Both of my parents went to university. However, they did not go to prestigious universities and not in America.
Does this affect my chances of getting admitted?
Are you wondering if you qualify as first gen?
No
Yes it probably plays a role, a minor one albeit. If it didn’t matter, the schools wouldn’t ask.
All of the schools are vying for bragging rights on college placement. Having a kid whose parents are legacy at well known schools can help during the college admissions cycle.
But don’t worry, the bulk of the decision is based upon YOU, not what your parents did.
Since prep schools have significantly higher proportions of legacies and any most selective college won’t accept unlimited number of students from any one prep school, legacy preferences do affect your chances of admission to the most selective colleges. The effect is much less, though, at the somewhat less selective colleges.
As in 99.999999%. The school is admitting you, not your parents. If your parents went to that prep school, that would have a positive impact. If your parents come across as raving psychos, that will have a negative impact. Where they went to college, that would be at best a barb of a feather on the scale - not even the whole feather.
It absolutely does. To what degree varies from university to university. In fact the school indicate on their data set what criteria affects admissions, and legacy is almost always included on this list.
The OP is asking about how it affects admissions to high schools, not colleges. @akin67
Why do the schools ask? Why do they ask about the parents’ occupation?
Is it possible an applicant’s accomplishments are seen as more/less impressive based on their parents’ education and/or compensation? I imagine there must be admissions officers who let this play into their thinking. All else being equal, and it never is, some might give a nod to an applicant whose parents have less impressive education and occupations compared to another who grew up with parents who come from the best universities and have substantial income. There may be other AOs who swing the other way and give a nod to the other applicant under the assumption the student has access to resources who can ensure success at BS.
Maybe they are data mining. If so, what’s the endgame?
@TheSwami In any case, it helps to draw a picture of the applicant. That’s why they ask.
I think the endgame is knowing as much about an applicant as possible. As you said @TheSwami everything else is never equal so I would hazard a guess that no, they are not using the applicant’s parents’ educational background to make admit decisions!
The AOs are always looking for kids who will be successful in their school, that comes in many different forms.
Agree…if the end is “knowing as much about an applicant as possible,”…why? While I do not think a parent’s educational background impacts a decision per se, I do think there must be something to it and in some cases it must get mentioned as part of some applicants’ story. Whether the story goes, “Sally will be a first generation college student,” or “Harry will do well, his parents clearly value education,” there must be cases where it is relevant. If it is included as part of the story then it has some impact, albeit possibly minute.