<p>How much does legacy count when applying to Cornell?
My brother is an undergraduate student in Cornell CAS...and...
will this lift up my possibilities...by any chance??</p>
<p>I think legacy is considered or at least acknowledged in admissions at Cornell. However, it’s my impression that the policy applies only to parents or grandparents only. </p>
<p>Having a brother could definitely help you play up the “I KNOW Cornell’s a good fit for me” aspect, though, because you’re likely to know more about particular aspects of the school than many other applicants. I mean, if it were me, I’d bring it up in an essay, so long as you make it fit it there and don’t make your intention too obvious.</p>
<p>This kind of reminds me of my own Cornell engineering essay; I’d just received my SAT II scores (I took the last test opportunity to send) and my Physics one was not so beautiful, but I added a sentence somewhere in the essay akin to “Though my SAT Physics score might not indicate a strength in physics…” It was pretty pathetic, but I was just freakin out because the app was due in like four days… oh well it all turned out for the best…</p>
<p>^I did what shalalal recommended in one of my essays for a school that has a sibling attending. It was a why ___ essay and I did a day in the life theme, and I mentioned that I had lunch with my sibling and therein tryed to negotiate use of their car for the weekend (which is something I’d probably do, allthough it wouldn’t be so cordial). I got in…</p>
<p>Legacy always helps, but in your situation, you can market yourself by saying along the lines of, “Here is successful student who was nurtured by his parents, and he flourished after he attended Cornell. He is my brother, I was raised in similar circumstances, my grades are excellent as well, I will flourish at Cornell too.”</p>
<p>But regardless of what your legacy situation is, you need to have a good academic background to begin with in order for anything to go through.</p>