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love it … I told 2ndtogo to put my profession as “middle management grunt” which lived in his common app for a day or so until he returned thinking that might not be the best description to use.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am a bit afraid of that part of the application myself. My dad does Primary Care Medicine and he gives most of his work away, not kidding. So, in my case, if I just put down “physician” schools could think he is a wealthy doctor, which isn’t the case. The newest car we have is a '98 Volvo wagon. The coolest is an '86 Ford pickup. A specialist can make 10 times as much as Dad does but they both still have the same title- Doctor. My Dad said not to worry about it.</p>
<p>I agree with the company description - no one would have a clue what my husband did or have a hint at our income from the name itself. Of course, if youre also applying for financial aid (and it’s not a need blind school), what is written on the common application means very little because what it comes down to is if you check the little box of whether or not your also applying for financial aid. Even at the “need blind” schools, it won’t let you submit the application without checking the box “yes” or “no.”</p>
<p>Eddieodessa - nice to know that you love me the same.:). For my own traveling ease and my family’s safety because of where we live now, we always tell people that I am an IT Manager. I put that on my traveling document, and it’s not lying. </p>
<p>D2 has a driver/bodyguard wherever she goes now, but it’s provided by my company, and it’s not something she would write about in her application. At her current school now, there are kids who get picked up by 3 cars, 2 bodyguard cars in the front and back, and the main car where the kid sits. Would D2 be happier to be able to walk or drive to school by herself like all other American kids? Yes. Would some adcoms think what she has is too privileged? Yes. </p>
<p>I think there is a big spectrum of social economic on CC, but what most of us have in common is love of our children and our regard for education. There are certain things we don’t post because they are irrelevant or they could be upsetting to some people. I don’t see how that’s any different on the college application. Why is it anyone’s business what degrees your parents have, their occupations, or what other schools you are applying? If someone were to ask you, “How much money are you making?” Would you be obligated in answering or give an honest answer?</p>
<p>"Emahee…one thing though…the Common App doesn’t just ask the applicant’s parents’ occupation but also asks their employer. So, if you list parent as President of Rosie’s Cleaning Services or President of Bloomberg or Microsoft, it gives just a little inkling, no? "</p>
<p><em>shrug</em> That’s obviously true in some cases, like if it were really Rosie’s Cleaning Services vs Microsoft, but I don’t think you would ever know with my dad’s company or the majority of others which I would guess are somewhere in between. Our company doesn’t have name recognition unless you’re involved in a very esoteric group, but by all appearances it is a perfectly legitimate and substantial software development and website management company. The only clue that it is a small, home-based business is that the address is the same as our home address. I didn’t apply to any common app schools so I don’t know if they ask for the company’s address, too, or if they go to so much trouble to look up the company.</p>
<p>oldfort: your situation has me wonder just what you’re writing about (and where!). I couldn’t imagine having/needing bodyguards. (hence your screen name?)</p>
<p>As for why the colleges ask that information about their applicants’s background: it paints a picture. Wouldn’t the environment be different if the applicant lived with both parents who had a graduate degree vs. the applicant was 1st generation? Certainly it would. Just like there’s a difference between someone from NYC vs from a farm in Kansas. On the other hand, I’m totally opposed to the question that asks where else are you applying. That’s not about the applicant’s background, but about the competition.</p>
<p>What I am writing about is people don’t usually understand or relate to situations they have no experience of. People tend want to judge based on their own experience. Most people do not have parents who are CEO or make over 180k (even though in the NE it’s barely a middle class). When someone puts it on their application, it appears he/she had a privileged life. D2’s life style is out of necessity now, but unless it is fully understood, then it appears as excessive. Instead of going into great detail on her application, it would be best to leave it out, but it doesn’t mean she is not telling the truth or has no integrity.</p>
<p>OT–but, the vast majority of families in the NE, including North Jersey where we both live, oldfort, do not have family incomes anywhere near 180k. So I guess we’re all lower class??? (mine is half that.)</p>
<p>bluegrassgirl–my husband used to be a pediatrician in an inner city clinic (actually on a van). Any doctor makes more money than the average, and we were a bit closer to the above number than we are now, but still, like your dad, he did not make what is imagined that doctors earn. I believe my kids put something along the lines of “community clinic pediatrician” on their apps.</p>
<p>Should not hide anything and be wise</p>
<p>Everyone says to be honest,but don’t forget about your teacher references .If you present yourself differently than your HS counselor and teacher references ,the disparity will create a question .How did you spend the last few summers ? Working at a paying job,or as an intern?College admissions people will pick up the phone and call your HS and ask what they want to know.Extracurricular activities can be very telling as well .Don’t lie-it will catch up with you .From mom of 4 ,whose youngest D is at Harvard</p>
<p>Garland - you seem perfectly happy with how you live, as we have seen with many of your posts. When we lived in NJ, I don’t think many famiies we met made combined income of less than 200k, just due to cost of housing. With an income of 200k, one probably could qualify for a 600k house, and there are not that many homes in that price range commutable to NYC. </p>
<p>There is another thread about GC. Most people are saying their GCs barely know them. Those GCs write recommendation letters based on the brag sheet student put together.</p>
<p>
Sure there are … maybe not the size you’d like or in the town you’d like. For example, here are listings in Maplewood which is just a few miles outside NYC … [Homes</a> for Sale](<a href=“http://www.maplewoodhomesforsale.com/listings/location/maplewood/minprice/300000/beds/1/sort/price+asc/?mkwid=skazcaiYQ&pcrid=3879853013]Homes”>http://www.maplewoodhomesforsale.com/listings/location/maplewood/minprice/300000/beds/1/sort/price+asc/?mkwid=skazcaiYQ&pcrid=3879853013).</p>
<p>Oldfort–that may well be true of the people you met, but it remains outside the norm for Jersey in general.</p>
<p>Maplewood is very close to the Oranges, it’s the last frontier before it gets bad. There are some beautiful older homes in the town, but one needs to be very careful where a home is located in the town. The tax is also very high because of Essex county. As you move from Short Hills and closer to NY, housing prices tend to drop. Most people we know live west and south of SH.</p>
<p>Anyway, the (admittedly off topic) discussion isn’t about choices, it’s about the facts-and the fact is that most families in NJ don’t make 180k, so that can’t be “barely middle class.”</p>
<p>I guess those folks in Maplewood couldn’t understand the deprivation of trying to live on 180K.</p>
<p>Garland - that’s precisely what I am writing. You believe you are the norm, and I believe we are the norm based on our experiences. Depending who the adcom is, he/she would have a different reaction to applicants.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter who is the norm.</p>
<p>The child of a professional athlete or a world renowned concert violinist or a former President of the United States or a Senator’s child or the child of the CEO of a Fortune 50 company isn’t expected to be waiting tables at the local diner after school to help pay the phone bill. It is ludicrous to think that a child of privilege needs to pretend to come from Newark, and the kid from Newark who against all odds may be applying to an elite college isn’t expected to be on the Varsity squash team.</p>
<p>OF–I think we’re talking at cross purposes. i’m not talking about what I believe, but what’s reality. I know there are lots of wealthy families in NJ, as everywhere. But the median family income in NJ in 2008 was 70K. (given the recession, I doubt it’s gone up much since then.) *that’s *middle class.</p>
<p>Well, I think it might be a little unfair to demand great accomplishments, near-perfect scores, and world-class ECs from a student if his parents are wealthy.</p>