<p>Well hey there. I tend to lurk, rather than posting, but I have a fairly specific question.</p>
<p>Background: My family is low income, and we live on the "poor" side of town. My school is about a half an hour drive away, two hours by bus. For the past two years, my family has been struggling with debt, and so my family doesn't have a car right now. I have to depend on the school bus (there isn't reliable public transportation) to get to and from school, which really restricts the extra-curriculars that I take. I was the president of two clubs, and had to resign from both due to transportation conflicts. I'm still a member of about five clubs, with two leadership positions as a junior, but I doubt I can hold onto the positions with my current situation.</p>
<p>Okay, so for my question, how should I explain this? I want to apply to competitive schools, (Georgetown, UChicago, Brown, etc), and show them that I have a strong extra-curricular initiative, but due to my family's socioeconomic status, I am unable to devote as much time as I would like. I don't want to devote a whole essay to the topic when I apply this Fall/Winter, and I don't want to seem whiny, but I do want to explain myself. Any advice as to how to convey this to colleges?</p>