<p>My cousin went to MIT but he tells me that alumni relation doesn't matter unless a large sum of money is donated. Is this true?</p>
<p>Being a legacy is defined as having a parent who went to MIT. If you apply and the admissions committee rejects you, being a legacy means that the Dean will personally read your file. The Dean of Admissions previously said that no decision has ever been overturned as a result of this extra read-through, however. </p>
<p>Donating large sums of money to MIT does not help with admissions. This sort of thing is done by the ivies and other schools, but not MIT (or Caltech.) MIT prides itself on being more of a meritocracy than its peer schools.</p>