<p>I have legacy at Cornell, but I've never really understood if it has a dramatic impact on my application. I've heard mixed things about having a legacy. Some classmates say that it gives me a huge advantage over others, while other people I've talked to say that it will help only if I am on the cusp of being accepted/rejected, and only then would the legacy would be beneficial. If anyone would be able to answer this, that would be great.</p>
<p>Legacy at Cornell:
Father graduated from Cornell Engineering School undergrad with Bachalor's
Mother earned Masters and Ph.D at Cornell Medical College
Mother is currently an Associate Professor at a research division of Weill Cornell Medical College
I don't think this matters, but cousin graduated from Cornell A&S undergrad</p>
<p>Common concensus is it makes a difference, at least if you apply ED. But you’re asking exactly how much. Unless somebody who posts here is/ was actually on a Cornell admissions committee, all you are likely to get here is incompletely informed speculation by people who don’t really know either. They may have seen some particular legacy kid with low stats get in, but they didn’t read the guy’s whole application, and wouldn’t have the perspective to tell how typical that much of a stretch is.</p>
<p>Someplace there are published stats on % legacy admits, vs % non-legacty admits. But I don’t think they are accompanied by an analysis of how relatively qualified those legacy candidates were.</p>
<p>If you’re not in the ballpark of being qualified for admission without the legacy bump, I would not suggest you use it to get in, even if you can. Because getting in is one thing, getting out is another. You can have your butt handed to you, academically, at this university, and it will not be fun for you.</p>
<p>Just an additional point, since both your parents have affiliations with Cornell and your mom currently works for cornell, you are probably a little more “legacy-ish” than most legacy applicants - which is good.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight both of you. Just a bit about my grades:
I’m applying to the hotel school, and currently have a 3.7 unweighted GPA, with 740/740/770 on SATII Math 2C/Bio/Chem. When I was at the info session for Hotel Administration, it seemed that the academic requirements were considerably lower than schools such as the arts and science. They said if you have 600s or so on SATII, it should be ok, but I’m not 100% sure. I think they stressed more so on the interview, essays, work experiences, etc. Currently at my school, I have not met with any students who attended the hotel school, so again, I’m not sure what exactly are the academic requirements are, but I think that it should be enough for the hotel school. Do either of you know what the general requirements are for the hotel school?</p>
<p>The Hotel School is very fit-based and yes, it is very much based on work experiences. They want to see that you’re actually interested in Hotel Administration [After all, it is the best school in hotel administration :P].
The legacy thing will help quite a bit. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>It’s actually quite ironic that you say that monydad -</p>
<p>Quote: </p>
<p>If you’re not in the ballpark of being qualified for admission without the legacy bump, I would not suggest you use it to get in, even if you can. Because getting in is one thing, getting out is another. You can have your butt handed to you, academically, at this university, and it will not be fun for you.</p>
<p>/EndQuote</p>
<p>Because, Cornell is known as the easiest ivy to get in (due to its HUGE size and variety of subjects and courses) yet the HARDEST to graduate from :)</p>
<p>I think academically I’m there. I also did 500 hours of medical research and was paid for 280 hours (those were during my second year there, the other 220 was during my first year there), but I don’t think that it would help getting into a hotel school. I also did food service volunteering, so that should cover the actual field. Also, would any extracirriculars not pertaining to the hospitality field count? For example, I have been a student in the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division for four years, finalist in one music competition, winner of two other competitions, and have performed as a soloist in Carnegie Hall along with three others. Also have been participating in varsity tennis programs outside of school for five years. Obviously, my music is more competitive than my tennis, but I was hoping if I could get an impression on how beneficial these EC’s would be for my application.</p>