<p>Does mentioning being poor in your essay help you? i know colleges are need blind, does that mean they have no idea if you are rich or poor if you don't mention it in your essay?
I feel like being poor might help a bit, but at the same time, i don't want my college essay to be another sob story about living through poverty. </p>
<p>Need blind doesn’t mean they have no idea what your socioeconomic status is – they have at least some idea based on where you live and what school district you come from. Need blind means that they are supposed to admit you based on your merit regardless of whether you can pay full tuition. Of course, in practice, they’ve got a budget to balance like anybody else, but that doesn’t mean you should pretend to be financially well-off if you’re not – they will be able to make a more accurate assessment of your application if they understand where you’re coming from and the limitations you had to work within.</p>
<p>Of the essays I’ve edited, the poor kids’ essays were much easier because they had much more interesting material to work with. A lot of middle-class and up kids are clearly struggling to find something compelling to write about. Just make sure to make it genuine and personal – write something that only you could write. Same goes for everyone, regardless of how rich or poor you are.</p>
<p>@jpheys Thanks. I go to a pretty diverse school as in there are rich and poor people. </p>
<p>Hi OP, I think this is something you want to take more carefully into consideration as you start your applications. You might want to do a lot more reading of threads which address these topics. The above post re. your essay was excellent – keep it genuine and personal. Avoid sounding like a victim, or coming across as if a school owes you something. Do you have a teacher, mentor, parent who can read your essay and make suggestions?</p>
<p>Just to mention, do you know about Questbridge? If you are low income you could consider applying for a Questbridge program. It has a separate essay that specifically asks about your background. There are highly ranked/selective universities/LAC that partner with QB and they all receive your QB application in addition to your Common Application, so you can use the CA to write an essay about something else (a few colleges don’t even require the common application.)</p>
<p>The UC application, in one of the 2 essays required, specifically asks about your background and how it has shaped you as a person and your aspirations. So colleges do want to know the conditions you have had to live in and thrive (hopefully) or struggle through. It can be a bit of a hook. However that doesn’t mean the essay has to be ‘about being poor’, which would be a limited way to tell them about yourself. I would take a cue from the UC essay and put it in context of what kind of person you are and what you have done and accomplished under your circumstances or how it has affected your worldview and your hopes and dreams and aspirations.</p>
<p>@BrownParent i do, but im just afraid i won’t get in</p>
<p>Well maybe you will and maybe you won’t.</p>
<p>@Brownparent I know, which is why I’m wondering if I should mention that i’m poor in my essay? i’m not going to make myself a victim but do you think it will be a good idea to somehow mention it?</p>
<p>Ask your counselor to mention it in his/her recommendation or write about your situation in the “Additional Information” section of the Common App. Save the main essay for something else. That’s what I did.</p>
<p>I already answered that question:</p>
<p>So colleges do want to know the conditions you have had to live in and thrive (hopefully) or struggle through. It can be a bit of a hook. However that doesn’t mean the essay has to be ‘about being poor’, which would be a limited way to tell them about yourself. I would take a cue from the UC essay and put it in context of what kind of person you are and what you have done and accomplished under your circumstances or how it has affected your worldview and your hopes and dreams and aspirations.</p>
<p>When you say “write about being poor” – what would you specifically write about? If you’re going down the road of – these are our circumstances and this is why they were tough, but this is how they have shaped me and influenced what I want to become – then absolutely yes, write about it.</p>
<p>If it’s along the lines of – we don’t live in the nicer part of town and I don’t have everything I want, which is why I want to go to college so I can make money – then no. As a general rule, it’s fine (and even good) to talk about difficult circumstances in a college essay IF you can use it to tell a story about who you are and how those circumstances have shaped you. You should not write about it coming off complaining or as a victim though.</p>
<p>" If you’re going down the road of – these are our circumstances and this is why they were tough, but this is how they have shaped me and influenced what I want to become " No I feel like this is way too common, gonna go for something different.
thanks @dancingwriter i’m gonna talk to my GC, she already knows my situation
and thanks everyone</p>