<p>Hello Everybody! </p>
<p>I am writing because of my curiosity. The thing I am wondering is, if you have a strong application, would having an MIT alum. sibling boost your application even further? Because my brother got his MS and PhD from MIT. Would this case boost my application? I would be pleased if you enlighten me!</p>
<p>Well, I looked around and found this little diddy: [AN</a> INSIDE LOOK AT MIT ADMISSIONS: A student’s own initiative takes top priority in selection process - The Tech](<a href=“http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N13/admissions.13f.html]AN”>http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N13/admissions.13f.html)</p>
<p>So, it sounds like they care mostly about parents/grandparents, but not siblings. Anybody feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!</p>
<p>Note that that was written in 1999. :)</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the link! I don’t think they would be so meticulous like " Oh, his brother graduated, not his parents, so let’s just reject him." A close-relative is a close-relative isn’t it? A brother is even a closer relative!<br>
That link really made me feel happy! However I will see the result when I apply! Thank you very much</p>
<p>No, MIT doesn’t give any preference to legacies in admissions.</p>
<p>k4r3n2 if they don’t give any preference, then what does this excerpt mean? "Another special case the admissions office looks at involves the direct descendants of alumni. Jones said, “There is a bit of professional courtesy involved in the cases of the [children or grandchildren] of MIT alumni. If the Admissions Committee turns one of these students down because the student is not one of the top candidates, I will personally review the case to ensure that the decision is a sound one. Rarely, though, do I actually change the decision made by the Committee. It’s just one more look.”</p>
<p>toughman, the excerpt means that another reviewer will look at the application to ensure that it was scored correctly. There is no indication that an advantage will be given in the scoring.</p>
<p>This is a little like Instant Replay in the last two minutes of a game in the NFL. The review is automatic, but the fact that they are reveiwing it does not give the team an advantage. It is still evaluated using the same criteria, but looked at a bit more closely.</p>
<p>OK thank you</p>
<p>Actually one important purpose of the additional review is that Alumni parents, particularly significant donors or those who have a close relationship with the school are more likely to call up and complain when their darling child is not admitted. Having the person who has to take that unfortunate call being able to say that they personally looked at the file does help.</p>
<p>Hey, Mikayle… Normally I stay out of these conversations, but as an MIT alum and a current MIT parent (with another child likely to apply this year), I think your sarcastic phrase “darling child” was uncalled for! Most posts on behalf of MIT are a little classier than that. Please represent us better than that… you usually do!</p>
<p>FYI, although MIT does not consider “legacy” in admission, there are lots of legacy kids that DO get into MIT on their own merit. No need to demean them with sarcasm!</p>
<p>toomanycats, you are of course completely correct. I have seen many legacy kids get in, which they did do entirely by dint of their own accomplishments, given the lack of preference. I had meant the phrase “darling children” to relate to any parent who felt that it was a good idea to call any admissions office anywhere to complain about an admissions decision, but I was certainly unclear.</p>
<p>I apologise unreservedly. As a regional chair of the Educational Council I am each year awed by our wonderful and wonderfully diverse alumni who each year volunteer heaps of their time to interview for MIT. The MIT alumni pool contains some of the finest human beings that I have ever met, and the last thing that I would want to do would be to slight them accidentally. Mea Culpa.</p>
<p>Thank you very much again for your comments. However there is still a question mark in my mind. Because this is not a “CHANCE ME!” thread, I won’t be sharing my qualities but my MIT alum. brother says that I have already outperformed his high school success ( but of course years passed and it has become even harder to get into MIT )Therefore, based on this situation, would “legacy” itself boost my application?</p>
<p>No, legacy does not have any effect on admissions.</p>
<p>Also, graduate degrees mean next to nothing in legacy admissions at any university.</p>