Legislators slam A&M over legacy admissions [VOMIT ALERT!]

The Houston Chronicle ^ | 1/3/04 | Todd Ackerman

[SVTCobra03]

And why would someone want to attend a Marxist infected university like UT which will never beat OU, win the Big-12 or a national championship as long as Mack Brown is coach?

[TexasCajun]

For some reason the Houston Chronicle is very anti-A&M.

The Comical is so liberal biased that I finally canceled my subscription a year ago.

Why can't we get a second daily in this community of 4 million+ beats the hell out of me!

[TexasCajun]

Isn't Peacenik and Bush-hater Willie Nelson your school mascot? I use to have more respect for Texas till I learned what a cesspool of liberalism it is!

Are you one of Robert Jensen's dedicated students?

[luckystarmom]

You don't understand A&M. My dad went to A&M, I went to A&M, both my brothers went to A&M, and my sister-in-law went to A&M. My niece just graduated from A&M last month, and my other niece and my nephew are attending now.

I went to A&M every year starting at the age of 8. I went to football games, I went to Final Review, and I went to graduations. I knew most of the football yells and the school songs before I ever went there.

I took classes in high school to prepare me for college to go to A&M.

One of my nieces and my nephew did the same thing.

A&M was the only school for each of us.

We loved it from an early age because we grew up with it. I definitely think legacy is important because those are the kids that love the University. Most of the student leaders are legacies. It just part of the university, and it's a very integral part of what makes A&M, A&M.

[pete anderson]

The students at UT are largely conservative voting for Bush in 2000 and Reagan in my day at the University. Of course there are liberal students but I am sure you will find Young Democrats at gay student organizations at A&M.

If the A&M were that good of a school the President's daughter would be in College Station but instead she is a Longhorn.

[Clara Lou]

Is there any particular reason that you are bringing in silly, childish petty rivalry into this? Isn't it time to grow up?

[mountaineer]

But for legacy admissions, I'd be flippin' burgers, dude (but only if I had the right contacts)!

[logan]

The reason we were able to attend and graduate is because it was our hometown university-- we could live at home and get a degree. Does that sound like "aristocracy" to you?

No, I wasn't addressing the fact that it's a hometown university.

Giving preference to people who's parents went to a school over people who just moved to town or who are from elsewhere is unamerican. It creates a select group based on family lines who are more apt to get something than people outside those family lines. That's aristocracy. Just because A&M isn't Yale doesn't make the merits of the system different.

[logan]

It's [legacy] just part of the university, and it's a very integral part of what makes A&M, A&M.

And aristocratic traditions were what made Europe Europe for most of the Dark Ages.

Just because something is traditional, and you're personally a beneficiary of that tradition, doesn't make it right.

[Phsstpok]

Class of '91

In the Corp? My son is C2.

[luckystarmom]

For one thing, I was in the top 10% of my class, so I was not given any preferential treatment. I got in early because of my grades in school.

You have to have a certain SAT and grade point average to even consider going to A&M. After that, there is different criteria, and being a legacy is part of that criteria.

I think it is perfectly acceptable to put someone that knows all about the university, and loves it at the top of the list.

What criteria would you like to use after grades and SAT?

[luckystarmom]

I might also want to point out that my nephew was not accepted into A&M at first. He had a B average in high school and a higher SAT than I had. Then he decided to join the corps of cadets, and was accepted.

One of my nieces was not accepted to A&M at first, and I don't know why. She had good grades and a much higher SAT than I had. She was put on a wait list, and finally got accepted right before her freshman year was to start. She may have had to go to summer school in order to get accepted.

Being a legacy does not help much at A&M, but it does help if all of the other criteria has been met. Now, there are lots of us that love the university and worked hard to get in. I would imagine that is more the case at A&M than anything else.

[logan]

I think it is perfectly acceptable to put someone that knows all about the university, and loves it at the top of the list.

Hard to argue with that, but what does this have to do with where your parents went to school? Newcomers can be passionate about A&M too, I imagine.

What criteria would you like to use after grades and SAT?

Oh, I'm a romantic who believes in things like personal essays, a portfolio of work, statements of purpose, and actual conversations with passionate admissions people. I think looking at family background is appropriate in some cases. It was pointed out to me that A&M gives some breaks to people who's parents didn't finish high school, which seems like a noble thing to do.

This is probably an unpopular thing to say, but honestly I'd like favorable treatment for people from poorer economic backgrounds and recent immagrants too. I see it all as part of bringing the historically less fortunite into the great circle of opprtunity, creating a wider base of smart, motivated, connected people who can help the world be a better place. A little romantic, perhaps, but I've seen it work, so...