Purposefully & strategically leaving blanks in the Common App

[Anonymous]

This is overthinking 101.
I had never heard of any of this. I just asked my work partner. His wife is also an MD. So two highly educated MD couples have sent 5 kids total to college since 2020, 5th starts in a week: Stanford, 2 ivies, Duke, UVA. We put SSN and all asked on the form even race. We are korean/indian they are white. Come on people. Glad neither family hired counselors or any of this—it makes it much more stressful based on this forum!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad take. Seeing your parents work in CS and exposing you to hackathons in 5th grade is totally great

It’s not so great to say you have an internship at Stars Hallow Realty when mom or dad works there. That’s true. But it’s totally fine to say you work there for pay. Especially if you can describe a for pay job that makes sense for your age.

I would definitely not do this if you have a high household income. It reeks of privilege.

The issues with the major isn’t that it’s not noble or fine to follow in your parents footsteps. It is.

I think the argument is that compared to other candidates, it may not be as creative , interesting, unique what have you.

And again his entire argument if it’s even true is only relevant for T-20 schools

Stars Hallow Realty does not sound super high paying. And colleges love kids who work in their family business. It's the opposite of privilege.

[Anonymous]

^ these same kids received “lower”acceptances in RD to washU, vanderbilt, georgetown, northwestern, emory, wake, BC, W&M, Michigan OOS, GT and many many more….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ these same kids received “lower”acceptances in RD to washU, vanderbilt, georgetown, northwestern, emory, wake, BC, W&M, Michigan OOS, GT and many many more….

The kids who worked at the family realty firm?

[Anonymous]

Please don't agonize in this way, parents.

NO admissions officer will parse the demographic and ancestral part of the app like this. They ask because institutions always pry and always want more information than they need - all organizations, public and private, tend to do this.

What matters is the GPA. Then taking the most challenging coursework available at the high school. Then test scores. Then extra-curriculars, and essays. Those are the BIG ONES. Don't mess them up.

For some colleges, demonstrated interest, being able to pay the full whack, and evidence of overcoming hardship (not just having a hardship) might count. Anything else isn't very important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I listened to that podcast bc it was recommended here. It was a waste of an hour. I laughed out loud when he said 2 spaces after a period will give away that a parent edited the essay.

Yes! Hilarious. As if admissions officers are parsing things down to that level of detail 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I listened to that podcast bc it was recommended here. It was a waste of an hour. I laughed out loud when he said 2 spaces after a period will give away that a parent edited the essay.

Yes! Hilarious. As if admissions officers are parsing things down to that level of detail 😂

Huh? They do notice that. It’s pretty obvious.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/well/family/how-i-know-you-wrote-your-kids-college-essay.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I listened to that podcast bc it was recommended here. It was a waste of an hour. I laughed out loud when he said 2 spaces after a period will give away that a parent edited the essay.

Yes! Hilarious. As if admissions officers are parsing things down to that level of detail 😂

There’s a lot out there in this topic tbh:

https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/college-essays/the-fingerprints-of-parents-in-college-essays/

[Anonymous]

well the two spaces after a period thing has been a flag since 1999. I really think this issue has aged out. Parents in their 40s and 50s (who work) dont do this.

but people love the "hot tips" and "secret insider inter" so it's always written about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hadn't heard not to put SSN in order to signal full pay. We are full pay and my kids did not include SSN simply to avoid giving SSN where it is not needed.

Two JD family and we put employment. It is already obvious that we are full pay.

Just found this on IvyCoach:

“If your child included their social security number, it implies they’re applying for aid.”

https://www.ivycoach.com/admissions-counseling/college-admissions-counseling/?phase-12-before-open=1#phase-12-before

I’m starting to think the SSN thing is a real thing.

[Anonymous]

Or it means a kid has a SSN and they’re filling out their college application?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or it means a kid has a SSN and they’re filling out their college application?

The CA prompt explicitly says to only include SSN if applying for financial aid. It’s crystal clear folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it means a kid has a SSN and they’re filling out their college application?

The CA prompt explicitly says to only include SSN if applying for financial aid. It’s crystal clear folks.

Darling most people need financial aid.

How many stories have you heard of someone getting into xyz but they can’t afford it. Happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it means a kid has a SSN and they’re filling out their college application?

The CA prompt explicitly says to only include SSN if applying for financial aid. It’s crystal clear folks.

No, the prompt says "Social Security Number, required if applying for financial aid via FAFSA"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it means a kid has a SSN and they’re filling out their college application?

The CA prompt explicitly says to only include SSN if applying for financial aid. It’s crystal clear folks.

No, the prompt says "Social Security Number, required if applying for financial aid via FAFSA"

Does it matter? Probably not at ivies. I can see some other schools noticing that field is completed though.

There are more obvious ways to convey that you are full pay though if that is the goal.

Don’t worry about this.