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I began completing actual applications this week, and had a question regarding some common questions I've seen on apps. I've seen several optional sections/questions regarding your socio-economic background: parents' educations, household income, high school, zip code you lived in during high school, etc., with Berkeley probably having the most in-depth section.
The question is this: If the section is optional, and your responses would indicate a relatively privileged upbringing (private high school, parents with professional degrees, upper-middle class household income, etc.), is it better to just not complete the section?
Does omitting responses to this section cause the adcom to just assume both your parents are MDs, and have a household income over $1m, and you went to Philips Academy?
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5 comments
Good call, man!
@gregoryalexanderdevine723 @alejoroarios925 Thank you guys for your advice on this, I think I'm just going to be forthcoming with everything. Ultimately, I think allowing the adcom to paint a more holistic picture of your life is probably best, rather than leaving elements of your background out.
That's what I'm thinking. I realized I was talking to Jonathan about this and it was via voice chat so I can't repost that obviously. He recommended just being honest because they'll assume you are rich/privileged if you don't. So good point @alejoroarios925!
+1 for what @gregoryalexanderdevine723 omitting the answer will definitely not help. Just put in the information accurately because they will assume the same thing if you don't put it anyways.
Does omitting responses to this section cause the adcom to just assume both your parents are MDs, and have a household income over $1m, and you went to Philips Academy?
Yeah -- something like that might be inferred. I don't think omitting responses is going to help, that's for sure.
I'm actually trying to find a discussion we had around here not too long ago about the merits of omitting this type of info vs. just answering truthfully. If/when I find it I'll post it. One of the sages (someone who scored a 170+) who attended law school brought some great points about this.