<p>I thought MIT didn't consider legacies at all?</p>
<p>It doesn’t, but if you have legacy the dean of admissions will review your application himself. This way, when angry MIT alums call and ask why their kid didn’t get in, the dean of admissions can say “Sorry, but I reviewed the application myself and the answer is still no.”</p>
<p>that makes me wonder how many legacy apps they get each year - it must be a lot of applications for one person to go over himself.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it at all - I have zero point zero zero relatives that are connected to MIT, and I got in EA.</p>
<p>MIT does not consider legacy as a factor in admissions, but knowing whether you’re the first or fifteenth member of your family to attend MIT is an important part of your context.</p>
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<p>Sorry, but could you elaborate on this a little more? I’m just wondering whether this means that a legacy is a disadvantage or an advantage or what.</p>
<p>As far as I know, sibling/parent legacy is not inherently advantageous or disadvantageous. But it puts your accomplishments into context, which is why the application asks whether you have any relatives who have attended MIT and what your parents’ level of education is. </p>
<p>In the most extreme case, given the same set of accomplishments, a double legacy applicant living in a wealthy area with two siblings who have attended MIT and parents who both have PhDs would be significantly less impressive than an applicant living in an impoverished area who would be the first in his family to attend college.</p>
<p>@zoa,
If one or more of your parents are MIT alumna, it won’t help your admission. It also won’t hurt your admission if you’ve taken advantage of all the opportunities you’ve been given.</p>
<p>I’m not affiliated with MIT admissions. I’m the parent of a current MIT student and I’ve served as a faculty member on the admisssions committee of a small liberal arts college; I’ve also served on a graduate admissions committee at UC Berkeley. (This is all caveat stuff!) But here’s what I imagined the conversation at MIT admissions to be like when my daughter’s file landed on the table a couple of years ago:</p>
<p>Admin 1: “Look, this girl’s parents both have Ph.D’s; she’s had a lot of advantages at home compared to students at this school whose parents have never gone to college.”
Admin 2: “True, but look at what she’s done. She’s maxed out the courses at her high school, and look at this other stuff…” etc. etc.</p>
<p>The only way it could possibly be a disadvantage to have a parent who’s an alumnus of MIT is if you have not been excellent and awesome in your own right.</p>
<p>“The only way it could possibly be a disadvantage to have a parent who’s an alumnus of MIT is if you have not been excellent and awesome in your own right.”</p>
<p>The first time I read that, it sounded intimidating. Then I read it again and got the point. 
I hope I’m excellent and awesome enough in my own right for MIT ;)</p>
<p>In this case it’s actually my uncle, so I don’t think it would be a very significant factor either way, actually :)</p>