are you a legacy if your parent went as a a graduate student? How about aunt or uncle?
At some schools yes, but at most schools no. Your aunt and uncle do not count. I know Penn counts graduate students as legacy, but most schools only count legacy of your mom or dad went for undergraduate studies. Also, legacy does not count at most state schools.
how can you find out? do schools spell it out for you?
Usually. You can most likely find the answer on their website. Which schools are you looking into specifically?
as far as legacy, Duke.
Stanford also counts the kids of grad students as legacy. It’ll guarantee your application a second reading unless you’re a major donor ( in which case, it might help a bit more). At small LACs, an aunt or uncle won’t make you a legacy, but it could suggest that your interest in the school is not entirely random, and since some schools are more worried about yield, it could be minorly helpful. Note that in all these cases, you’re expected to be an attractive candidate and legacy will tip you; this won’t make up for weaker thsn average stats.
Duke acknowledges grad school legacies, at least they did a few years ago. My D applied and I went to grad school there. They sent a letter after my D applied acknowledging the legacy connection and said that her application would get an extra special reading. Whether that made any difference at all is a hard to say. My D was waitlisted there. She hadn’t applied ED, so I expect that most legacy advantage is dissipated by that lack of reciprocal interest. And she made no effort to get in off the waitlist, so I can’t say whether it would have helped in that regard.
I would say the application is probably where they spell it out most clearly because they will ask you about your relatives and they will make it clear which relatives and which programs they want to know about.