<p>The official position of MIT is that legacy status does not provide a advantage in admission. Legacies that are rejected do supposedly get the benefit of a second read by the Dean of Admissions, although decisions are hardly ever reversed. It allows the Dean to deal with the irate parent calling in March seeking an explanation as to why his kid was rejected. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I do believe there is a substantial and real benefit for legacies at MIT. Very often, legacies grow up in an environment where technology plays a prominent role. They are encouraged to excel in math and science in high school and develop an interest by symbiosis. In the same manner that children of artists often develop artistic talents of their own, so do children of parents involved in science, medecine or engineering develop similar talents. </p>
<p>MIT cares very much about fit and as a legacy you have a significant advantage over an applicant who may know the school only through reputation. You have probably visited the school, sat in on classes, spoken to students. You may have met other alums through your parents. You may know about the dorm or greek culture, the psets, hacking, UROPs, IAP and all the things that make MIT special. But most of all, you may have that passion for innovation and creativity that the school seeks out among the applicants. You can’t fake it through a list of ECs or even a perfect transcript ot test scores. You either have it or you don’t!</p>
<p>As an EC, I interview applicants for MIT. I can generally guess within minutes if the student is a legacy just from the general conversation. I don’t give applicants a better evaluation than other students just because they are legacies, but most of the time legacies really get what MIT is all about and they know what they can expect from the education. Sometimes, I feel I am interviewing a current MIT student. Since I don’t have their grades or test scores, I don’t know how they rank relative to the competition. I only know a greater number of them get in from my limited sample.</p>
<p>So in short, you don’t get brownie points for being a legacy, but you may just be a more natural fit. And that counts for a lot!</p>
<p>BTW as far as the OPs question, the data we are given as ECs does not show a different pattern of admission in EA as opposed to RD. Slightly more boys are admitted in each round.</p>