<p>I was just wondering how adcoms know of your economic status. Do they compare your application against your financial aid form? If both of your parents graduated from college do they automatically assume you are not from a low income family? </p>
<p>Applicant A: upper middle class family, mom is a homemaker, high SAT scores (probably had SAT prep courses), no employment during academic year, worked at Dad's law firm in summer, A+ ECs (the ones that cost money), perfect gpa, hardest courses available, top 3% of class. Excellent essays but very common. Lots of cs.</p>
<p>Applicant B: low income (although parents are college educated), single family home, SAT scores in 90th percentile but still LOW by Ivy standards, worked 2 jobs during academic year and 3 in the summer, great ECs that were financed by working, very good gpa (A-), took hardest courses available. Top 5% in class (only student in top 5% who worked during academic year AND was from a low-income single family home).Very original essays. Some cs.</p>
<p>Are they going to cut Applicant B some slack regarding the SAT scores?</p>
<p>The big fee waiver on printed on color paper would be a sign</p>
<p>The school would look at your zip code, what your parents do for a living, what type of ECs you particpate in, whether or not you have a job, what school you attend, your ECs</p>
<p>Even if you live in a single parent home they still look at both your parents (your custodial parent could be poor but your non custodial parent could be filthy rich).</p>
<p>If a school is not need blind (majority of the colleges in this country are not) they can just look at your financial aid information.</p>
<p>Regarding would you get some slack, that is a tough question, because there is a difference between woking to pay for an expensive ECs or the cost of your car (it is not unheard of for students to work to pay for their own prep courses) and working to help out your family to keep a roof over their heads. You are not going to get the kind of wink that a person coming from a truly impoverished enviorment (low performing school, first generation college student)</p>