<p>My uncle and aunt both went to Yale (undergraduate and graduate, respectively), one of whom is a prominent reporter for ABC and the other of which majored in the subject in which i plan on majoring in. Do you think this counts as a "legacy," or does it help me in the admissions process?</p>
<p>Also, my mom went to Cornell. I know this counts as a legacy, but I was wondering if anyone knew if Cornell actually cared about legacies?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot</p>
<p>I do not believe that your aunt and uncle having attended Yale will not make you a legacy and you will not get the tip in the application process.</p>
<p>according to Cornell..
[quote]
We define a legacy as those current students whose parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins are also Cornellians
Cornell</a> College - Alumni
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</p>
<p>Not sure how this factors in the admissions process</p>
<p>tonystonem1291 are you interested in Cornell U or Cornell College (I think sybbie719's link is for Cornell College)?</p>
<p>Back in the last century, I was a grad student at CU, and one of my pals worked in admissions in Arts and Sciences. At that time, YES indeed being a legacy was a big deal. As I recall, the legacies had their own admissions interviewers.</p>
<p>An aunt and uncle both from Yale will count for something, but we don't have any way of knowing just how much. If your relative who was a major in the field you are headed into has maintained really good contacts with the department, you may be able to gain a slight pull from there.</p>
<p>bump, I'm also interested in knowing about Cornell University's legacy policy.</p>
<p>my bad, it was cornell college and not cornell university.</p>
<p>Here is what Uncle Ezra says..</p>
<p>
[quote]
</p>
<p>The staff in the Undergraduate Admissions Office explain that legacies (applicants who have a connection to Cornell through a family member that was either a student or an employee) go through the same admissions process as any other applicant. There is no "fast lane" for legacy students. There is also a statement in the Big Red Book (the admissions prospectus) that explains "Cornell Families...The Cornell connection counts. Among applicants of roughly equal qualifications, children of alumni may receive preference. Please let us know if a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent attended Cornell, or if a member of your family is a Cornell employee." So it is true, that a student may receive some preference, but only if other things are equal.</p>
<p>One could debate the origin and "lifeblood" of the Cornell connection. Could the 13% legacy students in the class of 2006 be so considerable, not because of admissions selection, but due to a very high number of legacy applicants out of the total pool? The family connection may inspire a student to apply to Cornell, and influence one to choose Cornell over other acceptances. </p>
<p>Cornell becomes part of a family "identity", more important as our ties loosen in the busy and dispersed world. Could the geographical connection weigh in? In this case, could familiarity breed content? Are you the first in a long line of Cornellians in your family? I hope, if they so desire, we can be a great academic home to them.</p>
<p>Dear</a> Uncle Ezra - Questions for Tuesday, December 3, 2002 - Cornell University</p>
<p>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think that counts for a legacy, but it might help you in that it's down between you and one other student and they can only pick one.</p>
<p>Btw: SKINS!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>There are two different kinds of legacies when it comes to college admissions. One is a legacy in the sense that a parent or sibling went to the school, had no financial involvement with the school, and the college might be more apt to take that applicant when considering them against another applicant with the same stats that they are also considering taking in the hopes of continuing a school connection ect.
The other kind of legacy is the kind where one has a parent or grandparent (even if they say grandparents are not legacies) who is very important to the development office of that school. That is a parent or grandparent who has graduated from the school (the undergraduate school) and has been involved often over decades, and has made substantial financial commitments to the school over time. This person if often seen as someone who will continue to make contributions and continue that connection. In that case, where that child or grandchild applies to that school, where their grades and scores are in the range that the school usually accepts, that applicant is usually given a substantial advantage in terms of being accepted.
Where someone has an uncle who attended the school, and is an important figure, it might help to have the uncle write a personal letter on behalf of his niece or nephew. It may be an advantage but might not be significant</p>
<p>Well I just realized that my grandpa is actually on the board of fundraising at Yale. Could this help?</p>
<p>Definitely</p>
<p>re: prominent reporter connection...
My daughter has run into too many relatives of actors, actresses, and politicos at her school for it to be a coincidence. I'm guessing that a nationally known reporter might get notice. Better if a parent, though.
Yale is far enough up the ladder that the son of the mayor of Los Angeles would be noticed, the daughter of the mayor of Peoria would not.</p>
<p>Two of my cousins went to Cornell.</p>
<p>Is there any way to mention them on the application?</p>
<p>my brother goes to cornell currently, does that make me a legacy? and will it give me any advantage in being accepted there?</p>
<p>My father did his postdoc at Yale but I couldn't find anywhere to put that on my app...</p>
<p>Most of the time they are referring to undergraduate school.</p>