<p>I am going to my second college interview now, and I am wondering should I mention it or not. I hate talking about it, and I'm not really clear on that subject either...</p>
<p>How should I fill out the occupation section? My parent retired before become incarcerated, so should I write retired or should I write incarcerated? :[ Any help would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>I would be completely honest with the interviewer. Could you use it to your advantage by discussing how it has only made you more determined to receive a good education etc… something along those lines. </p>
<p>I’m so sorry for you that you have to deal with decisions that your parent made. Hang in there and best of luck to you :)</p>
<p>I’ve been an alum interviewer, and I think that having an incarcerated parent would be an advantage since your accomplishments despite your parent’s incarceration would indicate that you had the strength of character to rise above difficult circumstance. </p>
<p>If a student were to mention something like that to me in an interview, I’d be interested in hearing how the parent’s incarceration affected the student’s life, how the student succeeded despite the parent’s circumstances, and what the student’s insights and thoughts are about America’s criminal justice system. I’d also wonder whether the parent’s incarceration has influenced the student’s choice of career, major or of community service work.</p>
<p>The challenge you face would make you stand out for Harvard, and I hope you also mentioned this in your app. You certainly should bring it up in your interview and address the things I mentioned. Many if not most Harvard applicants have the advantage of having well educated, well connected, highly successful parents. More is expected of applicants with such advantages. Applicants like you are at a premium, and are highly desired because anyone who achieved enough to be able to apply to Harvard despite having a parent who was incarcerated has the strength of character that will serve them well in college and in life in general.</p>
<p>In my admissions process I had to decide whether or not to mention the mental illness of one of my parents, something that affected my childhood and education in uncountable ways. I decided that I just wasn’t comfortable talking about it to a complete stranger, though, even if it would have shed light on unusual circumstances in my life.</p>
<p>If you’re not comfortable about bringing it up, don’t. You have no way of knowing if it will really help your admissions chances. </p>
<p>NSM raises a valid point but I believe she is making the assumption that well-educated, well connected, highly successful people don’t end up in prison. We don’t know anything about the circumstances of the OP’s relationship with his incarcerated parent or how long he/she has been incarcerated…thus I think we have no way of knowing if it will really help him to mention it.</p>
<p>Go with what is comfortable.</p>
<p>Even if the parent were well educated, well connected and highly successful, the parent’s going to prison still would be a challenge to the student, a challenge that it would take strength of character to overcome, and how the student did that could be impressive to the interviewer.</p>
<p>If you’re comfortable talking about it.</p>
<p>This is a topic that you could include in your essays or somewhere where you can address it privately, and if it makes you very sad to talk about it, you don’t have to worry about becoming emotional in an interview in front of a complete stranger. It certainly is nothing that you can control. You may want to be prepared for questions about parents because it might come up as a general question. My momma used to say that you don’t have to tell everything you know–and if it makes you uneasy, don’t talk about it.</p>