<p>Is income a factor in college admissions?</p>
<p>I don't mean as in the inability to pay for college, but </p>
<p>does the income bracket of an applicant have any influence on admissions?</p>
<p>Say there are two students with the same stats, except one is <40,000 and the other is >100,000 , is there any influence in this?</p>
<p>It’s assumed that a student from a low income household faces greater challenges than an upper middle class kid. Therefore, with equal stats, the lower income student is viewed more favorably.</p>
<p>For example: a kid from Detroit scores a ACT31 is viewed much higher and will be more sought after than an Ann Arbor kid who scores 31.</p>
<p>Cool, but how big of an influence is this compared to other “hooks”, if you can call it that?</p>
<p>Low income is only a plus factor at a few schools, generally the top ones. Its a tip factor t those school, not a hook. At schools with small endowments and less dollars for aid (most) being low income neutral or a negative.</p>
<p>Colleges may not know you are low income unless you mention it in an essay.</p>
<p>So the lower income guy will not only get your spot in a college but he will probably get 100% of his college tuition paid for. Where as the middle income guy gets to pay for much of his schooling and get turned down for his dream school. Just because his parents make a better salary. That’s fair.</p>
<p>Most schools are “need blind” for admissions, so they won’t know your income.</p>
<p>
Let’s see if we can put this absolutely wrong interpretation to rest. A lower income student only gets college tuition paid for at the very limited number of schools that meet need. If the middle income student gets into the same school then HIS need will ALSO be met. The fact that the middle income family may not have saved for their share of schooling when they could have is conveniently forgotten by middle income posters who feel slighted.</p>
<p>"Colleges may not know you are low income unless you mention it in an essay. "</p>
<p>Your HS report, which accompanies your transcript, includes demographic info about the HS. So colleges easily know the avg income level of your HS.</p>
<p>"Let’s see if we can put this absolutely wrong interpretation to rest. A lower income student only gets college tuition paid for at the very limited number of schools that meet need. If the middle income student gets into the same school then HIS need will ALSO be met. The fact that the middle income family may not have saved for their share of schooling when they could have is conveniently forgotten by middle income posters who feel slighted.’</p>
<p>Nobody feels slighted here. It’s just a fact that a middle income family will get less grants or federal aid then a lower income family. And if a middle income family didn’t save for college then they would have to depend on loans. Whereas a lower income family could rely on the federal government for their education needs.</p>
<p>
The TOTAL of federal aid available to extremely low income students is $5.5K for a loan, the same a middle income student would get, a $5.5K Pell Grant, and potentially up to $4K in a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant. That is all there is. There is no federal magic money fairy that pays for a low income student’s full needs.</p>
<p>Rusty: don’t rail at the low income high achiever. Let me give you something: in the nearby Detroit school district (which I attended) about 21% of 9th graders receiving their HS diplomas in 4 years (lowest in the country). Of these perhaps 10% of them, enroll in a 4 year college. Of this 10 percent, perhaps half graduate in 5-years. That adds up to roughly one in one hundred Detroit ninth graders standing at a college podium in 8 or 9 years being handed a college diploma. What are the other 99 to do? </p>
<p>Answer me that question and I’ll entertain yours about “fairness” of kids like this taking “your” spot. The fact that you’re on CC tells me that unless something terrible happens you at least have a spot.</p>