See how your profile ranks among thousands of other students using CollegeVine. Calculate your chances at your dream schools and learn what areas you need to improve right now — it only takes 3 minutes and it's 100% free.
If you have started working on the Common Application, you may be wondering about the Family section, which asks several questions about your parents and siblings, including if and where they attended college. So why exactly do colleges want to know about the rest of your family’s education?
For starters, colleges are using this information for demographic purposes. Since they are looking for a diverse freshman class, they want to know the percentage of their students whose parents attended college, as well as the general background of the incoming class.
This information also offers greater insight into students’ applications. It is important to understand the applicants’ backgrounds in order to evaluate their applications fairly and contextually. Students who come from highly educated, affluent families have different circumstances and experiences compared to students whose parents did not attend or graduate college.
Furthermore, students whose parents did attend college are likely to have a better understanding of the admissions process, which in turn gives their children better insight into what admissions committees are expecting from them and their applications. These parents are also more likely to understand the importance of application boosters like extracurricular activities and summer programs, and may be more able — and willing — to pay for them.
In contrast, students who come from less affluent families and have parents who did not attend college may not have had as many opportunities afforded to them. Therefore, colleges may grant more leniency to students who come from families with less educated backgrounds when evaluating grades, test scores, and extracurricular involvement.
Some aspects of applications, such as whether or not candidates are underrepresented minorities (URM), give students a “hook” in the admissions process, offering them a boost that they might not have gotten otherwise.
Because first-generation college students often have fewer resources available to them during the application process, as well as throughout their high school experiences, admissions committees evaluate their applications differently. First-generation college students often enjoy a slight boost in their application because of the difficulties they may have faced in applying to college.
If you have a particularly compelling story about your parents’ education, you may want to expand on it in your essay, if it relates to the topic you have chosen or in the additional information section. For example, if one or both of your parents are immigrants, have low-paying jobs, or don’t speak English as their first language (or at all), colleges want to know, because it indicates that you have faced greater obstacles than some other applicants.
You may want to make your story the subject of your essay. The first topic choice in the Common Application asks about your background or identity, so if you have a meaningful story to share, this is an excellent place to do so.
Knowing where a student’s family members attended college can also be used to determine whether or not she is a legacy or development case. A legacy student is technically any relative of an alum. However, your legacy status is really only likely to make a difference if you are a child, grandchild, or sibling of an alum, with your parents’ alumni status offering the greatest impact on your application. A development case refers to the child or grandchild of a major donor to the college.
Being a legacy or development case also offers you a hook in the admissions process. Some schools, particularly private, top-tier colleges, give students with these statuses an extra edge. Keep in mind that if you are a legacy at a particular school, your admission is not guaranteed. You still need to have a strong profile comparable to other admitted students for top-tier schools.
However, a legacy status may be a deciding factor in the case of a borderline candidate. Additionally, some schools weigh legacy status more heavily than others. The scales are tipped even more in the applicant’s favor if both of her parents attended a certain college. This is because colleges want to reward family loyalty, as well as encourage donations, which parents and grandparents are more likely to give if their children and grandchildren continue to attend their alma mater.
Development cases have an even stronger edge in the admissions process. Like legacies, these students are typically flagged by admissions officers and set aside for closer review. It is worth noting that development cases don’t refer to applicants who simply come from affluent families. The applicant’s family must have made a large-scale donation — typically in the six-figure or higher range — to be considered a development case. However, most colleges won’t report ranges of donations or exact figures that influence admissions decisions.
