Many colleges, Harvard among them, offer preferential admission to the children of alumni. The legacy preferential system perpetuates elitism and the status quo and places blacks and other minorities, whose parents were less likely to have gone to college, at a real disadvantage. (SLD)

A recent report on University of California admissions practices over the last five years reveals that it is not uncommon for college admissions offices to admit otherwise unqualified students based on special admissions considerations, such as relationship to alumni or large donors. Experts feel the practice is nationwide. Survey data on relative…

Two veteran high school counselors answer college bound students' common questions about selecting and applying to colleges. Topics discussed include where to begin research, criteria for selecting schools, number of applications to submit, parent role, getting counselors' help, relative importance of admission criteria, applying to parents' alma…