seen as the "right thing to do" (can't argue against that), but will make little difference in the end.

I had one get in to UVA, and she would've easily gotten in even if I wasn't an alum. So count that as one towards the statistics. The other, would never have gotten in had he applied, at least not based on any donation amount I would've given. Meanwhile, those giving donations sizable enough will still see their kids get accepted in most cases, regardless if they're alums or not.

At most, I see it forcing schools to recalculate their estimates on the % of acceptances they think will be taken if fewer kids of alums are accepted (since there's probably a higher likelihood that kid takes the acceptance), but even that will be minimal.

Now putting OOS kids in the in-state pool is certainly an advantage, so I will shed no tears if that goes away. If you want the benefit of being considered a VA resident, then live in VA.