How much does legacy matter at Stanford and Ivies, i have heard different things?
Stanford sent a newsletter to alumni a year or two ago that discussed admissions. One thing that it said was that for legacy students two different admissions officers would read the application. That was all that they promised alumni.
It didn’t sound to me like it would make much difference.
Depends on the college so look at each college’s website carefully (ex. Penn only counts legacy in the ED round). Unless the alum is a multi-million dollar donor or something along those lines being a legacy won’t get a person into a top tier college that he/she isn’t otherwise well qualified to attend.