<p>My great grandfather was from Cornell, grad class of 1939. Although he is a pretty distant relative, he was amongst one of the first chinese people to attend the Cornell and he actually has his diary and some of his letters featured in Cornell's libraries. He's also a very famous biologist in China (not so much America), and has a number of his papers research papers published by Cornell. </p>
<p>Will any of this help me in admissions? Or is this legacy way too far back to hold significant weight? Thanks</p>
<p>Yes, you are considered a legacy. </p>
<p>While legacies have a higher rate of admissions than non-legacies, don’t depend on it for admission.</p>
<p>Actually, cornellpezra is wrong. </p>
<p>A legacy is generally defined as a parent or grand parent; however at Ivy league institutions a grand parent is even pushing it as was revealed in “A for Admissions.” For them most parent, parents are the only relations that may count as legacy. However a grand parent may have some effect, miniscule, however at an Ivy. </p>
<p>Especially not a great grandfather. sorry</p>
<p>My (limited) experience is that Cornell respects families. I think your great-grandfather sounds like a very interesting person. Good luck.</p>
<p>To figure out if you are a legacy or not for a particular college just read their supplement. As an example, on Cornell’s supplement it asks for parents, grandparents and great grandparents who attended Cornell. Yes, having your great grandparent attended Cornell makes you a legacy, but probably not as strong as your parents. But in your case, it may make you an interesting admit. </p>
<p>To use your legacy card it’s best to apply ED</p>
<p>Great grandfather + Cornell grad school (as opposed to undergrad)? Sorry, negligible edge.</p>
<p>^^ I think he meant “grad class” as in the year he graduated. But regardless, undergrad, or grad, a great grandparent is in fact negligible as fiona says</p>
<p>I completely disagree that it’s negligible. </p>
<p>Who cares whether it’s a technical legacy or not. (In fact I agree with oldfort, It probably is a legacy and you should apply ED.) Regardless, it’s a pretty unique and interesting story that should be mentioned as it will only work to your advantage.</p>
<p>So if he was from grad school that makes the chances even worse?</p>
<p>I can’t say whether or not it will help in admissions, but that’s a pretty great story. It’s wonderful that he documented his life and (presumably?) donated it to Cornell. He sounds like a super cool guy to have in your lineage.</p>