<p>My sister attended UC Berkeley. Does that give me any more of a chance than other applicants?</p>
<p>Legacy does play a role in the admisson decision but the influence is minimal.</p>
<p>no sir, not at the UCs</p>
<p>First, a sibling will not make you a legacy at most schools, Second, as Xylitol says, the UCs do not practice legacy preference.</p>
<p>The UCs operate under public charter. The must be very careful in their decisions to not show any unmerited favoritism: race, religion, gender, donors, legacy. </p>
<p>whenever one of these groups above has been apparently favored over others, there results court intervention.</p>
<p>The two areas they overtly bend over backward on admissions is in the favor of applicants from socially disadvantaged backgrounds (which includes single parent homes, economic hardship, really poor quality high school, etc.), and athletes.</p>
<p>Oh, and CA applicants are favored over non-CA residents.</p>
<p>It depends on the school, as to what constitutes legacy, and how heavily it is considered in the admissions process. Most schools will give it some consideration, especially if it a parent who is the alum, and if the parent graduated from the branch of the school where the student is applying. In other words, in some schools, there is no legacy consideration if the parent graduated from a professional program or graduate school, and the student is applying to the school of Arts and Sciences. Some schools consider sibling legacies, some don’t, and the weight of the consideration differs from school to school. Some even consider grandparents.</p>