Is it a hook if an applicants’ parents’ combined annual income is incredibly high or extremely low? And where do colleges draw the line? This contradicts the fact that an applicant has better chances of getting in if she/he doesn’t request financial aid.
<p>A high income only helps if your parent has donated millions to the college, or has indicated that they will do so.</p>
<p>Lower income indicates less opportunity, which can allow an applicant to be accepted w/ lesser stats b/c they don't have money for SAT prep courses, int'l relief trips, etc.</p>
<p>Greath wealth proven by donations is a hook. Low income is but a tip factor.</p>
<p>Just to remind you that some of these schools are quite old and the donated wealth may have been donated in a previous generation but still serves this generation. So.....the ability of your particular parent to donate is not the sole litmus test.</p>
<p>2 equal applicants, 1 needs tons of fin aid and one can easily pay, let's see who will be admitted. Supposedly it is not a factor, but that is not always the case</p>
<p>at the UC's, low is better than high...</p>
<p>That is correct.....low wins in many cases because selective schools end up with few students who qualify for Pell Grants. Without some access to the good preparation few low incomes qualify or can produce the stats....I say low can win out in many cases.</p>
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2 equal applicants, 1 needs tons of fin aid and one can easily pay, let's see who will be admitted. Supposedly it is not a factor, but that is not always the case
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<p>At one of the very selective heavily endowed schools, it would be the low income person because s/he managed to do the same thing with less resources. School would look at this student as a great investment of their resources</p>
<p>If at a need aware/need sensitive school and most of the scholarship funds have been exhausted, it would be the one with the ability to pay.</p>
<p>At many colleges, qualified students with extremely low income are rejected because the college has limited financial aid funds. This occurs at colleges that don't have "need blind admissions."</p>
<p>At a relatively few colleges -- places like HPYS -- qualified applicants with extremely low income are highly desired because the colleges want to have all kinds of diversity in their student bodies, and the colleges have difficulty attracting qualified low income students. These colleges have large endowments, so have plenty of financial aid $ available.</p>
<p>what is considered a super low income. Is 30,000 super low?</p>
<p>I would classify any parent who can file for EIC......but I am no expert but that is the standard I would use.</p>
<p>Promises of a donation of $500,000 or more is usually enough to sway a decision.</p>
<p>For Need-blind heavily endowed elite schools, yes. At the Ivies, this income would get your the following:</p>
<p>Princeton very little EFC, no loans in the FA.</p>
<p>Dartmouth: Dartmouth students whose family incomes are less than $30,000 will receive financial aid packages without student loans. The portion of the package that normally would be composed of loans will be replaced with additional scholarship funds. Barring significant changes to family financial circumstances, this no-loan financial aid package will be renewed each year for all four years. </p>
<p>Harvard: parents with annual incomes of less than $40,000 would no longer have to contribute to the cost of their child's education at Harvard. </p>
<p>Yale: Yale recently announced it would expand aid for low-income students, eliminating the required contributions of parents earning less than $45,000 annually.</p>
<p>Boston Globe: Elite Colleges Go After Low-Income Recruits</p>
<p>As much as I'd like to read the article, the link^^ doesn't work. Anyhow, my parents' combined income is incredibly low, and my older sibling is going to attend an expensive private college this fall. So I was wondering whether or not the top colleges I'm applying to will look favorly at my family's rather unfortunate financial situation. Thanks.</p>
<p>I think this link should work, otherwise search for it.</p>
<p>The top schools don't generally get low-income applicants. So I think it's a hook. When the admissions committee sees that an applicant from a family with a combined income of <60,000 got a 2400 (you, for example) over an applicant from a family with a combined income of >100,000 --- You'll obviously get the "tip factor." This is because those from low-income families don't have the option of traveling, going to the best private schools, a tutor, and usually don't get much motivation from peers and family members... The admissions committee knows that. Schools like Harvard are great with financial aid... Some, however, aren't.</p>
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This is because those from low-income families don't have the option of traveling, going to the best private schools
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<p>Some low income students can be and are full scholarship students at some of the best private prep shools in the country, so every thing is taken into consideration.</p>
<p>"Some low income students can be and are full scholarship students at some of the best private prep shools in the country, so every thing is taken into consideration."</p>
<p>-- This is true. :) Colleges take everything into consideration. I just believe that they take income and location more into consideration than we think... But most who apply are slightly wealthy and come from very largely populated locations with plenty of opportunities... So if an applicant's parents only make like 40,000 a year and they live in a rural area in South Dakota, I believe that's a hook... How many other applicants can say that? This assumes that they have SAT's that are 2200+, 3.9 GPA+, decent ecs, recs, essays, etc.... I've got cousins that live in both Washington D.C. & Virginia Beach and their world out in the NE is 100% than ours here in the mid-west.... They're the typical rich kids... They have parents who force them to be perfect so they can go to Harvard... No self-motivation what-so-ever... They said they'd love to have parents like mine who don't force me to be perfect. Their entire high school life is based around college admissions.</p>