<p>just wondering about this one.. seems like harvard wants diversity.. and some ppl used this as a hook.. is it a real hook?</p>
<p>No. Not unless you live in a empty appliance box, or something truly newsworthy. There are many impoverished familes, many students from poor families. It can give you a "tip" which us an "all things equal except.....".</p>
<p>"all things equal except" doesn't even factor in. . . it's need-blind admissions, so they shouldn't really consider whether you're poor or not in making decisions, so I don't see how it can possibly be a hook</p>
<p>Maybe if you had a very difficult childhood and you wrote about it in your essay.</p>
<p>It is "need blind" admissions, in that they do not bother to figure out what kind of aid you will or will not be needing. But they do look at other things in the app when assesing your accomplishments. A kid with two PHDs as parents, living in Greenwich, with activities in horseback riding, water polo and private voice lessons witll have their accomplishments eyed with silver spoon image. A kid who works the stables with his dad, the stable hand, and he who sings beautifully from his years in church choir as the only instructor, who lives in a down and out neighborhood who manages to get an academic profile similar to Kid #1, is certainly going to be viewed with that "tip" factor. It is not the family income that is taken into account but the entire environment.</p>
<p>... which reminds me of another issue: Are your parents very educated and still help you with your homework? Because my parents couldn't help me after middle school, and I know some children of college professors whose parents practically do all their work for them. Sometimes, I think it's just not fair.</p>
<p>my dad managed to help me up through b/c calc, but not without reading the book first, since he hadn't had the stuff in 30 years. he was just always good at math, so he picks up things quickly. as for other subjects, my parents have to be the worst at editing in the world, and really are useless for help in other subjects except physics (since it's so closely related to math). both have college educations.</p>
<p>both my parents are college professors in hstory.
i have mostly pure science subjects. So much for supervision. not that i'm complaining :D</p>
<p>i tend to think tht it does help. Impoverished family background, tough childhood, sep./divorced parents, etc. brings up situations where it is a bit more difficult to concentrate on studies/education etc. When an admission officer see tht an applicant comes from a 'not perfect' environment but still managed to be good in studies, scores and ecs - they realize tht the applicant did good, inspite of swimmin upstream. my two cents</p>
<p>If you are truly impoverished and have the stats to get in, your being low income could be a tip factor. Places like the Ivies have a hard time attracting qualified low-income students, so you would have an advantage in admissions.</p>
<p>You would need to have SATs of at least 1200, GPA of at least 3.0 plus a college prep curriculum and evidence that you have the kind of character that would survive at an intense, sophisticated place like Harvard. "Character" would be displayed by having worked a job, taken on major responsibilities in your household, having overcome major challenges (being homeless, etc.) and/or taking major leadership positions in your school or community.</p>
<p>Of course, if you meet these minimum standards, you would not be guaranteed entrance. More than likely a 3.0 would be sufficient only for a very low income student who is at a rigorous school where most of the other students come from privileged backgrounds. A low income student who is at a school filled with low income students would probably need to have close to a 4.0 to have a chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>It's important too to have perspective on what "impoverished" means for different applicants. That should mean something more like "I wonder when I'm going to get my next meal," and not "My dad's not buying me a new car for my sixteenth birthday." I am a middle-class American, with a family income maybe slightly above the national median (and a family size well above the national median, too) and I am amazed most of the time when I read posts on CC about what kids do for recreation, what parents think they can't afford (things I would never dream of buying), and so forth. </p>
<p>Harvard (we are on the Harvard forum, right?) publishes figures about income levels of its entering students, and I think my income level, solidly in the United States middle class, is somewhere in the second decile from the BOTTOM of families of applicants admitted to Harvard in recent years. I wish the Harvard administration well in identifying and attracting a larger number of applicants from the middle and bottom echelons of family income. I have no idea whether or not anyone among my children will apply to Harvard (I'm curious about Harvard because of its strong programs in one area of current interest to my oldest son), but at least it appears that Harvard is trying to dispel the idea, which I DEFINITELY had when I was a kid, that it is only a school for kids from rich families. It still mostly gets admitted applicants who enroll from families that are rich in worldwide terms, but it is trying to diversify the entering class some more along the economic spectrum.</p>
<p>"A kid with two PHDs as parents,"</p>
<p>jamimom,</p>
<p>sadly, that is my situation. my dad has a PHD, my mom a masters.. BUT... they got those from China, and right now in Canada, my dad is making minimum wage, my mom is making a bit more than that.... b/c they dont speak eng well...</p>
<p>i hope they won't take the fact that my parents hold high degrees as a sign of a high family income.... even in China, PHDs don't make a lot of money, it's the business people who make money... I am a bit worried about what they will think of my family background. should i bother explaining this in an interview?</p>
<p>If you have any doubts that Harvard is actively seeking to attract more applicants from kids whose families are not well off, then read THIS. Harvard seems determined to make the student body more diversified, economically, and to spend serioius money to achieve this goal. </p>
<p>princetonwannabe: did you talk about your family situation at all in the application, or is it mentioned anywhere in your counselor/teacher recs? if not, then yes, you should probably find some way to work it in to the interview. I read (albeit on the Yale interview site) that interviewers aren't supposed to bring that sort of stuff up, but the applicant is welcome to discuss it if they want.</p>
<p>for one of my essays.. i just had a sentence.. very short one saying due to my father's poor english, he spent first two years in Canada earning min wage, etc etc.. it was about how he influenced me... they might think its weird a PHD earning min wage.... but it happens to some new immigrants..</p>
<p>I wouldn't discuss your parents' income and PhDs in your interview. . . . that's weird, and it's not abut you. . . . . Imagine what your interviewer will think of you? Your interviewer will think, "Oh, he's trying to make me pity him, poor thing barf"</p>
<p>"Due to his poor English, my father has spent his first few years in Canada working in restaurants, then in an industrial plant, and earning minimum wage. To save a dollar for bus fare, he would always walk five miles to work and back. One morning, my father came home surprisingly late, accompanied by a police car. "</p>
<p>that was part of the essay</p>
<p>Yeah, don't say any more in your interview. It would sound like whining</p>
<p>yeah.. i was worried cuz the PHD and minimum wage didnt fit up.. but thats the truth and they might think its .. messed up :S</p>
<p>Families that are considered low income in the admissions process are flagged by qualification for waiver of the application fee. However, in addition to actual monetar situations, the colleges also look for hardship. Is the student working to help support the family? The address and school is often an idicator; if at a private school, the counselor would usually indicate that the student is on scholarship. But "advantage" is not weighed by income alone. If you have well educated parents, spent years having private music lessons that permitted you to become proficient in an instrument, and have a profile of a priviliged child, that is more telling than the income bracket. Your family might be working itself to the bone, but if it is for YOUR benefit, you can be more priviliged than many kids whose parents are not putting in the effort for their kids. Parental interest and support are the strongest indicators of a child's success. Money makes it easier to have both of those factors, but it can be independent of finances as well.</p>