<p>Regarding legacy, I agree with iceui2
According to this article, there has been a trend suggesting a huge boost for legacies. Also, Stanford is known for accepting “legacies” and athletes as opposed to some rather qualified applicants. Those applicants generally get into one of HYPM though.
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09legacies.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09legacies.html</a></p>