Disadvantaged Statement: What to focus on?

[dubugamer]

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Apologies if this is verbose! Tried to go through some old threads of what warrants disadvantaged status, and while hesitant to apply as such, some peers and mentors have advised me to. I just wanted to ask what circumstances I should emphasize since there isn't a lot of space and it's a bit confusing to explain my situation (and people I know irl are unsure of this section overall)

I wanted to ask because I have a strange-ish circumstance where I didn't think I was disadvantaged particularly growing up, because I had protective/constantly working parents that I've been fortunate enough to give me what they could 0-18, so I didn't realize until I filled out my FAFSA that our family income had been ~$10,000 my whole life. The only thing was that I was home alone a lot, never had prep courses or anything, but they were too prideful to take government assistance. EDIT: Did have free/reduced lunch for my last semester of high school.

It wasn't until college when I struggled with these financial circumstances when I came to college and was constantly stressed with rent/meals/jobs. My classmates and I did feel behind from peers when we entered, but besides anecdotal "we felt behind" I don't know how to make this more factual if it is even a factor since it's not too underperforming (and the school got so much better). We come from a MUA, if that helps.

So it's kind of a strange situation where I don't know if I'm pushing the disadvantaged section because I feel like most of my struggles were personally felt around college time, not 0-18. And because my parents are educated (though no one's in STEM) and valued education, and I'm Asian (Thai), I feel like I'm not too educationally disadvantaged compared to others I'd imagine as disadvantaged (like what factors 0-18 put you at an academic disadvantage when you entered college). If I do mention it, do I emphasize 0-18 even if it didn't impact me as much as the financial/academic stress when I was older?

I also felt like I was in a particular bubble at my UC, so I also just want a more realistic, grounded perspective of what can constitute disadvantage here without sounding like a special kind of privileged whining, haha.

 

[chaim123]

AMCAS gives the following guidelines in its applicant guide for SES. Match up your parents education with what profession they are in and see where you fall.

Also, you have two full time working parents whose combined income is less than $10,000/year? Check those numbers.

 

[lalalallala]

If your family income was 10k a year then that certainly qualifies as disadvantaged. I would stick to facts:

Growing up my parents worked very hard to support our family with their joint income of about $10,000 a year. It was not until I went to college that I became fully aware of the different past experiences and preparation that various students retain. I often worried how I would pay rent, complete my schoolwork in addition to working, and have enough money for food. *say something about how many hours a week you worked during school and whether you contributed to your rent/food/etc*

 

[lalalallala]

Were there some sort of special circumstances like living with extended family? 10k a year in California for a family with no government or outside help seems nearly impossible. I am not asking you to explain to me - rather I'm trying to point out that when ADCOMS read your explanation it should sound believable

 

[dubugamer]

Thank you so much for the chart and your responses! I'm trying to find something similar to this since there are so many different SES factors that I'm sure affect things differently. Hm, I'm a bit confused what they count as since yes they're small business owners, but they also work as postmates carriers now.

They do, I've filed it over and over my entire college career, but I do question it myself how they do it a lot, they're really secretive. My parents own their own small business together, so I think a lot of it ended up being allocated towards their business. But they live by their sales each day and loans, so they have a terrible credit score and pay their bills late normally. I finally started using government assistance once I figured out how it works. They refuse to get it and just eat one meal a day/barely sleep for their postmates sales. Yeah, it's kind of a strange circumstance where there's like not really a fine line between business/personal family life and I've tried to help them improve their work lifestyle, but...

Again, thanks again for the responses so far! I appreciate the realistic perspectives haha, since it's difficult to get that anywhere else so far

 

[lalalallala]

Thank you so much for the chart! I'm trying to find something similar to this since there are so many different SES factors that I'm sure affect things differently. Hm, I'm a bit confused what they count as since yes they're small business owners, but they also work as postmates carriers now.

They do, I've filed it over and over my entire college career, but I do question it myself how they do it a lot, they're really secretive. My parents own their own small business together, so I think a lot of it ended up being allocated towards their business. But they live by their sales each day and loans, so they have a terrible credit score and pay their bills late normally. I finally started using government assistance once I figured out how it works. They refuse to get it and just eat one meal a day/barely sleep for their postmates sales. Yeah, it's kind of a strange circumstance where there's like not really a fine line between business/personal family life and I've tried to help them improve their work lifestyle, but...

Gotcha. I would include that they are small business owners. That does help explain

 

[dubugamer]

If your family income was 10k a year then that certainly qualifies as disadvantaged. I would stick to facts:

Growing up my parents worked very hard to support our family with their joint income of about $10,000 a year. It was not until I went to college that I became fully aware of the different past experiences and preparation that various students retain. I often worried how I would pay rent, complete my schoolwork in addition to working, and have enough money for food. *say something about how many hours a week you worked during school and whether you contributed to your rent/food/etc*

Thank you so much! Seeing how it may be phrased and what others could be skeptical of helps a lot

 

[Rachapkis]

One adult working full time at $7 per hour would make $14,500 (assuming no raises ever), and two adults would make $29,000. If you are going to use this information in your personal statement, I would be sure that your math is accurate.

 

[dubugamer]

One adult working full time at $7 per hour would make $14,500 (assuming no raises ever), and two adults would make $29,000. If you are going to use this information in your personal statement, I would be sure that your math is accurate.

They don't work on waged income though, they own their own small business so their income gets I believe gets mixed in with their business 🙁 There's a structural labor force inequity topic on this in my Asian Am classes, where families who own small business blend their work and personal life so the whole hourly wage thing doesn't really apply here since there's so much unpaid labor time and the lines blur.

Thank you for responding to this! It's interesting that this is the biggest point of skepticism. I've filed this with FAFSA straight from their 1040 tax forms for 4+ years and attained financial aid (pell grants, cal grants, work study, etc.) with these numbers, would that not be enough to validate these numbers? If not, should I just explain this in my statement as well? Or would small business owner be enough to hopefully negate any skepticism on this income? I really do want to be as honest as I can about the situation, and I don't want to be working the system in any way (or appear to be), hence why I was reluctant to even mention disadvantaged in my apps.

 

[LizzyM]

I'm going to suggest another way to show that you lacked the experiences 0-18 that most children who eventually apply to medical school had as kids.
Did you ever travel on vacation a a child with your family or as a guest of another family?
By age 18 had you ever traveled by airplane?
Ever attend an overnight camp?
Ever visit a museum?
Did you learn to swim as a child?
Did you belong to a scout troop or formal sports team?
Did you take any performing arts classes outside of school (musical instruments, voice dance, drama)?
Did you attend high performing schools in k-12? (what proportion of children were reading & doing math at or above grade level and how did this compare to state averages)
Did you have the opportunity to take AP classes at your HS?
Did you take AP classes?

Not having had access to these experiences would put you at a disadvantage compared with other college freshmen, most of whom, I would posit, have had those experiences.

 

[freedoctor17]

I'm going to suggest another way to show that you lacked the experiences 0-18 that most children who eventually apply to medical school had as kids.
Did you ever travel on vacation a a child with your family or as a guest of another family?
By age 18 had you ever traveled by airplane?
Ever attend an overnight camp?
Ever visit a museum?
Did you learn to swim as a child?
Did you belong to a scout troop or formal sports team?
Did you take any performing arts classes outside of school (musical instruments, voice dance, drama)?
Did you attend high performing schools in k-12? (what proportion of children were reading & doing math at or above grade level and how did this compare to state averages)
Did you have the opportunity to take AP classes at your HS?
Did you take AP classes?

Not having had access to these experiences would put you at a disadvantage compared with other college freshmen, most of whom, I would posit, have had those experiences.

Kind of off topic but is there any negative aspect to applying as disadvantaged?

I could have but ended up choosing not to since I had never really felt disadvantaged 0-18 (until I started college similar to OP where I started realizing how much more work I had to put in and working part time to pay for all the costs). I assumed the fact that I had FAP would pretty much give the same point as being disadvantaged and I guess it's just the culture I grew up in but I felt like I would come across as whiny. Not sure if any adcoms think that way and wondering if you've ever heard of anything like that.

 

[LizzyM]

Kind of off topic but is there any negative aspect to applying as disadvantaged?

I could have but ended up choosing not to since I had never really felt disadvantaged 0-18 (until I started college similar to OP where I started realizing how much more work I had to put in and working part time to pay for all the costs). I assumed the fact that I had FAP would pretty much give the same point as being disadvantaged and I guess it's just the culture I grew up in but I felt like I would come across as whiny. Not sure if any adcoms think that way and wondering if you've ever heard of anything like that.

Sometimes adcoms do find applicants to be whiney if they claim disadvantage when it seems inappropriate. As an example, an applicant's dad was a medical specialist that is typically highly compensated and was practicing in an affluent suburb. The applicant said that she was disadvantaged because her dad had paid all her college expenses and her gap year and was not going to pay for med school. Clearly the applicant was unclear on the concept.

 

[dubugamer]

Thank you so much @LizzyM ! Never really traveled, been on an airplane, or have a passport. No camps, troops, or sports teams. Don't know if it gives perspective, but family also didn't have health insurance and I've never been to the dentist. And so sorry, please allow me me to backtrack. I did end up getting free/reduced lunch my last semester of high school under my own applying (I always think of WIC, SS, food stamps, so I forget the lunch, especially since it was me, not them).

However, did learn piano for a bit from an old teacher in my neighborhood and free swim lessons from the city (for personal family reasons). So for those reasons, I feel very fortunate enough to have parents who have tried their very best to give me a fulfilling childhood. There was a field trip to a museum in elementary school once, and I did take AP classes (friends and I kindly petitioned w/ admin to take certain ones earlier, but school's pass rate is another story). High school was big, but otherwise seems just right on state averages (38% math proficiency, 78% reading, ~10-15 APs? avg AP ~2.5, SAT avg of ~1450/2400, ACT avg of ~22). The four of us who entered UCLA all began with subpar GPAs though (~2.5). But seems like my area was at a turning point when I left and has changed a lot since.

So it's a strange dichotomy so yeah, I really worry I come off across as whiny too...(the UCLA bubble confuses me, being surrounded by peers who went to high performing schools, they're an achieving bunch). I'm so sorry I'm giving my whole life story! Just confused.

 

[LizzyM]

You had some disadvantages as a child... no travel, camp, scout troops, sports teams. No health insurance, no dental care. One trip to a museum in all of k-12, school with a math proficiency rate of 38% (I don't know what average is in your state but 38% seems really low).

Compared to someone who was an Eagle Scout, played baseball in grade school and HS and coached little kids as a community service while in college, and worked at a scout camp the summer after freshman year thanks to prior experience at the camp, you had no chance of having those activities on your application and no experience of that kind to draw on. You might not have ever considered dentistry as a career because you've never seen a dentist.

You could frame this as gratitude for having loving parents who taught you the value of hard work, teamwork and customer service but the recognition that you entered college lacking in some life experiences that other students took for granted such as sports team participation, air travel, or scouting. You have had no dental care and your family, given its self-employment, has not had the funds to purchase health insurance. You are grateful for the safety net provided by school lunch which you benefited from as a HS senior after applying on your own and for the AP classes provided by your school district and the piano lessons provided by an elderly neighbor that enriched your life despite your inability to pay.

See what you can do with that.

 

[907914]

Sometimes adcoms do find applicants to be whiney if they claim disadvantage when it seems inappropriate. As an example, an applicant's dad was a medical specialist that is typically highly compensated and was practicing in an affluent suburb. The applicant said that she was disadvantaged because her dad had paid all her college expenses and her gap year and was not going to pay for med school. Clearly the applicant was unclear on the concept.

Also kind of off topic, what are some other not-obviously-disadvantaged statuses would be considered disadvantaged? Students with children and the financial burdens that come with? Students with learning disabilities? Students with physical disabilities (wheel chair etc.)

 

[LizzyM]

Also kind of off topic, what are some other not-obviously-disadvantaged statuses would be considered disadvantaged? Students with children and the financial burdens that come with? Students with learning disabilities? Students with physical disabilities (wheel chair etc.)

g

If you had the kids before you turned 18, then it might be relevant to disadvantage during childhod. Remember, the disadvantaged section is for age 0-18. I'd be careful about using the disadvantage section to disclose disabilities. The one exception might be if you lived in an area of the US where you did not have access to medical and/or dental care that you needed to maintain or return to good health. Maybe the nearest specialist you needed to see was a 3 hour drive each way and your parents couldn't leave their rural location for that trip more than every few months meaning you outgrew your prosthetic or didn't have your braces adjusted as often was needed. If there was an "underserved community" angle to it, then it might be applicable.

Basically, this has been around since before AAMC instituted the E-01, E02 thing that classifies applicants according to their parent's education and employment (but not parents educated abroad -- long story). The point, as it was explained to me at the turn of the century was that it helped to identify applicants who did not start college/reach adulthood with the same advantages that are typical of American college students.

So, if you grew up as the child of a migrant farm worker and attended 37 different schools over the course of 12 years, that would be recorded in the application in the disadvantaged status.

If you were kidnapped by a non-custodial parent and hidden in a trailer and forbidden to go outdoors for two years thus missing out on school for that time, that might be a "disadvantage" compared to other 18 year olds who did not have a disruption in their education.

Being homeless for a period of time in your first 18 years would put you at a "disadvantage" compared with a kid who was never homeless during childhood.

Having a parent with a professional degree but who became physically or mentally disabled to to illness or injury and thus living on just a disability check might qualify-- one would expect that an applicant who had a parent who was a doctor or lawyer educated in the US then they would have a family income far above the US average however, if that family member has been unable to work for 10 years, then the family might be living in poverty.

Being the offspring of a teen mom with a drug problem and consequently deciding at 17 that the military rather than college was the best way to improve your lot in life... then applying as a non-trad after completing military service and a college degree, that's one I've actually seen.

I think you get the idea. It isn't about being poor after age 18.