<p>I didn't think twice about it when I was filling it out, but after doing some research I feel like this might be a mistake. My father and mother worked to start their own company and when I asked my dad what I should put for his occupation he said CEO and my mom said Accounting Manager. I have recently done some reading online and I've seen how colleges are less likely to admit those they percieve as overly privileged, unless they donate massive amounts of money to that institution, of course. Now, my parents do make enough money for our family to live a comfortable life, but I am not spoiled by any sense of the word, in fact my parents have made it clear that I am pay for most of college on my own. I'm applying to a bunch of selective schools like Dartmouth (top choice), Princeton, Duke, and Cornell for engineering. I just realized this now after I submitted it, and I feel like I made a mistake.</p>
<p>It's not a mistake if it was the truth...Lying would have been the mistake...I suppose instead of CEO you could have put "Business Manager" or something less prestigious, but whatever. You have to list their employer too, right? So it's not like the colleges won't understand. And while it's true that colleges like students who are amazing yet come from a moderate-income family, they're not going to rule you out because you don't. If you haven't conveyed snobbyness from the rest of your application, then I don't think your parents jobs are going to make or break you.</p>
<p>Nah, whatever college you are applying to will most likely have a lot of experience with this kind of situation. They'll look at how much $$ your parents make and like mmkay said they will see the employer part too. There are tons of ways colleges will know so relax.</p>
<p>parents occupation carries so little weight compared to grades, scores, recs, essays, ECs, and the like that for all intents and purposes it is irrelevant. If you get in it is because of the above factors and not your parents job, same is true if you don't.</p>
<p>Hey thanks guys . . .</p>
<p>For some reason the past few days I have just been unbelievably stressed out over the whole college thing. I keep thinking what if I don't make it into any of the schools I really want to get into, remembering things I should have included in my applications to make them stand out more, and all sorts of unproductive activity. I'm just seeing all these people with similar qualifications being rejected/accepted as what seems to be random. I guess my fragile sense of reality is being rattled a bit. I just feel like my entire life has come down to this couple month period and it's driving me insane.</p>
<p>Oh well, I gotta get up early tomorrow morning to finish my Eagle Project . . . oh boy!</p>
<p>I hope that on the app demonstrates leadership, because I didn't do much of that kind of thing in school. In my school student government / class officers are the dance committee and hall decorating committee respectively. Ugh I shoulda just done that shizz just for the app, I have so many regrets. Wow this can't be good for a person, competitive college admissions are driving me insane!</p>
<p>Well thanks for the replies guys, I just gotta get my sanity back before break's over, that's all . . .</p>
<p>^ For top schools it really IS kinda random. People with perfect everything get rejected, people with not-so-perfect get accepted, vice versa...If you had 500 people, including Mr. Valedictorian-President-of-everything-4.0GPA-2400SAT-5 million EC's, and the average Joe, applying and you only had 50 spots, how the HELL are you going to pick? ;)</p>