Family Income Level

[Wishing4MD]

Hey everyone!
I was wondering if adcoms would dislike it if I omitted information about my parents income on the app? It has an option to decline to answer but I wouldn't want to put it if it shows a red flag. My parents made pretty good money throughout my childhood but I still had to work to pay for my own things. I wouldn't want them to think I was more privileged than I actually was. Thanks in advance!

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[DanGee777]

This is just my hunch, but I'd list it. 75k+ is the highest level on there, and that's a wide range. Ad-comms don't know what your exact family income is if you put 75k+. It could be 80k or 500k, but perhaps they can estimate it from looking at the occupations of your parents. 75k goes different lengths in different places. It is a very decent household income in Wyoming, not so much for Manhattan.

My guess is that if you don't list it they're just going to assume that your family income is 75k+ anyway, because they're not stupid and they figure that applicants who aren't listing it are probably concerned about the same thing you are (seeming privileged). It's a fact, however, that most matriculants end up coming from families with incomes of more than 75k a year, and with the cost of college and higher education ever increasing while student aid is being cut, that isn't likely to change anytime soon. They won't hold a 75k+ family income against you, but they could(?) if you "decline to answer".

I think it's similar to the race question. If you decline to put your race on the self-identification page by not checking any of the boxes, they're just going to assume you're of Caucasian or Asian decent anyway.

 

[Thego2guy]

Interesting. How much would this really factor in though? Would they really accept/reject an applicant based on their parents? I can't think of any situations like that, unless your mom is Hilary Clinton, or your Dad was Hitler.

OP, it shouldn't matter in my opinion. I do agree with the above comment.

 

[SnowyRox]

My parents did not consent to me providing schools with any information about their income or assets, so I obviously omitted it. I respect their right to privacy and I honestly don't think it would make a difference unless your parents were below the poverty line.

 

[seracus]

You're being neurotic. Just list it.

 

[LizzyM]

AAMC will use this information to look for correlations between family income and med school outcomes. Previously, they have looked at parental education and outcomes and determined that students from lower SES families are at higher risk for needing to repeat a year. This information can then be used to assess the need for support services (tutoring, mentoring) for "at-risk" students. (How many students at this school are in that category? Do we have adequate resources to address the needs of these students?)

If they have data on 18,000 students it won't matter that there is missing data from 1,800.

This information isn't used to decide on financial aid. The top level of $75,000is rather broad as it can encompass everyone from the single income household of a nurse or school administrator, to the families with two professionals (MBAs, MDs, JDs) or even one highly paid business executive whose income can be many multiples of $75,000.

 

[AestheticGod]

AAMC will use this information to look for correlations between family income and med school outcomes. Previously, they have looked at parental education and outcomes and determined that students from lower SES families are at higher risk for needing to repeat a year. This information can then be used to assess the need for support services (tutoring, mentoring) for "at-risk" students. (How many students at this school are in that category? Do we have adequate resources to address the needs of these students?)

If they have data on 18,000 students it won't matter that there is missing data from 1,800.

This information isn't used to decide on financial aid. The top level of $75,000is rather broad as it can encompass everyone from the single income household of a nurse or school administrator, to the families with two professionals (MBAs, MDs, JDs) or even one highly paid business executive whose income can be many multiples of $75,000.

Just wondering, but are you a school admin for a medical school (you look at applications of pre-meds)? Or are you an overall undergrad school admin?

 

[sudo]

Just wondering, but are you a school admin for a medical school (you look at applications of pre-meds)? Or are you an overall undergrad school admin?

She's a bat cave admin, of course.

 

[LizzyM]

Just wondering, but are you a school admin for a medical school (you look at applications of pre-meds)? Or are you an overall undergrad school admin?

Faculty member of a med school, medical school admissions committee member but not a physician.

 

[Wishing4MD]

Thank you all for your feedback! I'm
Just going to list it

 

[xroc]

I have a question related to this as well. At the moment, my parents make a decent amount of money. However, we came to the US when I was 10, and the question on AMCAS asks for how much money my parents made during the time where the majority of my life from birth to 18 was spent. This was in another country, and my parents earned VERY little here (it would seem almost unrealistic if I put this # down, but the standards of living were much lower there as well). My question is: should I put the amount of $ they made in the other country down since that's where the majority of my time was spent, or should I put somewhat of an average of now and then, or does it really not matter?

Thanks!

 

[LizzyM]

I have a question related to this as well. At the moment, my parents make a decent amount of money. However, we came to the US when I was 10, and the question on AMCAS asks for how much money my parents made during the time where the majority of my life from birth to 18 was spent. This was in another country, and my parents earned VERY little here (it would seem almost unrealistic if I put this # down, but the standards of living were much lower there as well). My question is: should I put the amount of $ they made in the other country down since that's where the majority of my time was spent, or should I put somewhat of an average of now and then, or does it really not matter?

Thanks!

You might just average their income for the years you were in the US, particularly if your cost of living was much lower in your homeland. (When you say "standard of living", I think that you actually mean "cost of living".... standard of living means what is considered a level of material goods for a specific socioeconomic status. )



By this I mean, if your family lived on $29,000/year but for that money lived in a nice house with indoor plumbing, had a servant and/or had help that came in periodically, and lived as well or better than more than half the local population then it would be deceptive to list $29,000 as an annual income as
that might be interpreted as living on $29K in the US which would be below the poverty level.

 

[xBODOMx]

.

 

[theseeker4]

This makes it sound like students with families that have lower income are at a pretty significant disadvantage instead, since med schools would not repeat years right?

Disadvantage how, and what do you mean "would not repeat years"? The students who are admitted but statistically more likely to face trouble are targeted for help to prevent them from failing. And some students do have to repeat classes or even entire years. Most med schools will allow students to re-take a course instead of flunking them out, as they and the student are wasting a ton of money and time for an expulsion without multiple chances. Different schools give different options for remediation, of course, but most (all?) will have some option other than immediate expulsion for a failed block/course/year.

 

[dcsurgeon]

My parents are way below the poverty line. Are you guys saying this would negatively affect my chances of admission?

It would really suck to work my tail off for four years just to get declined because my parents made poor decisions.

 

[theseeker4]

My parents are way below the poverty line. Are you guys saying this would negatively affect my chances of admission?

It would really suck to work my tail off for four years just to get declined because my parents made poor decisions.

No. Your chances at admission will if anything be better than those with equal stats but from a non-disadvantaged background. There is simply a greater likelihood that someone from a poor background will have difficulty succeeding in med school. The fact that your parents are very poor also means you have a better chance at a scholarship than those who have middle-class income parents.

 

[dcsurgeon]

No. Your chances at admission will if anything be better than those with equal stats but from a non-disadvantaged background. There is simply a greater likelihood that someone from a poor background will have difficulty succeeding in med school. The fact that your parents are very poor also means you have a better chance at a scholarship than those who have middle-class income parents.

Phew! If anything, experiencing the situations my parents got themselves into has only driven me to want to become more successful.

 

[LizzyM]

Schools want a diverse class both racially and by socio-economic background and so they admit student even though previous experience shows that some economically disadvangated students struggle more than other students. Those students need to be identified and offered help proactively to increase the likelihood that they will successfully complete medical school in 4 years.

 

[MDschoolorbust]

Question off this:

AMCAS asks "What was the income level of your family during the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?"

When I was younger my family made probably around 55-65k a year, up until about 2 years ago (step-dad got a very large promotion). Now I believe they are in the 85k range. Should I put 60-75 as this is what the majority was up until age 18? I just don't want them to check my parents' current tax records and get burned.

 

[LizzyM]

Question off this:

AMCAS asks "What was the income level of your family during the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?"

When I was younger my family made probably around 55-65k a year, up until about 2 years ago (step-dad got a very large promotion). Now I believe they are in the 85k range. Should I put 60-75 as this is what the majority was up until age 18? I just don't want them to check my parents' current tax records and get burned.

They are asking 0-18 and they don't check. So, 55k is a good guess of the level when you were 0-18 (assuming that you are at least 20 now and so the big raise came after you reached 18).

 

[MDschoolorbust]

They are asking 0-18 and they don't check. So, 55k is a good guess of the level when you were 0-18 (assuming that you are at least 20 now and so the big raise came after you reached 18).

Thanks for the response! I wasn't sure if they checked that information or not.