Anonymous
07/21/2025 15:05
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"My parents sent me to a low-income school because they felt like it, then opted out when it actually mattered" is not a distance traveled story.
And neither is, my parents used their money to supplement my education so that I can feel superior to the actually poor kids I went to school with.
Nobody poor in private school. Even the scholarship kids getting EBT, more than lots of people get.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 15:01
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Looking at t20 colleges
We live in nyc and kid attended under-resourced public schools k-8 and then private for HS
She has a few essays in prelim stage. But hard to know what colleges will be looking for. In the past, I would have said the story. And one essay mentions that “distance traveled” in a way that’s organic and appropriate.
The other doesn’t, although it’s interesting and good. We’ll likely be full pay but I’d like to at least throw our css in, just in case things change.
I don’t really know how colleges would know we’re full pay our Neighborhood and schools are mixed. But she could drop some bits to make her some well off.
Which is more compelling these days. Can’t have it both way n
They’ll know she’s full pay from private HS; if your kid is a “scholarship kid” with low income and hardship the CCO letter handles it. And they place those kids well. Selective colleges know who’s low income from a private school- it’s not a secret.
Your home address isn’t necessarily dispositive here.
Just be authentic. The personal essay should be about your values, your outlook, what you bring to situations. If you are not low income pretending to be low income is a horrible look. I wouldn’t also talk about playing polo or traveling the world - things like that should never be discussed in a personal essay.
Can you clarify the bolded?
Out family is not low income, but well below the average for our private school where we receive about 80% aid. Will the CCO mention that? Will it hurt my kids or help them?
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:59
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:How about: should an applicant with a Caucasian sounding name include (in her essay) that she was adopted from China? Or keep it vague as to which country she was adopted from?
There’s a lot of this on Reddit on r/applyingtocollege. Search “adoption China” lot of results.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:53
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ok, thank you for the suggestions.
At a minimum you might want to check with them?
https://admissionscheckup.com/portal/
Cool. Thank you so much for the link!
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:52
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Ok, thank you for the suggestions.
At a minimum you might want to check with them?
https://admissionscheckup.com/portal/
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:49
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Or well-off parents who kept their child in public until the disadvantages outweighed the diversity then moved as full pay to expensive private?
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:45
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
I am confused by the bootstrap element. Did your kid pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and somehow, despite living in poverty, figure out how to earn enough money to pay for private high school? Or did parents do that?
Or is this a more typical story of a family in an income diverse neighborhood who moved from upper middle class to wealthy over time, and so was able to come up with private school tuition?
The former might be a fantastic essay.
Or is this a more typical story of a family in an income diverse neighborhood who moved from upper middle class to wealthy over time, and so was able to come up with private school tuition?
The former might be a fantastic essay.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:43
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Ok, thank you for the suggestions.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:40
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:How about: should an applicant with a Caucasian sounding name include (in her essay) that she was adopted from China? Or keep it vague as to which country she was adopted from?
This is a question for current or former admissions officers. I would post on Reddit A2C and on Facebook in the groups titled “college admission experts” and the group sponsored by ingenius prep. There are former admissions officers in both of those college groups who can give you advice and I think at least in one of them you can post anonymously.
Just say you were looking specifically for feedback from former admissions officers, so random parents just don’t give you their opinions - unless you want them.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:32
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
How about: should an applicant with a Caucasian sounding name include (in her essay) that she was adopted from China? Or keep it vague as to which country she was adopted from?
Anonymous
07/21/2025 14:26
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:does your kids name signal URM? or overrepresented majority?
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)
Come on. There are a lot of Chinese immigrants working at Chinese takeouts in New York City. Many Chinese kids do homework at parents shops, and help out.
of course. which is why if you're asian, you dont try to compete in that lane. it's crowded! we moved straight to full pay , even though we're only barely
Ditto. Do not try and bet anything but full pay.
To be poor and Asian, you'd have to fill the Vietnamese or Filipino quota (and there is one) - esp in SoCal and parts of Louisiana (for the former). Ask any AO. They don't treat Indian, Chinese, Korean as interchangeable with Vietnamese or Filipino or Bangladeshi.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 13:46
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:does your kids name signal URM? or overrepresented majority?
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)
Come on. There are a lot of Chinese immigrants working at Chinese takeouts in New York City. Many Chinese kids do homework at parents shops, and help out.
of course. which is why if you're asian, you dont try to compete in that lane. it's crowded! we moved straight to full pay , even though we're only barely
Anonymous
07/21/2025 13:08
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:does your kids name signal URM? or overrepresented majority?
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)
Come on. There are a lot of Chinese immigrants working at Chinese takeouts in New York City. Many Chinese kids do homework at parents shops, and help out.
That would come out in (1) EC list (family responsibility); (2) essays, and (3) CCO LOR.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 13:04
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
Anonymous wrote:does your kids name signal URM? or overrepresented majority?
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)
Come on. There are a lot of Chinese immigrants working at Chinese takeouts in New York City. Many Chinese kids do homework at parents shops, and help out.
Anonymous
07/21/2025 12:16
Subject: Which will matter more - full pay or boot straps story?
does your kids name signal URM? or overrepresented majority?
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)
if it's William Von William the third, go the full pay essay
if you could "pass" as an URM, try that.
(my kids have asian names - we didn't try to signal anything but full pay)