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This is a difficult question to answer. If you feel that your socioeconomic background has substantially hindered your ability to have a quality education and achieve academic success, then I think it would be appropriate to mark the disadvantaged box.
From what you described (especially the part about sharing a single room with 3 other siblings), I think it is appropriate to mark the disadvantaged box. Did you have to work substantially in college in order to contribute to your household finances? If your parents and/or siblings had to rely on you financially when you were in college, then that, in my opinion, definitely qualifies you to check that box.
Perhaps some adcoms can consult you as well.
@LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn
Disadvantaged refers to childhood, ages 0-18, not college.
I shared a room with a sibling and my kids share a room so that alone is not a "disadvantage", at least not in my eyes.
You missed a lot of school but you still managed a 4.0 and had enough smarts to get a full scholarship to a top tier school. That doesn't seem like you were held back from achieving your goals or at a position far behind others at the starting line of the college rat race.
Your father's income is hard to put in context without knowing the annual median income for that country and the cost of living. That's what makes assessing income etc outside the US so difficult.
Claiming to be disadvantaged might come back to bite you. I would recommend not doing it.
Disadvantaged refers to childhood, ages 0-18, not college.
I shared a room with a sibling and my kids share a room so that alone is not a "disadvantage", at least not in my eyes.
You missed a lot of school but you still managed a 4.0 and had enough smarts to get a full scholarship to a top tier school. That doesn't seem like you were held back from achieving your goals or at a position far behind others at the starting line of the college rat race.
Your father's income is hard to put in context without knowing the annual median income for that country and the cost of living. That's what makes assessing income etc outside the US so difficult.
Claiming to be disadvantaged might come back to bite you. I would recommend not doing it.
Here's the deal: "disadvantaged" is a way to identify applicants who managed to get to college despite having a bad childhood. Bad high schools where there was no library, no gym, and no lab facilities. Schools that didn't teach high school level courses some of us take for granted like physics and calculus. Not enough to eat, a lack of warm clothing, parents in prison, the stress of living in substandard housing in an unsafe neighborhood where you might be shot by a stray bullet that comes through your front window. If a kid from that environment, or living in poverty in a rural environment such that you weren't familiar with the basics of city life then you might be at a disadvantage compared with other college freshmen.
Here's the deal: "disadvantaged" is a way to identify applicants who managed to get to college despite having a bad childhood. Bad high schools where there was no library, no gym, and no lab facilities. Schools that didn't teach high school level courses some of us take for granted like physics and calculus. Not enough to eat, a lack of warm clothing, parents in prison, the stress of living in substandard housing in an unsafe neighborhood where you might be shot by a stray bullet that comes through your front window. If a kid from that environment, or living in poverty in a rural environment such that you weren't familiar with the basics of city life then you might be at a disadvantage compared with other college freshmen.