<p>just wondering how much it helps if my sister is a cornell alum.</p>
<p>Not much, although Cornell does ask on the application if anyone in the family attended any Cornell school in the past.</p>
<p>not going to hurt you to put it down. i guess it would help if your sister knew someone who became an admissions officer</p>
<p>^of course that would help, but how many people are in that situation?
<em>I guess it would also help if your parents are admissions officers</em></p>
<p>I was under the impression that having a sibling alum makes you a legacy. Perhaps that's not the case. Experts?</p>
<p>It helps, very marginally, if she got very good grades while there. If she dropped out before graduating it doesn't help.</p>
<p>I'm not an expert, but but I would think that having a sibling who went there will lend credibility to that part of your application which lays out why you want to go to Cornell. The admissions people will understand that having a sibling who went there means that you are truly familiar with the school beyond what is posted on their website.</p>
<p>Sibling alum is not a legacy at Cornell or any Ivy. Only direct lineal descent, preferably unbroken (i.e., not just grandparent, although even this is apparently of some help as those stats are kept by adcom); not uncles, cousins, etc. The 14% legacy at Cornell includes only those with parents, grandparents, ggp's.</p>