This article reports the findings of a new study conducted by the two researchers at Princeton University, Douglas S. Massey and Margarita Mooney. The study was based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, which covers about 3,900 students who entered 28 public and private selective colleges in the fall of 1999. The study found that the children of alumni--commonly known as "legacies"--are far more likely than minority students or athletes to run into academic trouble in college if admissions preferences got them through the door. The further a selective college lowers the bar for a given legacy applicant--as measured by the gap between that applicant's grade-point average and the mean for that institution--the lower the grade-point average the student is likely to earn, according to a paper written by the researchers. What's more, those selective colleges that are the most committed to admitting the children of alumni have the highest dropout rates among such students.