<p>^ As stated above. Through essays? Though I would rather save those to write about my passions... Rec letters? I highly doubt my counselor or teachers know about my background and I don't really want them to know either... How should I go about doing this? Thanks!</p>
<p>They will know ALL your family’s financial information. I don’t think you need to emphasize it any more than they already know.</p>
<p>You could add something short and sweet about it in an additional information section. The admissions officers most likely won’t have your financial information in front of them during the first reads.</p>
<p>Do you attend an underserved HS? If so, adcoms will be able to tell from the school profile that you may be disadvantaged. As twomules said, for need blind schools, admissions likely won’t have your FA information when they read your application. However, they also get that kind of information from your zip code, parents educational background and occupation. Another thing is if you use any low income waivers for applications, tests, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies so far! The problem is, my school and my surrounding region is very wealthy and most people who attend my public school are really affluent. But we just happen to live in a less expensive area of town and our situation before we moved wasn’t the greatest. So basically that’s my dilemma, since I had heard they evaluate the school’s situation but for me, it’s almost completely opposite. Thanks for all the help so far!</p>
<p>Are you disadvantaged? If you go to an affluent public school, then presumably you’ve had very good education. Why do you think you should be treated differently? You will get financial aid if you qualify for need based.</p>
<p>have u considered the questbridge program?</p>
<p>Are you disadvantaged compared to your peers or are you really low-income or lower-middle-class? I’d hesitate to claim disadvantage if in reality you aren’t, you know? That doesn’t look very good on you. But if your family is struggling and that affects you, no matter what level of income you are, you can write about it.</p>
<p>Many colleges are need-blind, so they won’t know you come from an economically disadvantaged background unless you use your essays and recommendations to them your story. Your essays and recommendations can allow admissions to appreciate less than perfect grades (if your finances/home life made it difficult – and all the more significant – to maintain your academic composure) and if you haven’t accrued a laundry list of ECs. As someone else suggested, you may want to check out QuestBridge (questbridge.org). I received a QuestBridge College Prep scholarship with less than a 4.0, and this was because the essays and recommendations allowed me to tell my story. Recommendations are crucial, and although I understand feeling embarrassed at the prospect of sharing your background, you need to.</p>
<p>^ Thanks so much courteau, and everyone else, for your replies.</p>
<p>Yeah, what courteau said was spot-on what I was wondering about. Maybe I wasn’t very clear in my original post, but what I was aiming for was not necessarily how I should be treated any differently, but just to show a more diverse background that otherwise might not be very apparent (since they want diverse student populations last time I checked) and how it affected me.</p>
<p>Another thing I wanted to make sure on: When a college is need-blind, does that mean they can see your income and purposely don’t judge you on it, or does that mean they can’t see it at all, as in “blind to the information”, so to speak.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Use a fee waiver, get your counsellor to highlight your situation or do apply via
Questbridge as some others have suggested.</p>
<p>‘Need blind’ implies the college will not take your ability to pay or not pay as
a decision influencing factor.</p>