"We'll need confirmation that dad is a legit S&S [Alumni Schools and Scholarship Committee participant] because this is a `luxury' case otherwise."
"Without lineage, there would be little case. With it, we will keep looking."
"Not a great profile but just enough #'s and grades to get the tip from lineage."
It is evident from some of these readers' comments that being the son or daughter of an alumnus of Harvard-Radcliffe was the critical or decisive factor in admitting the applicant. It is clear that the `lineage tip' can work to the advantage of an applicant by offsetting weaker credentials in virtually any of the rating categories. There is also some evidence to suggest that certain alumni parents' status may be weighed more heavily than others. For instance, the distinction made between alumni and "S&S" alumni suggests that legacies whose parent(s) participates on the Schools and Scholarship Committee are likely to get a bigger `tip' (more positive weight) in the admissions process than legacies whose parents are not as active with Harvard or Radcliffe.
OCR concluded from the file review that both Asian-American and white legacy applicants were given `tips' for their legacy status. OCR observed, however, that there were significantly fewer Asian-American applicants than white applicants in our sample of approximately 2000 Summary Sheets, who had the legacy status, and fewer still, who had several generations of lineage at Harvard.
With respect to the positive weight or `tip' assertedly given to Asian-American applicants, there were few comments in the approximately 1000 Summary Sheets which reflected this. The only comment suggesting an ethnic tip was found on a Filipino applicant's Summary Sheets which stated: "The number of Phillipino (sic) students in the pool is very small. Given the scores and support I don't see a problem." It should be noted that this applicant received a 2 POR and had strong ratings in all individual rating categories.
OCR found no readers' comments which suggested that an applicant's Asian ethnicity was a significant or important factor in deciding to admit the applicant in the same way that being a legacy or a recruited athlete was instrumental in admitting numerous applicants.