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Would it work against me to voluntarily share my family's high income
In the last year, my family's income was roughly 700k, which was about 500k after taxes. But in reality, my household only made about 180k, because most of the money is actually tied with my parents' S corporation, so that money mainly goes to other investors, and to run the business (including property taxes).
Would it work against me to say "I do not wish to respond" whenever possible? Or would it help with admissions to say that my parents technically made over 200k, or would that mean they'd expect more out of me, or something? I understand for FAFSA I can't hide anything, but I don't think it's fair I'd be unable to do work study or get financial need scholarships when my family isn't living large or anything. We live like a middle class family, not like an upper middle class or upper class family.
Would the admissions and financial need people be understanding of my situation? When admissions are "need blind" do they ever look at and/or consider one's income bracket? And would financial aid only consider me for academic scholarships, because of this technicality?
The numbers may look like a lot but my parents are spendthrift and they've never afforded putting us in private school, or having a family vacation that didn't have something to do with seeing other family members and/or urgent health concerns. Most kids I knew growing had more technology, toys, and etc. than my family did, living on the conservative side, even if they lived in smaller homes, but I think a big part to why my parents don't have a lot of savings is because of a relative's health needs and the money needed to start and operate a new business.
Would my financial situation affect my admissions at all or will there be added pressure for me to get better grades and extracurriculars than say, a lower income individual with the same stats I have now
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It wont work against you in any long term way, however, in the short term, it might be a irritation to the people who need to document your application, use that information for general demographic reasons, and make you look uncooperative.
No one is going to have a bloody clue what you wrote on that form when it comes to any expectations about your grades. Seriously, none of your teachers will have access to that information, nor would they have the time to give a shit.
Really, you should just include it on any form where it's not VERY clearly marked as optional. If you fail to disclose on a form where it's required, that could get you into trouble (it's akin to lying on your resume). If it's a 'need blind', it wont be used in determining your application anyways, it'll just be used to help the university keep data about the nature of applicants. You'll also find many applications have begun to acknowledge students who have a situation like yours and specifically ask what support, if any, you expect from your parents.
If you don't see that question, you could call financial aid office and talk to them about it. It's not as uncommon as you may think for a students parents to have a rather significant yearly income, but not be contributing to tuition. It's likely a question they have an answer too. That's what that question is REALLY about, not how much your parents make, but how much they will be assisting you financially. My parents didn't make nearly as much as your did, but they saved for my education and paid for nearly my entire tuition. That fact is what disqualified me from a bunch of scholarships, not the amount they made, but the amount of support they were giving me.
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Ok, first of all, we're both aspiring scholars, and I've went in without any worries. My advice, is for you to say 180k when asked. Yes, that is still a lot, but you can still poke a hole and imply your relative's illness being a huge anchor to your finance. Now, from what I know, a family income isnt equal to the business income, it is the amount of money you're capablr to spend in a period of time, so you shouldn't worry :-)
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