Am I considered Disadvantaged?

[KiddCo]

I'm trying to figure out if I should apply as disadvantaged.

I understand from reading other threads that disadvantaged typically refers to students who suffered hardship during childhood (0-18), or lived in an area with little access to standard healthcare.

In my personal situation, my mother is disabled and my sister is as well. I worked full time through college and part of high school to help support my father pay bills. My parents did own their own home, but it was a constant struggle to keep it. In the summer I would help my father chop firewood so we had heat in the winter (we had a wood burning stove for heat). We would also hunt deer when it was in season to offset food costs with venison. I was responsible for all of my own bills and helped the family with whatever I had leftover.

I am also the first person in my entire family to attend college. My father is a building contractor. He is a very proud man and did not apply for food stamps or other aid. He would often go on unemployment when work was unavailable.

I know people have thing much harder than I, and I feel guilty even considering disadvantaged. Hoping for some insight from the community here.

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[DocJanItor]

https://apps.aamc.org/amcas/guide/2019_AMCAS_applicant_guide.pdf

Appendix 1 is what you want to look at. Starts on page 70 (or 75 if you're going by pdf page numbering). Based upon your description, it sounds like you clearly qualify for disadvantaged status.

 

[KiddCo]

I didn't realize that if neither parent went to college that you automatically were considered SES disadvantaged. Thank you for providing the link to that information.

 

[stayathomemom]

Hmm. My mom graduated from college with her BSN when I was 17. Before that we were really scraping by. How do I use the chart in the linked document in my situation?

 

[DocJanItor]

Hmm. My mom graduated from college with her BSN when I was 17. Before that we were really scraping by. How do I use the chart in the linked document in my situation?

I mean you lived like 90% of your childhood in manner than qualified for disadvantaged status. It wasn't like your life was instantly privileged the moment she got her BSN. I think you'll be fine putting claiming disadvantaged status if you can articulate it well in your essay. More importantly: no one's ever going to know your mom's college records.

 

[stayathomemom]

I mean you lived like 90% of your childhood in manner than qualified for disadvantaged status. It wasn't like your life was instantly privileged the moment she got her BSN. I think you'll be fine putting claiming disadvantaged status if you can articulate it well in your essay. More importantly: no one's ever going to know your mom's college records.

Well, I'm not going to lie about it and say my mom doesn't have her BSN. But you are right, in that there was never a time in my childhood where we were ok financially, even after she graduated (still had debts to pay off then).

 

[DocJanItor]

Well, I'm not going to lie about it and say my mom doesn't have her BSN. But you are right, in that there was never a time in my childhood where we were ok financially, even after she graduated (still had debts to pay off then).

I forgot there was a part of the application that asks about parental education achievement. Obviously don't lie; I was more thinking about a sin of omission.

Ultimately, I would still claim disadvantaged status. As you said, you still grew up in circumstances that, I believe, would qualify for the spirit of the rule.

 

[Ad2b]

Wow never realized that both parents being high school graduates only + being first generation = SES for me... mind is blown

 

[ciestar]

Hmm. My mom graduated from college with her BSN when I was 17. Before that we were really scraping by. How do I use the chart in the linked document in my situation?

The SES chart is automatically used in your app based on the information you put in. There is a separate part of the application that asks if you think you were disadvantaged in any way growing up.

 

[deleted967981]

Related to this (specifically the low income part), does it matter that you were raised in a low income household, but have done pretty well since graduating? I feel like this is more pertinent for non-trads rather than those straight out of school.

My parents are still low-earners (retired SSI and government assistance) and I actually help them with the bills, but I have worked for a bit so I have savings and assets that would not allow me to apply for FAP or have a solid FAFSA. I know I don't qualify for financial aid based on my assets, but will I be considered disadvantaged based on family upbringing? (FYI, I will automatically be considered disadvantaged because I'm first gen college, was more curious if I'd low income upbringing is considered a disadvantaged past when I've lifted myself out of it since.)

On the AACOMAS they ask a bunch of questions about your financial situation growing up (going to a school where college wasn't encouraged, using public assistance, school with a large percentage used free lunch, etc.) to determine if you were economically disadvantaged when you were growing up.

I was considered disadvantaged on my application because of my financial situation growing up, but it was never brought up in interviews. I touched on it briefly in my personal statement, though, and that's where my volunteer opportunities lie as well. Since graduating both I and my husband have done very well for ourselves, but that was never brought up either and is probably unknown since I never disclosed it.

I think the point of being economically disadvantaged growing up is that you may have experienced barriers to healthcare or education that those who were raised with a higher SES did not, and rising to the level of being considered for medical school shows resilience and grit.

 

[Campana]

Just to add some more information, especially for us (older) non-trads who have a very different application...

I was, as one should be, completely honest on all parts of my app. My parents are both retired. Our family income growing up looks horrible in today's numbers, but we were just fine. Here are some observations looking at how it came out on my actual application. These are (some of the) sections on the eye-readable app and they correlate pretty darn well to the AMCAS guide book!

Biographic Information

• all self reported...but nowhere does it ask if you are low SES / disadvantaged here
• includes address... AMCAS adds a designation to your county if it is medically underserved or not
• It doesn't ask if you are URM...it does ask both your Racial Self Identification (you can pick multiple!) and your Ethnic Self Identification. These may have been optional, I can't recall. If you are Native American, you can pick or enter the tribe.

Childhood Information

• you provide the address, including your county and AMCAS adds a designation if it was medically underserved or not
• you provide your family income, family size, assistance programs, if you worked, if you helped pay for the family, how college was paid for, grants, loans
• you pick on your own, YES/ NO if you think you were Underserved (self reported)

Disadvantaged Information

• you decide Yes or No, self reported (I put No...but my stories are nothing like OP)
• you explain, yourself - so really, this is extra space to tell your story, which could include that eye opening realization that your life was much "harder" than others and you never knew it till you were much older. I think honest reflection is valued. Try to be outside yourself and consider how you would assess someone else who had grown up in that way...would you want to consider what they had lived through as affecting their options and access? And, if you think you were disadvantaged but feel weird putting it on blast in this way, you often get a chance to tell your story in secondaries later. Given that this is self reported, adcoms probably take it with a grain of salt or more and rely more on the whole picture that is told with the rest of the application.

Parents & Guardians

• you fill in name, living, location, level of education, last school and occupation; I can't recall if it allowed you to enter more or less than two

SES Disadvantaged

• AMCAS applies aforementioned secret sauce. Mine said "Unknown"...I'm guessing this is because their occupation was "Not Applicable" since my parents are retired, but yours might have one of those codes like EO2

First Generation

• Mine says NO, but I have to admit, I can't remember if I entered this or not...I'm pretty sure I put it in there, but it also would have been obvious since I filled out the university my dad graduated from

Honestly, I don't think any of this will make a difference to anyone's application, but I remember being in the pre-app phase and having so many questions. In the end, these are just tiny pieces in the big puzzle of information the adcoms have in front of them to make a decision.

Good luck!