One thing no one has mentioned so far is that low-income kids are better situated to apply to medical school once admitted to an elite college since they will be graduating with the least amount of debt of any of their classmates. 
Harvard, Princeton- yes. But the list of āno loanā colleges is a pretty short oneā¦ I wouldnāt tout the med school advantage as being particularly widespread. And med school for a kid whose parents cannot help at all (interviewing expenses, MCAT review materials, no need to work for expenses so the student can volunteer, shadow, etc.) is a tough pathā¦
Sorry, but at some point the thread migrated from āDoes Being Poor Help in College Admissions?ā to āDoes Being Poor Help in Elite College Admissions?ā. Perhaps because elite colleges tend to be where every CC discussion devolves. Sorry, I didnāt give you a heads-up. 
I take your point. However, if colleges are going to rely on standardized test scores to help identify and filter out these students, couldnāt they still use PSATs? PSATS are very highly correlated with SAT/ACT and may be more indicative how the students would do in college because a lot fewer students actually prep for them.
I think the current list of no-loan colleges is up to 19? If you want to define āelite collegesā as top 30, that leaves 11 with loans. Like I said- pray for Harvard or Princetonā¦
Looks like 1.7 million kids took the PSAT (at some point) for the last year the College Board is reporting stats. Out of what- 3 million HS seniors or so in America? And Iām going to guess that itās not the kids in Atherton or Winnetka or Great Neck or Belmont that are the missing million kidsā¦
Again, replacing one test (not taken by all, particularly the disadvantaged) with ANOTHER test (not taken by all, particularly the disadvantaged) doesnāt help the high potential poor kids who- are allegedly āso easy to findā.
Iāve interviewed low income/first Gen kids for Brown. They are truly diamonds in the rough, they are not always easy to identify, and virtually all the ones I met had a teacher, principal, or guidance counselor who recognized their āgiftednessā early on and had to be āout thereā with the family, the school, and non-school resources. Youāre an 8th grade math teacher in a rural town in Kentucky; youāve got a kid who knocks your socks off-- do the parents jump for joy when you tell them about CTY or the Duke talent search, a program which will take the kid away for 3 weeks in the summer when you need the kid taking care of a 5 year old because both parents work and thereās no daycare that takes a 5 year old in the summer? Youāre a 6th grade English teacher and you make a stink with the superintendent because there is no ātrackingā for 7th grade language arts, and so your high potential student who is reading Chaucer and Marlowe for fun is going to be bored to tears in 7th grade Language Arts because the district got rid of differentiated instruction to save moneyā¦
This is not easy or obvious. And not every high potential 6th grader gets the support to be the kind of HS student that Amherst or Williams or Yale is looking for. The various Talent searches are under political attack for being elitist and for siphoning resources away from mainstream students. Increasingly large portions of local school budgets go to special ed and not to G&T. Parents who are not educationally savvy donāt know how to work the system, or donāt know that having their āadvancedā math kid tutor the slower kids might be great for the slow kids but wonāt do much for their own kids math potential.
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I donāt now what you mean ābetter situatedā going into med school. If you mean that they are better off without UG loans? Or have you thought of the medschool application process, thousands of dollars for flights and hotels? My kid was one of those kids, and it was no walk in the park. Thankfully we pulled it off, but to say she was better situated is just wrong. A student from a low income family doesnāt have the fallback resources others have.
And letās not forget the couple hundred thousands in med school loans
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Cite please.
Not just flights and hotels. Who is sending an allowance so the kid doesnāt have to work in the college cafeteria and has time for shadowing? Who pays living expenses during the summer so a kid can volunteer or study for the MCAT? I see kids with no family fallback applying to grad schools of all kinds (not just med school) and truly- they are trying to do on a shoestring what their more affluent classmates (not the rich ones- just the ones whose parents can send $100 for a train ticket home for Xmas) manage to do- with family support.
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Thank you for your service. The nation always needs qualified health practitioners.
I meant that they (low-income students at elite colleges) are ābetter situatedā to meet the threshold consideration which is, whether they can afford $300,000 in medical school debt. Not implying the application process is cakewalk.
Haha, Iām in a really odd situation in that one of my parents attended an elite college, but do to life, I am currently where I am. I didnāt even know I qualified for questbridge until yesterday when I finished my UC app and I saw some financial details. Itās hard, because I suspect that there is a lot of guilt on the part of both my parents because they feel that despite their degrees, they havenāt succeeded to their desired standards.
I donāt even know my EFC because my parents arenāt willing to disclose any financial details to me. At most elite schools (ie. T20s), based on the rough estimates Iāve made, I will pay very little tuition.
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due to life lol sorry
Based on what youāve just described, I donāt think you can expect to receive much, if any, admission boost. Itās better to not assume any admission boost anyway. So make sure your application is strong enough for the colleges youāre targeting.
You mentioned you submitted your UC application, so are you a CA resident? If yes and you qualify, then the UCās can be generous with need-based aid. If no, then expect to pay full fees at $67K/year with little to no merit aid and no need-based aid.
Yes, I am a CA resident so that is good.
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Sounds good. I think Iāve just got to work to polish my writing and submit my apps - canāt worry about the things that are out of your control!
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In order for you to receive financial aid from the UC system and the other colleges you aspire to attend your parents will have to share their financial details with all these colleges. Just thought Iād reiterate this point. Colleges will charge you what they think you can pay not what you or your parents think you can pay. Good luck!
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So you are a legacy? Your best financial bet is schools like Harvrd, Yale, Princeton, Amherst that meet full need without loans. With sufficient talent or ability to contribute to the mix of a class on campus, plus legacy status, you have a decent chance at admission . If you write about some obstacle or challenge that you have overcome, that can also help. Admissions wonāt see your family income so it is more about the info you present in terms of overcoming obstacles (like not having money for ECās, or a mediocre school / need to take classes at CC or online etc.- but donāt whine!).
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I think colleges (and, for the purposes of this thread I am specifying elite colleges) that choose to make FGLI recruitment a priority have to adopt an āin for a penny, in for a poundā attitude. And, if that means hiring extra deans, paying for volunteer work, opening up the pocketbook for summer stipends and med school interviews - so be it.
We know many of these places are already beyond the reach for what had traditionally been the backbone of the medical school pipeline: the middle-middle-class. I say, make the investment now in low-income, premeds and reap the reward later in grateful, loyal alumni.
Why is investing in low income premeds more important than investing in low income anything elseās?