<p>my neighbor and close friend for many years died and left a big donation and a part of a building in his name at Cornell. Would it be helpful to mention his name in an essay?</p>
<p>While you are at it, you can also mention you saw the president on TV and say you count as a VIP</p>
<p>thats pretty harsh..but dont mention him unless he was a close relative (brother, parent etc)</p>
<p>As I said in a post earlier today (re: distant relatives), I think it is useful to include in an essay any type of contact or relationship to the school. A neighbor or close friend relationship would certainly both help educate the applicant about the school and foster enthusiam about attending the school. Cornell (and all schools) want to know why the applicant wants to come to Cornell, and all ask this question in some form or another. This is the place to demonstrate geninue interest.</p>
<p>yeah, if your D had actual interactions with him that she could discuss when talking about how she became interested in cornell, then it might be useful, but don't just go randomly name dropping. </p>
<p>Quite frankly, it would be more helpful if he were alive and could write a letter to cornell if he's as influential as you make him out to be. I don't think postmortem he will be too helpful, and definitely don't bank on him having the same clout as if your daughter were a legacy, but he could do the trick for having a legitimate and more unique reason for your D being interested in cornell than many applicants--better than an eloquently phrased "I visited campus and liked it," for example.</p>