<p>Gives you a leg up</p>
<p>I was waitlisted with a nearly perfect GPA, what seem to be very strong ECs, essays and high SAT scores; my mother graduated in the 80s... Being a legacy (must be first gen, I think) helps in that it grants you access to the AdComm which is otherwise somewhat untouchable, but it definitely does not guarantee admission. According to my contact in admission, the admit rate for legacies was considerably >50% this year.</p>