<p>My parents have been divorced for seven years, and I have not seen my father in those seven years. I have a brother who is ten years younger than me. My dad doesn't help out at all (obviously) and my family is making about 20,000 a year. My mom has always worked two, sometimes three, jobs leaving me to take care of my younger brother and the household.</p>
<p>I would really like adcoms to recognize my circumstance, but I don't know if it will reflect poorly on me or my family (considering I have $0 to really put me through college and I'm applying to an expensive college out of state). Do I add this? and if so, where do I add it in the common app? I all ready attatched a document on my additional information detailing my various awards, so I'm at a loss as to where to put this. </p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really appreciate your hard work guys and shana tovah!</p>
<p>You can include it in the ‘additional info’ if you are not writing the essay on this topic (it isn’t a good idea either). Try not to make it a sob story. Your pain is understandable, but still…I don’t think it will reflect poorly on you. Be sure to have some (in-state) safeties too.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the reply! Do you think I should just omit this all together? I mean, it was pretty hard to keep all of my grades balanced and EC’s going strong while being responsible for my brother, but I don’t really want a pity party, you know?</p>
<p>You should definitely include this in the additional info. Explain briefly your family circumstance and how with great difficulty, you tried to keep your grades and ECs balanced. Yours is not a situation that every high school kid in the US is in, but it is not uncommon either. Taking care of a very young sibling and the household is not an easy thing to do for a high schooler. All the best !</p>