<p>A questbridge finalist and lowest income student(less than 60k). He had to spent the majority of the first semester of 10th grade helping his father's small business(finances/taxes/invoices) about 20-25 hours a week(counselor will talk about how he had to support his family at the age of 15) He had a slight drop of grades that semester(only B's though d, 4.0 every other semester) and nonetheless because valedictorian of a class of 850 students. Is this case severe enough to be considered overcoming significant adversity? I'm not completely sure how colleges define that</p>
<p>My opinion, which may be worth nothing, is this doesn’t sound exactly like adversity. I think what strikes me (perhaps unfairly) is that the applicant has a parent who runs a small business doing finances, taxes, and invoices. </p>
<p>I don’t see the part about ‘supporting the family’ but rather just working in the family business one semester in which case his grades dropped during that time. Readers will think “big whoop”. I don’t see overcoming adversity at all, just because one still was val despite one semester drop in grades. </p>
<p>However, I see adversity as something far more significant, such as overcoming a serious illness or disability, caring for a sick or dying parent, actually being the financial earner in the family or spending most of one’s childhood caring for one’s siblings, being in foster care, losing a parent or sibling, being homeless.</p>
<p>typo</p>
<p>(only B’s though d, 4.0 every other semester</p>
<p>is supposed to be</p>
<p>(only B’s though, 4.0 every other semester</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>*he helped his father’s business by doing the finances, invoices, and taxes. The business, itself, is a retail store.</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>
<p>State the situation, but don’t label it, IMO.</p>
<p>If there is a question specifically about adversity, then I’d say go ahead and explain the situation.</p>
<p>k thanks. I’m actually more concerned with if adcoms will recognize this as a valid reason for a drop in grades and, in a way, not hold it against me due to my financial situation? I’m not too upset if it counts as adversity or w/e, but rather if colleges will just view it as a pointless excuse or a valid one. Thanks.</p>
<p>Please don’t take this the wrong way. Everyone is different and what may not seem difficult to some people may in fact be very difficult to others, however…</p>
<p>I would not say this was overcoming adversity - not in the sense that I think colleges think of it. When I think of adversity, I think of being homeless, having cancer or other serious medical condition, being a foster child, recovering from a serious accident, having a visible deformity etc…</p>
<p>I think it is ok to mention that you had this job and needed to help your family.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Loving how this was a third-person hypothetical for the first two mentions by the OP, then - as expected and as was obviously the case - turned into a first-person question about an actual situation. Seriously, we’re not dumb. It’s not about “your friend” or “some guy.” 99% of the time an OP asks a specific question like this, it’s either about the OP or the OP’s kid(s).</p></li>
<li><p>Y’all are crazy if you think that growing up in a low-income family and supporting the family business isn’t adversity. Let’s face it - the vast majority of us don’t have cancer, aren’t homeless, don’t have serious medical conditions, or anything like that. That doesn’t mean we don’t have adversity in our lives that we have to overcome. Further, socioeconomic status is the largest single determinant of success on standardized tests and ultimately plays a huge factor in students’ success because it determines their opportunities. It’s ridiculous to claim that socioeconomic disadvantage is not adversity.</p></li>
<li><p>This would be a valid response to an essay question about adversity. Outside of that, I wouldn’t talk too much about it - you’ll list in activities that you worked the family business, your counselor is mentioning your need to support your family, and where your SES is relevant, they’ll ask for it (that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t discuss it where it’s relevant to answering an essay question).</p></li>
<li><p>At least 75% of the people on here need a major reality check.</p></li>
</ol>