<p>how much would one of my parents going to cornell help my chances? (ed or regular)</p>
<p>equate it to adding about 160 pts on your SAT (although having taken AP stat in school that’s probably a faulty way of looking at the data). It definitely helps your ED chances a lot, but you have to be competent too; having legacy is almost certainly enough to push you over if you’re already well qualified. If you apply RD it actually hurts your chances I heard because they expect you to apply ED if you have legacy there.</p>
<p>If you have aunts and uncles who went to Cornell, does that count as legacy? I have two uncles and an aunt who all graduated from Cornell (My dad was the only one of his siblings who didn’t go there).</p>
<p>Legacies give you a slight advantage (last year, the admit rate for legacies was 35%).</p>
<p>You must be a direct descendant to be a legacy (siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins do not count) going back to great-grandparents.</p>
<p>It’s pretty amazing they even list “great grandparent” on the Cornell supplement…what other school does that? Do you think that makes much of a difference if that’s the only legacy connection for a candidate? It’s not like that person would have an influence on the applicant regarding college stuff.</p>
<p>Probably less so than Stanford; legacy takes up half a page on the Stanford supplement… Also, considering that 11% of the class of 2014 was made up of legacies, I would say that is significant. FYI though, you must be a direct relation to a Cornell alum: That means son/daughter/grandson/granddaughter. I’m sure they look at siblings, but it’s not as big of a deal for them.</p>
<p>@dontfeedsparky: It certainly does not hurt one’s chances to be a legacy and apply RD. Being a legacy can only help.</p>
<p>Admissions officers tell students that legacy helps them the most ED; you should take that with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Does legacy help with graduate admissions as well? In general?</p>
<p>Gee, cadmium. I kindof surprised. Does your child like it at Cornell?</p>
<p>lol. A 160 point increase? I’d have a 2440. 
I dont understand. The admit rate for Cornell legacies is 35% and ED applicants is 33%. But then you’re saying being a legacy only helps if you’re applying ED. Does that mean the Legacy+ED admit rate is around 50%? Say i sent in a 1450 (CR+M) and a 2170 altogether, but I asked for 40% aid, as an international with sufficient other qualifications. Where would that put me?</p>
<p>“Does legacy help with graduate admissions as well? In general?”
IMO, not at all.
Moreover, per above many people do not think siblings count towards legacy even for undergrad admissions.</p>
<p>How did that heat thing work out, ok?</p>
<p>Or did you mean attending as an undergrad would help you attend for grad there yourself?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the program. For example the M.Eng. program did favor Cornell undergrads, IMO, when I was there. But at least some of the grad programs there actually practiced reverse discrimination, they would not take their own undergrads. The theory being, it was better for the student to get the ideas and experience from more than one institution, and these students had already been exposed to how the people at Cornell did things. Other schools have this policy as well, not just Cornell. And it seems to vary by department.</p>