<p>How much is legacy discounted during the regular decision process?</p>
<p>columbia hasn’t been so kind as to let us (alumni interviewers) know this, but rumor on the block is that they practice something similar to some other ivies. for example, penn openly states that students who are legacies only receive preferential analysis (not sure thing still) if applying early and say that students that apply regular cannot be given any further weight in the application review with respect to other students. and i think this has some truth, it makes sense because there are fewer applicants applying earlier, and legs are probably more likely to stand out because of their interest in Columbia.</p>
<p>but i gather there are two divergent schools of thought for regular apps. </p>
<p>they may think that if you are a legacy that perhaps it suggests you might be ‘more likely’ to accept than another student as you have a relationship with a school. and schools probably don’t want to waste a spot on someone ungrateful for it (read: yield). but that isn’t a sure thing if you don’t stand out as much or are not even in the range of the kind of student they would admit regular.</p>
<p>however, if you are a leg and decide to apply regular it may also suggest you are applying to competitor schools (testing the waters) or that you do not wanna follow dad or mom’s path (Columbia is not your preferred school). which may work against you in getting into Columbia, just consider the psychology of it. which is fine, if the above reasons are your thoughts, but it may mean you could get denied from Columbia even if you are within the margins as you would be considered less likely to attend. </p>
<p>overall i think the actual substance of the application would tell the difference. if you seem like a legacy that takes the status for granted, well you may find bad news come april.</p>