<p>I’m stepping on a soap box for a moment to say that I resent the questions that are asked about the parents. It’s none of the college’s businesses. I give as little information as possible. You don’t have to fill in the information. </p>
<p>For most situations, it is not going to make a danged bit of difference. Most schools have pretty straightforward admissions criteria. For some highly selective schools, it can make a tipping point of a difference. Some schools take an excrutiatingly close look at all of the applications. Especially some of the very small selective schools. So they look at everything when they are making their decisions. In many cases, a student’s accomplishments and performance can look different, seen against parental background. A kid with two PHD parents who lives near a college is going to have an easier time getting campus jobs and projects, for instance, or working and having ECs in their parents fields. If mom and dad are blue collar workers, and the kid is spending is time doing lab research and taking outreach advanced courses, it shows someone going against the grain. It’s not a perfect method, but it can tell some stories. </p>
<p>The other thing it can do is open up some possibilities of some merit awards that may be set up for certain situations. Something for professor’s children, something for army brats,…you get the picture.</p>
<p>But these are both rare scenarios. Most of the time, it is a non issue.</p>