A Strange Legacy dmissions offices at almost all selective private colleges and universities in the U.S. give special consideration to the children of alumni. On the face of it, this seems odious.
Legacies are another matter.
Almost everyone admits that alumni preferences exist, but few will be specific about why, or how big an advantage they confer. Some of those threads are family ties. Of course not. That would not be an ethical thing to do. We look at dozens of variables, only one of which would be legacy status.