<p>So top colleges say they are need blind, but then also say they want economic diversity... Does this mean that adcoms indeed look at your income when making a decision? How else would they know how "economically diverse" you are? They can't rely purely on programs such as Questbridge.</p>
<p>Your HS profile is a good indicator: not absolutely perfect (such as your parents' 1040s) but it's a good indicator of the environment you come from and opportunities that are generally available.</p>
<p>HS profile has data like % of kids eligible for school lunch assistance (big indicator of general poverty level), and info about graduation rate and college attendance rate. </p>
<p>Yale initiated a pgm where student "ambassadors" visit urban and rural schools to possibly find that rare "diamond in the rough". It's not a panacea but it's a solid effort.</p>
<p>So Yale gets all that info about your high school? I know they got like % attending 4 year college, but didn't know that the lunch assistance thing was on there.</p>
<p>So if my school sends 34% to 4 year schools, then thats going to help me? It is easy to look at it both ways of course.</p>
<p>There are many factors to consider. Just focus on presenting yourself as a great candidate, who has taken advantage of many resources and has a strong work ethic and curiosity, and you'll do fine.</p>
<p>I think they look at your parents' educations and occupations which are on the common app. I'd bet they also look at whether or not you used a fee waiver.</p>
<p>They also look at the Census' data on your zip code to get a rough idea, I've read someplace. I believe it was in the NY Times.</p>