"It does not surprise me at all that the gifted, driven graduates of Harvard University raise very gifted, driven children," says one male undergraduate legacy in an e-mail.

"Children of Harvard-educated parents are naturally going to have more educational advantages and resources at home while growing up," says Nathaniel P. Ekman '00, whose parents attended Harvard and Radcliffe as undergraduates, in an e-mail. "It is reasonable to expect that more of them are going to be better-prepared for success at a university such as ours."

Nevertheless, because of the difference in admissions numbers, legacies say they have to deal with stereotypes and speculation about their acceptance into Harvard.

"Personally, I think that this statistic [40 percent] has been manipulated by the ignorant to harass and destroy the self-confidence of students at this school whose relatives did attend Harvard," Ekman says.

"With few exceptions everyone who was accepted is extraordinarily gifted in some capacity," says a male undergraduate legacy who wished to remain anonymous.

All the legacies interviewed say they feel they deserve admissions regardless of their lineage. However, this confidence does not preclude them from self-consciousness.

"I'm not real forward about it," says a female undergraduate legacy in an e-mail. "This is in large part because of the stereo-types both here and at home."

"In high school it was a question," she continues. "Many people expected me to get in because I was a legacy."

"Naturally I do not walk through Annenberg Hall wearing a sign that says 'I'm a legacy! Please think all the less of me for it!'" says Ekman. "However, if I did, the general public just might follow those instructions."

Godfrey Lowell Cabot Henderson '00, after whose great-great-grandfather, Godfrey Lowell Cabot, Cabot Library is named, calls being a legacy more of a "cross to bear" than a privilege.

Henderson recalls that when his Harvard interviewer saw his full name, the interviewer laughed.

Parental Preparation

Last names aside, legacies are introduced to Harvard at a very young age, a fact that might lead more legacies to apply for admission.

Indeed having parents who attended the college could place an emphasis on Harvard.

"They wanted me to come here for a long time," the female legacy who wished to remain anonymous says in an e-mail. "I've been going to their reunions since I was like three."