<p>I read that here all the time that colleges are trying to attract kids from less fortunate socio-economic factors to increase diversity.</p>
<p>What qualifies as a socio-economic factor ? I mean what income range are we talking about when we say this ?</p>
<p>Bump ...... ?</p>
<p>There are some very top colleges (ivies) trying to attract kds from families earning < $60K but they are FEW and FAR BETWEEN. At most private colleges $$ is an advantage..</p>
<p>Thanks suze (The income really puts my mind at ease).</p>
<p>So when reviewing our apps, the college take into consideration that you come from a less fortunate background?</p>
<p>I think they do!</p>
<p>I hope so, because I have severe financial need and I want anything that could help me out in admissions.</p>
<p>I don't really know of a specific college that specifically considers how much your family makes into their decision to accept you or not. However, I know of LACs that are need-blind in their admissions decision, meaning that your family's income isn't taken into account (so it won't help or hurt you). Some see this as a way to increase the socio-economic diversity by not admitting/rejecting people on the basis of income (it should allow for students from both sides of the spectrum to have a more level chance at admission)</p>
<p>Are they really so few and far between? </p>
<p>At any rate, SES is not just about income--some people use this term to also cover people who are the first in their family to go to college, or who come from a school which typically does not send many students to college. Either of those two factors may, in combination with income, make you an attractive applicant from a "Lower SES" standpoint.</p>
<p>Being low income is a tip factor, if 2 people with the same stats are chosen between the low income kid gets the nod. It mostly benefits URMs. </p>
<p>Financial aid is a whole different issue. The are VERY few need blind colleges and they tend to be very selective schools. Keep in mind that what you think you need and what they think can be very different. EFC tends to be at least one-third of a family's adjusted gross income which is more than many families can afford. The same colleges that are needblind tend to also use Profile, which counts more assets that FAFSA does. Bottom lines, those schools usually think you can pay more than state schools and others that just use FAFSA. And no one gets a need blind free ride. You'll be expected to do work-study, take a loan and work a summer job at most schools.</p>
<p>Top schools have historically been full of rich kids so many are now working hard to change that. The real shortage is in middle class kids because EFCs are so high many have to choose cheaper state schools..</p>