harvard and Yale.
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Mar 27 '26
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
I wasn't disagreeing and I'm an alumna, so I'm aware of how it works. They esp. start buttering up alumni who are approaching the "my kids will be applying in the next 5 years" age. The hedge fund comment was in response to "they don't need the money". But the money has grown like it has b/c they invest donations, including the "small" ones, like a hedge fund (and are very illiquid).
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u/timetravel3000 Mar 27 '26
As I said, legacy is alive and well with higher thresholds. Astute move on their part. Say its dead on a moral stance and make it even more elite by preserving it only for the .5%. No one said they’re dumb!
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
I think that's pretty accurate. Plus this person sounds like the generous gift was given over years. There are people giving 8 figures as part of the alumni class gift in one check.
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u/hEDS_Strong Mar 27 '26
Heard the same from a reputable source (a potential donor that checked) that $10M is the going rate at Harvard this year.
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u/Independent-Tart608 Mar 27 '26
Okay wow— i'm kind of curious how this information is gathered though. Can people genuinely call up Harvard University like "how much to get someone admitted?" That feels overly formal.
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u/Wise_Yesterday_3943 Mar 27 '26
No it's much more subtle, speaking in code. There are also no guarantees
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
No. A person interested in giving a lot will reach out, and if the amount is sufficient, they start "conversations" with you. It can easily be a years long process, b/c they will cultivate the relationship to make sure that a)you can really give what you are claiming and b)that you won't get angry at them and withdraw the offer. They will figure out what the person wants and will have various people talk to them for various reasons. I was once pulled into a conversation with a potential 8-9 figure donor for weird reasons. Basically whatever they ask about, the school will try to make happen. The development officers handle these things, and they have ppl who are dedicated to cultivating the relationship with the real money. People sending the smaller gifts both know they won't get anything but also can afford it like it's $100 (and I mean for example, someone who might send 50-100k a year over a period of time, like this person's dad probably did). If you get conned into giving something to someone who doesn't really have money, it's a big scandal, and it did happen at another university and ppl lost their jobs over it.
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u/hEDS_Strong Mar 27 '26
The schools are businesses, despite massive federal funding and huge endowments, the seats go to the wealthy that will pay, with a few seats set aside like Section 8 housing
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u/TopConcentrate4872 Mar 27 '26
your stats are very impressive, you're clearly hardworking and a very likable person. I was rejected from Cornell double legacy and I was upset even though my stats aren't anywhere near as good as yours
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
you're so sweet 😭 did you parents meet at cornell? because if so that's so cute! we will love the schools we end up at TRUST 💖
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u/USvsKrasonv Apr 25 '26
Does it matter where you go? You will be wealthy through inheritance alone.
Greedy USA
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u/Maximum-Flight6707 Mar 26 '26
that's crazy wtf is with the decisions this year??
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 26 '26
as much as i wish i could go to harvard, im hoping theyre straying farther from legacy/donation reliance. the whole college process is unfair already 😭
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u/timetravel3000 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
Double edged sword being that it’s where they get their Ability to offer to meet 100% of need based…
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u/USvsKrasonv Apr 25 '26
Umm, no…they could easily meet the need based aid without the legacy bribes.
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u/timetravel3000 Apr 26 '26
You are seeing alumni support as bribes. People give millions who have kids and grandkids waaaay past college age. Its a love of the institution, and many ask for nothing. But if occasionally they ask for something…. You dont have to be a Mendoza grad to understand basic business.
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
It's never easy and nothing is ever guaranteed. They could fill the class with only ppl with 1600 on the SAT and the same hobbies, if they wanted to. So they are figuring out which talented, smart kids to choose out of a very big pile of people who are very similar on paper, AFTER they get through the must admits and people with other connections.
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u/VirileMongoose Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
$1m isn’t special at these types of schools.. MIT and CMU had capital campaigns recently that went into the billions. $1m is an amazing amount though, very generous!
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u/ThrowRA-Soggy2780 Mar 30 '26
yo as a non American who stumbled on this post what the actual fuck is going on with universities there?? 😭wdym you gotta give them over a million dollars on top of having a 4.0 gpa im genuinely in shock rn this is unbelievable
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u/VirileMongoose Mar 30 '26
$1M is 0.0018% of Harvard’s endowment. Plus he gave it over years not a lump sum. You might get a chair named after you. Not some professorship, like literally a chair someone sits in in a classroom.
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u/leafytimes Old Mar 27 '26
Hey so I’m a parent whose kid will likely be in a similar position in a few years, and I’m actively encouraging her to look at Barnard and Wellesley. Between Larry Summers, Martin Nowak, Alan Dershowitz etc. I’m not impressed by how Harvard has handled Epstein stuff. There are weird conservative groups being formed on campus, taking university money, and excluding women (Crimson articles about this). My college roommate who did a later-in-life PhD program and taught undergrads in the last decade says the class stratification is out of control on campus compared to our time there; rich kids now refusing to hang out with anyone but rich kids. Consider it potentially a bullet dodged.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
honestly you're right, i liked the community much better at wellesley and genuinely felt at home :)
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u/timetravel3000 Mar 27 '26
I can’t respect an institution who hires a professor, elected official or not, who is an alum who co-opted an oppressed group to gain admission. That was enough for me.
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Mar 27 '26
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
wait i didn't know what flair to use, was serious not appropriate ? 😭 i was worried ppl would think it was a shitpost so i used serious
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Mar 27 '26
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
OHHH i misinterpreted what u said, yea it's competitive out here! on the bright side, this might mean the application process is getting more fair for non-legacy students :) you've got a shot and you'll never know if you don't try!!
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Mar 27 '26
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u/MollBoll Parent Mar 27 '26
We’ve been told that Harvard legacy absolutely isn’t enough anymore, it’s gotta be Harvard multi-generational legacy + major donations + connections (like, if you’re from FAMOUS legacy or the parents work in specific gov’t/corporate/industry roles) 🤷♀️
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
Some some stats say the acceptance rate is ` as much as 10x higher. However that number is made up of first gen legacy up to people whose ancestors knew Cotton Mather.
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Mar 27 '26
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
twin 😞 WE will enjoy our college experience in spite of the ivies i am manifesting it rn.
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u/Professional_Hat284 Mar 27 '26
Harvard is probably looking at that million dollars as an expected tithe to them.
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u/DetectiveOk3902 Mar 27 '26
My son was double-legacy at an Ivy and got rejected. My friends' son was the grandchild of an alum who had an entire building named for him, and still rejected. Being a donor and legacy is a dime a dozen these days.
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Mar 27 '26
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u/ppbeez Mar 27 '26
what the hell 😭😭😭 that is insane to me! i hope shes going/went somewhere she enjoyed???
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
Yeah, once your school is nearly 400 years old, legacy is a big pool and becomes another box to check.
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u/polisitious Mar 29 '26
It shouldn't matter anyway. You aren't any more qualified just because daddy went to the school and threw money at them. Legacy status should have 0 impact on admissions and I'm honestly shocked it's still legal to consider it as admissions criteria for public schools in most states.
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u/DetectiveOk3902 Mar 30 '26
It is what it is. It's a "bonus" that big ticket donors expect. The world is full of donors getting special considerations all over. Like our government and their special donors.
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u/newyorker9415 Mar 27 '26
random but i feel like you’re a very interesting person, like idk your parents being older and your situation sounds like a weird A24 movie or something 😭
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u/MollBoll Parent Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
💪 Rock on!!! I see that you’re going to a fantastic LAC and I’m genuinely so happy for you!
My daughter got deferred then rejected from Harvard with just legacy no donations, thank you for indirectly reassuring me that donations wouldn’t have changed things 🤣🤣🤣 We’re actually thrilled with where she ended up, I don’t know if we would have been strong enough to say “no” to the power of the Harvard name but honestly she’s wayyyy better off where she is now…
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
YES 100% you need to donate so much for them to even care, so glad you didn't waste your money. congrats to your daughter! 💖
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u/Certain-Ad-8469 Mar 27 '26
Why anyone would give 1m dollars to an absurdly wealthy university is beyond me...
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u/caelestis_tyrannus Mar 27 '26
Next time donate 1million to a food pantry or homeless shelter! Thanks!!!!🙏
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
ugh agreed!! out of my control unfortunately but i should find good ones near me and talk to them about it
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Mar 27 '26
You gave Harvard a chance. Now go and apply to other schools.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
thank you! i did and got into an all women's school which was my dream school :)
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u/Excel4success1961 Mar 27 '26
Wellesley alum here, glad you're Wellesley 2030!
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u/Worried-Camera-6511 Mar 27 '26
I’m a Wellesley alum too and very glad I went to Wellesley. Small liberal arts colleges have so much to offer
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u/Ok_Clock_4798 Mar 27 '26
Hey tysm for sharing :) im also a harvard legacy and there’s like so much pressure to get in, this makes me feel better
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
i'm so glad! the pressure is REAL i get that 😭 best of luck, don't let where you get into define you 💖
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u/Interesting-Film8749 Mar 29 '26
Sorry hun! Goodluck on your future endeavors, you seem like a sweet and humble person.
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u/Previous-Wing-9306 Mar 27 '26
I’m a legacy with a 1540 too.. and got rejected as well lol (no donations tho)
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u/ThemeBig6731 Mar 27 '26
Harvard and other Ivies have come under a lot of fire lately for both DEI and legacy based admissions. I can imagine them putting extra emphasis on meritocracy (at least for the time being) hurting both minority and legacy applicants.
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u/Consistent_Math_9482 Mar 27 '26
Let’s be realistic, if anyone can donate 1m (real cost ~600k after tax deduction) and get into Harvard with mid stats like OP’s, then Harvard would need to increase enrollment by at least an order of magnitude
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u/greeneyed_cat Mar 27 '26
Your mom was 59 when she had you?
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
60! IVF, surrogacy, and egg donor so i'm not related to her, but im related to my dad :)
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u/Vorov7 Mar 27 '26
Don’t put yourself down. There are tons of people at Harvard who had lower stats than you and tons of not so smart types.
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u/Azure_Main Mar 27 '26
this was very sobering to read, thank you for sharing and wishing you the best
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u/Adorable-Quality-984 Mar 27 '26
this is bullshit there’s NO REASON you shouldn’t have been accepted -nepotism matters anywhere else 😠
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u/ppbeez Mar 27 '26
i thought this was a shitpost wednesday at first but then i remembered its friday 😭 im so sorry you got rejected but i’m sure you’ll go far and do well wherever you go!
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u/CombinationMain5983 Mar 30 '26
Wellesley is a great university, so congratulations for getting in there without being a Wellesley legacy (I presume). I see a solid academic resume there (the IB is no joke). As someone old enough to be in the position to hire recent graduates, I’d generally be wary of recruiting someone who might only have gotten into their school off the back of a donation / legacy, and respect someone who’s following their own path. Furthermore, the Harvard brand has taken a knock these last few years.
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u/Aggravating_Ad8435 Apr 02 '26
You’ll be fine! And yes people drastically overestimate how much being a legacy donor helps.
It only moves the needle if your parents are major donors, ie well into the 8 or 9 figures. Back in the early 2000s the unofficial “cost” of buying admissions for a donor’s child to Harvard was quoted at $35M, as in that would virtually guarantee admission even for a non competitive applicant. I’m sure the cost is double or triple that today.
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u/jalovenadsa Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
This is one aspect I dislike about donations because that 1 million $ may’ve been spent to improve your life and upbringing in many more ways. It is cu1t-ish when universities are vague with donations and it is a double edged sword cos that money may’ve been spent beneficially but equally recklessly.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
my life/upbringing was just fine! he didn't sacrifice anything for the donations, most of them were from before my dad was even thinking about children and he just donated because he loved harvard so much. but i agree with how it IS very strange how universities take bribes and are vague with what gets you into the university.
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u/timetravel3000 Mar 27 '26
He may have donated just because he showed gratitude toward his years there and wanted to help other others. It may not have been for a quid pro quo, people do donate based on their generous hearts.
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u/Cheap_Highlight_9152 Mar 26 '26
is this a shitpost, ur parents got an ivy in their 60s assuming they are 77 today? what was your ib results and what field did you apply for, i.e., what was your narrative?
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u/Anxious-Party2289 Mar 27 '26
Dude are you calling u/SCREEEamo a shitpost IVF? :-)
Clearly they were born via surrogacy, lots of RAF people do it.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
what is RAF 😭 (and i can't tell if this is srs or not very sorry!) and yes i was born via surrogacy, donor egg so im related to my dad but not my mom!
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 26 '26
not a shitpost! yes, my mom was 60 when i was born (obviously not related to her, IVF and surrogacy so I'm related to my dad). i don't have my ib results yet (they come out in july for me and im not international) and i applied for psychology and wrote my essay about the age of my parents 😭
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
It's amazing your mom is almost as old as my mom, and I'm a Gen X alum whose mom was 30 when I was born (so not old, but many people think everyones parents were 19 in the late 20th century).
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
yeah it's very interesting! if my parents had me at a more "normal" time i could be your age, it's kind of crazy to think about
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u/MilkChocolate21 Mar 27 '26
It made me think of someone I knew who was a year ahead of me whose youngest HALF brother from her dad's first marriage was born in 1935.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
WOW that's a crazy age gap, i thought my friend's 9-year age gap with her half brother was a lot 😭
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Mar 26 '26
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 26 '26
no 😭 years old (1948 and 1952). only sibling is a twin (and a dog) :) actually wrote my college essay about it! it's very difficult living with parents almost 80 years old but i'm working through it 💖
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u/yagamisgod Mar 27 '26
Good. Your father's donation should not co-determine your decision in any way. I'm sorry you got rejected, but that's the reality for most of us.
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u/randomusername1919 Mar 27 '26
So you’re saying that your dad is done donating to Harvard…
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
definitely not, he LOVES that school 😭 he's disappointed i didn't get in but he's still very in love with his harvard education lol
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u/Crafty-One-5104 Mar 27 '26
Your mom was 77 when she birthed you?? Now that’s a miracle of modern science and you should have written your essay about that!!!
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
she was 60 when i was born, with IVF, a donor egg, and a surrogate so i'm not related to her. i did write my essay on my older parents tho!!
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u/davidswinton Mar 27 '26
I think donating close to $1 million over 50 years and if he made a recent $1 million dollar lump-sum donation may have been a different conversation.
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u/sloth_333 Mar 27 '26
A million over 50 years isn’t as impressive as a 1 million at once. That donation should be heavily discounted to the point where I don’t think it matters
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u/Effective-Birthday57 Mar 27 '26
The “legacy/donation” system exists because institutions like that need money to function.
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u/GrantTheFixer Mar 30 '26
You have stats that wouldn’t have precluded you from getting into Harvard, and had you gotten in it would have had nothing to do with the donation. $1mil is absolutely not going to impact anything with admissions there today or anytime in the last 2 decades at least.
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u/Successful-Tank5093 Mar 30 '26
I want to know more about your mom having successful IVF experience at 59 years old… plz share
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u/Jaded_Meal3417 Mar 30 '26
I know, that part really jumped out for me. She replied in an earlier thread that it was through a surrogate with IVF and a donor egg, so the genetic material was from dad. Interesting birth story!
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u/SCREEEamo Apr 03 '26
yeah ofc! my mom was not the one who carried me, my twin and i were carried by a surrogate. she was infertile so she got a donor egg from my biological mother (whom i've never met and unfortunately never will since she was anonymous and the fertility clinic no longer has her information). im related to my dad, so they took genetic material from my biological mother and my dad, put the embryos into the surrogate (idk how) and then my twin and i were born via c-section :)
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u/Kooky_Rope1649 Apr 09 '26
where is your twin going?
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u/SCREEEamo Apr 19 '26
landmark college! it's for people with special needs :) she has autism and an IEP but still does well in school
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u/Theshadowken Jul 16 '26
Kinda late for the party and to see all the smart people to reach the peak of education but to be let down at the end. Really can't imagine how that really feel.
I only have a Diploma in Chemical Technology but you guys really motivates me to take a degree in Chemical Engineering eventhou i'm 34 now.
Not even sure how i can land myself here about Harvard.
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u/Random_1184 Mar 27 '26
if the 25% seats that are given to international students are given to US students then we would have lot more acceptance here.
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u/SCREEEamo Mar 27 '26
true, but i love a diverse worldview at universities where u can interact with a wide variety of people! 💖 plus there are plenty of qualified international applicants
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u/solomons-mom Parent Mar 27 '26
Internationals at Harvard likely reflect the diversity found at Davos each year, lol!
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u/ProofOfWork886 Mar 27 '26
For undergrad, Harvard has about 15% international which is only slightly higher than its peers - SYPM all around 12%.
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u/milai1984 Mar 27 '26
The advantage is only unfair now that you didn't get in. Had you gotten in, we would have never saw a post about how unfair the legacy system is. This is disingenuous humility and you thought that you were a shoo-in because of the donations. However, despite that; legacy admissions are unfair and gradually cripples the school’s reputation
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u/Artistic-Plenty-4502 Mar 27 '26
If your dad had a million to donate and went to harvard himself, your doing alr. You are a very comp applicant as well so dont feel down.