Duke Study Says Legacy Students Underachieve
A Duke sociology professor published a study last month that claims legacy students at the school tend to underperform once class starts, the Chronicle reports. The professor compared Duke legacy students—those with family members who graduated from Duke—with students whose parents are also college-educated but not Duke alumni.
[They] collectively have lower-than-expected grades during freshman year, slightly lower SAT scores and typically do not choose to major in the natural sciences or engineering. According to self-reported academic skills, legacy students also had slightly lower levels of ability and confidence, although they normally close any academic gaps by the time they graduate.
Tags: students | Duke University
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Reader Comments
I could have told you that...
Legacies are mostly over-privileged white kids who harbor a sense of entitlement throughout their lives. And they are low acheivers with low merit as a result. They're typically worthless people, and many are candidates to wind up expelled for cheating or (later) in prison for securities fraud.
I don't 100% agree with comments
I was a legacy student myself and I saw no diminishing confidence. I wasn't overprivledged just because my dad graduated the same college I did. It more or less pushed me to do better, because I wanted to beat the GPA he scored while he was there.
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