<p>I'm well aware that colleges want to bring diversity, and thus allow underprivileged African Americans(among other races) in, sometimes with lower scores or GPA than a non minority. I'm also aware that some schools use need blind admission. I'm black, but come from a very wealthy (500K+) household. My essay emphasizes the destruction occuring in our race from my point of view, a wealthy black. Is it a bad idea to talk about my own family's wealth in the essay? I feel that a school would be more likely to accept a low income black than a high income one. However, my essay reveals my income bracket.....</p>
<p>So my question is, if a school practices need blind admission, should I not make any hints of my family's income bracket? Thanks.</p>
<p>Also, are these school need blind?
-Duke
-Stanford
-UVA
-UPenn</p>
<ol>
<li>Need-blind admission offers financial aid to students who can’t afford to go to the college without taking this into consideration while accepting them. If you are wealthy you do not qualify for financial aid, the university asks for your family’s income statements. I’m not sure about UVa, but Duke , Stanford and UPenn are all need-blind.</li>
<li>Most universities have affirmative action policies which give a leg-up in admissions to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. If you are wealthy you most likely will not be considered for affirmative action because you had the same resources as any other kid and there is no reason for you to be given preference. A low-income racial minority from a bad school is the usual profile for an affirmative action case.</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s unfortunate, but both race and income are difficult to correctly write about. The problem is that both, if done without the appropriate deftness, can actually distance you from the reader. You want to give the adcom an idea of who you are, and I’d steer away from becoming overtly political in proclaiming how being a wealthy black impacted you. </p>
<p>That being said, and with the issue of an essay out of the way, I certainly don’t think you’re at a disadvantage. Few schools are truly need blind. Sure, they want their diverse stats, both racially and financially, but they also want money. If they can get their affirmative action race-wise without losing a cent, I think they’d go for it. Basically, if you can pay your way, you may actually be at an advantage.</p>
<p>You won’t recieve as much of an advantage as if you were a poor or low income african american, but you would still probably get a benefit IF your essay portrays how your race impacts you. Just make sure you don’t spend your whole essay bashing your race and saying what’s wrong with it, without saying anything about how you attempted to do anything about it.</p>
<p>I would avoid this angle. First of all, don’t emphasize the fact that you’re privileged. Secondly, it’s tacky to comment on someone else’s misfortunes when you’re sitting on your tower of ivory. Definitely emphasize the fact that you’re black. If you want to comment on the race, comment on the race as an African American.</p>
<p>Need-blind admission isn’t really an offer for Financial Aid.</p>
<p>If a school is need-blind it means they will consider an applicant (any applicant - regardless or race or ethnicity) for admission without taking in to account their ability/inability to pay the tuition. In other words, they’re not going to penalize you if you can’t pay, but they are also not going to penalize you if you can pay.</p>
<p>If you’re accepted and require FA then the school will meet your needs according to their policy (like some will say they meet 100% of students’ needs) they’ll determine your need based on your EFC and/or CSS Profile and they will give you loans, grants, scholarships, work study, etc. that will cover the gap. If you don’t need FA, or don’t qualify, then you just have to pay through your own means.</p>
<p>I don’t think your ability to pay for school is going to hurt you in any way. Like someone else mentioned, in some cases (like need-aware schools) it will actually help.</p>
<p>As far as your essay topic - IMHO I’d skip writing about your financial status not because you’re African American but because I think in general its a topic that might end up rubbing some adcom the wrong way. This is your chance to let the adcom know more about you as a person. Discussions about money just seem to bring out the worst in people … I wouldn’t risk it.</p>
<p>My family’s wealth hardly factored into my essays, if at all. I spoke about wanted to right the wrong thats occuring within our race. The other common app essay dealt with me volunteering at hurricane katrina, and another was about my grandmother’s cancer and why I want to research. Those seem pretty okay to me. Any opinions?</p>
<p>I’d be careful about any essay that is more about someone else (or in this case, a group of someone’s) than yourself. I also think you need to walk a fine line if you’re going to talk about “the wrong thats occuring within our race” because you want to avoid sounding arrogant, or putting down others. That could definitely be a turn off. I haven’t read your essay, but my gut tells me it would be better to write about a different topic, one that is focused more on YOU and YOUR experience, rather than the “wrongs” you perceive in others.</p>
<p>I think that I made my essay seem differently than it actually is. It is about me explaining personal situations in which I was seen as weird or abnormal for not abiding to typical African American stereotypes, and how I want to fix these stereotypes. It’s not an essay where I take a stance against my own race, it’s an essay where I talk about what I do to make the situation better and how I hope to change things. Hope this clears things up…</p>
<p>I think some of the responses you received were based on the comments you made in your OP, I know mine was.</p>
<p>But from your additional posts it seems like you don’t think your essay is as controversial as we interpreted it to be. So I guess I don’t understand what your question is at this point. If you think your essay is good, then maybe you should go with your own instincts on this one. </p>
<p>I still think Caroly especially made a good point that you might want to consider.</p>