Common app intrusive questions?

[Hilltopmom]

I get that colleges are looking for demographics. But really?

Required?

I'm not comfortable telling big brother where Dh works, when & where we graduated from college, or the info on all of my other children, if I don't have to.

 

Does anyone else find this stuff overly personal & not necessary?

Or doesn't it matter?

[EKS]

You're not the only one.  

 

But I answered them anyway.

Edited August 2, 2017 by EKS

[regentrude]

I don't see the problem.

But then, both DH and I work for a public university and where we work, where we went to college, when we graduated, etc is all public information anyway. I don't see a need to be secretive about this and don't consider a question about my occupation/education personal or intrusive.

 

ETA: Compared to what big brother required of us in order to be allowed to live in this country, this is peanuts.

 

2nd ETA: The really intrusive questions will come on the CSS profile when they want to know about every penny you own.

Edited August 2, 2017 by regentrude

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

 

2nd ETA: The really intrusive questions will come on the CSS profile when they want to know about every penny you own.

The CSS questions that got me were what year and model cars do you own and what life insurance value do you have .

[Pawz4me]

I'm not comfortable telling big brother where Dh works, when & where we graduated from college, or the info on all of my other children, if I don't have to.

 

 

All that info is pretty easy for anyone to obtain. So it didn't/never would occur to me to be bothered by a college asking for it.

[Hilltopmom]

Eh, ok. If ya'll say so.... ;)

 

Still seems weird.

[8filltheheart]

I found them intrusive, especially the questions about siblings.  I did not want to answer them, so I get your reaction.  Asking the highest level of education is intrusive enough.  Asking where we all went to school, seriously, from my perspective it is none of their business.  I suspect they use the data for both admissions and yield protection, but I still find it very intrusive.

[lisabees]

The CSS questions that got me were what year and model cars do you own and what life insurance value do you have .

 

Yup.  That's the one I usually bring up in conversation.

 

Is it a good thing that I drive (and own) a 2006 Honda Odyssey?  If I drove a new BMW, would they give more f/a because I need it to pay for the car payments or less because I can sell my car for tuition?  These are the things I ponder.  :lol:

Edited August 2, 2017 by lisabees

[regentrude]

 Asking where we all went to school, seriously, from my perspective it is none of their business.  I suspect they use the data for both admissions and yield protection, but I still find it very intrusive.

 

Legacy can play a significant role in admissions.

[plansrme]

I agree completely.  I also refused to answer the long-form census even when I was visited by a census worker.  When faced with a form that will not let me go forward without an answer to a question I consider irrelevant and/or intrusive, I routinely lie.  I did not fill out a common app, although my oldest is at a common app school.  She filled it out, which is probably a good thing.

[Bluegoat]

I agree completely.  I also refused to answer the long-form census even when I was visited by a census worker.  When faced with a form that will not let me go forward without an answer to a question I consider irrelevant and/or intrusive, I routinely lie.  I did not fill out a common app, although my oldest is at a common app school.  She filled it out, which is probably a good thing.

 

Isn't it illegal to not answer census questions, or lie on them?  I think there can be a substantial fine.

[wapiti]

Kind of makes the whole idea of the Common App a little unsettling - that's a lot of data about a lot of families collected in one place.  I had no idea it asks about siblings.

 

The parent ed level is probably to pinpoint legacies and first generation students.  (FWIW, my impression is that legacy won't count for much at all if our kids apply to the colleges we attended, just due to their selectivity levels.)

 

Separate issue, but I also found it a little annoying that the College Board account profile asks detailed questions about high school coursework, grades and so forth.  Dd started to answer them even though they're not required and eventually stopped when they became burdensome.  I say that's none of their business.

Edited August 2, 2017 by wapiti

[plansrme]

Isn't it illegal to not answer census questions, or lie on them?  I think there can be a substantial fine.

 

I didn't lie on the census; I refused to answer anything other than how many people live in my house.  I'd like to see the United States prosecute me for not telling them how many toilets are in my house.

 

 

Separate issue, but I also found it a little annoying that the College Board account profile asks detailed questions about high school coursework, grades and so forth.  Dd started to answer them even though they're not required and eventually stopped when they became burdensome.  I say that's none of their business.

 

The ACT does the same thing.  I did the registration for that, and I lied on anything it wouldn't let me skip.  Sue me, ACT.

[Bluegoat]

I didn't lie on the census; I refused to answer anything other than how many people live in my house.  I'd like to see the United States prosecute me for not telling them how many toilets are in my house.

....

 

They could it seems - google says the fine is up to $5000. 

 

[plansrme]

We really skewed the census one year--we had a hired man in the bunkhouse, and he got the long form. Nope, no running water! No source of heat other than wood! It was funny. 

 

Okay, if I were going to get to answer that I had no running water or heat, even I would have answered the long form!

[wapiti]

Not about the common app, but I happened to come across this Washington Post article from March:  How the SAT and PSAT collect personal data on students — and what the College Board does with it

[regentrude]

The discussion raises the question: 

is it useful for society to have statistical information about college student demographics (race, first generation, socioeceonmics et), test scores for different demographics, percentage of households with running water or internet, etc?

If you feel that these questions are intrusive, do you think it is useless for society to have this kind of information?

If you think we should have the info, how else do you propose it should be obtained? Self selected reporting does not paint an accurate picture.

Edited August 7, 2017 by regentrude

[Alessandra]

Following

Oh, no

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I have worked government jobs, and had to apply for public aide resources. I am no longer overly concerned with "privacy".

 

The cars you drive, the life insurance policies you have, are demonstrations of your wealth and social class. People hide wealth in all sorts of ways.

 

I think my 1997 Corrola, rust and all, is a pretty fair indicator.

Edited August 7, 2017 by PinkyandtheBrains.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I have worked government jobs, and had to apply for public aide resources. I am no longer overly concerned with "privacy".

 

The cars you drive, the life insurance policies you have, are demonstrations of your wealth and social class. People hide wealth in all sorts of ways.

 

I think my 1997 Corrola, rust and all, is a pretty fair indicator.

 

This is absolutely true.  But the process also gives an impression that there is an expectation that families will cash in insurance polices in order to fund college tuition.  Or that you will tap into retirement funds in order to pay for a gold plated college experience.

[8filltheheart]

This is absolutely true.  But the process also gives an impression that there is an expectation that families will cash in insurance polices in order to fund college tuition.  Or that you will tap into retirement funds in order to pay for a gold plated college experience.

 

The whole "gold-plated college experience" about made me choke!!  What a great summation!!

 

Of course, you can opt to bypass the whole thing by telling your kids that you refuse to play the game and that they have to attend the Yugo option.

[JanetC]

Only questions with red stars are required.

[RootAnn]

One wonders what the rules are about selecting this option, from the FAQ:

 

 

What do I do if I don't have information about one or both of my parents?
You may select "unknown" to describe any parent whose information you do not wish to provide. By selecting this option, questions about this parent will not be required.