[spacefiish]

I can't exactly speak to legacy admissions, but I went to the same public US university as my dad, and because of that I got my out-of-state tuition fee ($8000 a semester) waived entirely. Even though we are solidly middle-class financially, because my dad couldn't find steady work after the 2008 recession, we kids were on our own for college (that is, I paid/am paying all my own bills & student loans). This waiver is what made his alma mater an option for me financially, and while I certainly could have gone somewhere cheaper & closer to home to make it easier on my checkbook, I don't regret my choice at all and I'm happy I get to share that connection with my dad (and now also my sister!). It was an awesome place to be, and being so far from home all the time means I learned some really important lessons, so I definitely don't take it for granted.

I think it's also worth mentioning that we both exceeded the minimum requirement for automatic admission, so the fact that we were legacy students didn't really mean anything in that regard, but now I wonder what it would have been like if we didn't meet that criteria - knowing this university, sadly it is almost definitely something that influences their decision, despite their large size. I don't know that I want them to do away with legacy benefits entirely, as by proxy it's a huge reason for who I am now, but I am 100% behind the idea to do away with using them in admissions settings, I really don't think that's fair. Truthfully, me still getting hefty kickback from it isn't really all too fair, and while getting residency in this state is not difficult, that's not the same either. It's tough to balance my appreciation for what the program does enable, and my distaste for the way it excludes many equally if not more deserving people.