<p>Penn considers graduate degrees important legacies in admissions.</p>
<p>Stanford is very upfront about its legacy boost. When my D applied, Stanford sent a letter to the house that said that Stanford appreciates its legacy applicants and that the legacy factor could be the boost that could make the difference between two identically situated applicants. But then how often do you have two identically situated applicants? Every applicant is different in some way.</p>
<p>Of all the legacy status my kids have, we consider Stanford's to mean the least. While they take grad school legacies and seem generous, they take about 25% of legacies compared to 50% at other top schools. We're really not counting on that one!</p>
<p>Similarly: at Princeton they said the grad school would count the same as undergrad, but I got the impression that "the same" means "not a heck of a lot", in either case. Possibly different for big contributers, but I did not discuss this with them.</p>
<p>At Cornell and Penn legacy seems to be worth something if you apply ED. But I didn't ask them about grad vs. undergrad.</p>
<p>Cornell is one of the few I can think of that asks if your parents or <em>grandparents</em> attended. A friend who was formerly an admissions officer at Penn told me that an applicant whose parent has a degree from one of the professional schools gets at least as solid legacy consideration as a parent with undergrad degree. It makes a lot of sense, actually, many grads of Penn Medical, Penn Law, Wharton, etc. stay local, are movers-and-shakers in Philly who can pay the tuition, make donations and otherwise contribute to life at Penn.</p>
<p>I have a sister who is going to college soon while my brother and I are both at cornell. Would that help her in the college admissions process.</p>
<p>I never really understood legacy considerations in the college admissions process. Does anyone know how much it compensates for grades and the overall quality of the applicant? In my high school, for example, there was a girl who applied to Yale and was admitted. The funny thing was that she wasn't even top 30%, but her whole family were graduates from the college and/or law school.</p>