<p>Okay so I'm applying REA to Stanford and I have two quick questions about things l should include in my application:</p>
<p>Should I include both my class rank (13/270ish students) and weighted rank (21/270ish)? Or would there be benefits to doing only one or the other?</p>
<p>Also, I'm at an economic disadvantage (income <30,000) but I feel like Stanford might not understand that since I go to school in an area that is historically wealthy. Should I mention my economic disadvantage in my app or would it only hurt me. If yes, where would I put it. </p>
<p>Also, I know that a lot of people are going to criticize me for wanting to mention my economic disadvantage, but you guys have to understand that economic disadvantages really do effect how well a student can do in high school. While my classmates drove to internships in BMWs, I was working extra hours in my parent's store. While my classmates had unlimited funds to buy time with tutors, sat prep classes, prep books, fancy calculators, and laptops, I was in public libraries trying to bargain with the librarians for extra computer time. Anyways, that's my spiel.</p>
<p>Yes, S is need blind, but that’s not what I was referring to. Using a fee waiver would indicate to S that you are a low income student without you mentioning it.</p>
<p>Sorry WhiteHouses, but your last response came across as if you think “need-blind” means “blind to need” in terms of support or FA (as in, they don’t care about finances at all). Instead, need-blind programs are blind to need in an admissions sense: you won’t be discriminated against simply because you’re low income. If you already knew that, I’m sorry and I mistook what you said.</p>
<p>I believe it’s your guidance counselor who provides your class rank, not the applicant. Am I not remembering this correctly? If you do provide it, I’d just go with the unweighted rank - want to be in the top 5% for Stanford.</p>
<p>As for your economic situation, there is no reason not to mention it. Your job will show up in your list of ECs when you put down the number of hours that your job required of you on a weekly basis. And you can certainly talk about what it meant to you in your essay on ECs. It obviously has had a significant impact on who you are and how you view yourself.</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on the success you have acheived despite tough economic circumstances. I believe the majority of cc members would agree that there is merit in rewarding someone who has succeeded with longer odds. The SAT in particular is notorious for giving higher scores to students who have access to high-priced training.</p>
<p>I would suggest you stay away from explicitly referring to your economic circumstances in the application. It would be too easy for this to become excuse-making. Instead use one of your essays to describe your success working in the family business or other ways that you have excelled in tougher circumstances.</p>
<p>A concern that I have reading the OP is that your W rank is so much lower than your UW rank. This suggests that your classmates have taken more weighted classes than you and likely means a more rigorous course load for them. You should consider addressing this in your application as well.</p>