Chapter 17Harvard's Legacy, My Legacy, and Your Legacy
One of the most peculiar aspects of the US college system is legacy. As a young boy in New Zealand, I was often told by people and was quite sad to hear that “life is about who you know rather than what you know.” As a student who was learning a lot but didn't really know anyone, this was fairly depressing wisdom. I wasn't necessarily the most social, I didn't have the most friends, but I did have hard work on my side. A system where pure merit and being able to just pour in the effort yielded the best results suited me just fine. The US college system isn't quite as clean cut.
I didn't fully appreciate what legacy admissions meant when I was applying, and I figured I had many cards stacked ...
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