Harvard is weird - my comments do not pertain to harvard - as they have always been much more politicized admissions.
However - be careful buying into these “legacy” stories.
It usually only counts for a few points.
One reason it seems to affect Ivy admissions so much - is that many of the applicants - already have near perfect applications.
4.0 GPA, very high SAT, etc etc - so - a few points for “legacy” becomes a large differentiator - not because it is so valuable, but because there is little left to differentiate between the already excellent students. -
imagine - 5 students - 99 pts, 98 pts, 97 pts, 98 pts, and 99 pts. Give 2 pts for legacy to the 97, and he gets in over the 98s. The difference - pre legacy - was like a 3.7 GPA vs 3.65 GPA. Because there is no real differentiation - the few pts - becomes a significant differentiator.
This is my demographic - my friends kids - legacies - didn’t get in with Dad contributing every year, and junior with 2200 SAT, 3.8GPA, 3 sports, Captain, and band leader.
There are always a few kids who get in because Grandpa’s name is on a building - but these are small numbers.
As far as Harvard and Obama - he got in for two reasons - 1.) Black, and 2.) some connections somewhere - he didn’t just wander into that Ayers relationship. He probably needed both.
It still pays to be able to show a vast preponderance of Harvard grads in your ancestry, and having an African baby-daddy appears to work ~ after all, there simply aren't a lot of them around.