<p>Will having a very low family income affect the student's chance of being accepted to an Ivy League school? Assume that the student was well qualified for the Ivies. If the student applied for a fee-waiver on the application, would the admissions officer seeing the family's income affect the admission?
I have heard that officers are more easire in means of SAT scores.
Example: If a rich white kid gets a 2030 on the SAT and a lower middle class Indian kid gets a 2280, would the Indian kid have a higher chance?</p>
<p>Sorry, I made a mistake on the example given. I meant to say that " If a a rich white kid got a 2280 on the SAT and a lower middle class Indian kid got a 2250, would the Indian kid have a higher chance, even though both scores are the same?
Assume both students have the same GPA, extracirricular, class rank, etc.
Sorry for the inconvenience!</p>
<p>I’ve asked about this before. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/469331-do-colleges-actually-prefer-admit-wealthy-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/469331-do-colleges-actually-prefer-admit-wealthy-students.html</a> </p>
<p>I’m still not sure. All the colleges in the Ivy League claim to consider an applicant’s context, but they mostly enroll quite wealthy students. Until very recently, “need-based” aid at most of the Ivy League was grossly inadequate for low-income families. But apply and see what happens in your own case.</p>
<p>tokenadult, most of the best schools in the US have nearly, or over the majority of their students on financial aid, so they admit plenty of low income students.</p>
<p>This year, however, in particular, i think that income may have had a role in a few colleges, even in “top schools.” A NY times article which even includes swarthmore confirms this.</p>
<p>Financial aid is available up to very high income ranges at some of the top schools, so the nearly half of all students at such schools NOT getting financial aid suggests wealthy students fare well in the admission process.</p>
<p>Ca87, it’s not true that most of the best schools have most on FA. The tippy top schools have a small majority on aid, but remember that includes many kids just getting loans. And even all the ivies don’t have a majority getting aid.</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question, if you believe reports in books like The Price of Admission which say the Asian kid needs 50 points more on the SAT to be on equal footing with the white candidate, your question is hard to answer. Frankly, as the colleges come up with the same percent of white kids and Asians kids every year, the question is probably whether a high income Asian kid would get the nod over a low income one. And the next question is whether a low income Asian or white kid gets the same tip a low income URM gets.</p>
<p>As far as the OPs hypothetical question the applicants would be considered in terms of
other applicants with similar backgrounds and achievements to see if they stand out.
Stand outs within any pool are admitted. </p>
<p>A very low income status will make outstanding achievements stand out more for
an applicant.</p>
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<p>Yeah but it’s a fallacy to take it to the next step and say that the presence of wealthy students at top universities is because top universities want to accept wealthy students. Perhaps wealthy students have access to greater resources? There are known correlations between income and standardized test scores, for example.</p>