I feel like the author had to struggle a lot throughout college. He had to worry about providing for himself, helping his family with bills,and had to work multiple jobs. I myself haven’t been through any of these struggles but I feel like we should all appreciate all of the hard work some people do. I think that we should be grateful for our opportunities because the author's story about his struggles are very unique and he worked hard to get where he is today. The college “landscape” that the author talks about where colleges look at a student’s neighborhood and environments is unfair. It doesn’t matter where you come from, but how hard you work in school and what kind of person you are. Where you come from shouldn’t affect whether you get accepted into colleges. I’m glad I read this article because even though I haven’t personally experienced these struggles, it’s good to be aware of what some people are going through.

Some ways that the author struggled is that he had to help out his family with bills, provide food for himself, he had to work in multiple jobs, and he had to worry about his family. I can't say that I can relate to any of this but people that have suffered from this that they can be strong and fight through it.Anothy Jack explains the landscape "a set of measures for colleges to use in admissions that takes into consideration students’ neighborhood and high school environments. It is unique because it describes how he has struggled with having low income and barely having anything to eat. Also because not everyone goes through this type of struggle like Anthony Jack did. I didn't know that it was this hard to live off of what you had and how it can effect you while you are attending a college.

Some of the ways the author struggled while in college is financially with low-income while trying to find a job to feed himself and help his family back home. Another way the author struggled was the racism and discrimination the author felt on a daily basis at his school. The author shared ways he was affected of being a low-income student in such a different environment that doesn't go through the struggles that he goes through. A part that I related to in the author's story is how he went to Head Start and so did I when I was 3 and 4 years old. I think the author story is unique because it sheds light on a struggle that many people go through but don't speak about it because they think nobody else can relate. While this article proves them that they are not alone and there are also other people out there that understand what they are going through.

The author struggled a lot through college some of these ways being working multiple jobs, going hungry for days, worrying about his family, and struggling to make his payments. Personally I can't say that I relate to any of these hardships but I do feel empathy for him and others who've had to go through similar situations. Anthony Jack explains the college board contextual "landscape" as "a set of measures for colleges to use in admissions that takes into consideration students’ neighborhood and high school environments, the constellation of influences — individual and institutional — that shape students’ chances at upward mobility". This landscape could affect my future acceptance to college because depending on how these colleges may be looking at me could be a deciding factor between my acceptance or not. I think the author's story is prevalent because I know this is a harsh reality for many people trying to go to college and that there are hundreds of thousands of people suffering through this right now. I learned just how blessed and privileged I am to not have to go through the same things as him and how grateful I should be for the life I have.

1 He had no money for food or to pay for most things 2 I can relate to not having money or being lower-income but still, I was always feed 3 And the author's experience is unique cause yes he got a scholarship but that was still not enough 4 still I thought that scholarships were enough to go thru colleague without starving

i found this article very interesting about low income in college and his experience through it. Some of the struggles that i read about was that he was worried about his family, worked a lot of jobs to maintain his payments, he went hungry for a ton of days. I cant really relate to this situation but i can feel his emotion that he expressed through the article. Anothy jack explains the landscape "a set of measures for colleges to use in admissions that takes into consideration students’ neighborhood and high school environments, the constellation of influences — individual and institutional — that shape students’ chances at upward mobility."Landscape could affect my my future acceptance into to college by how colleges are looking at people and there backgrounds. I found that this story is unique it is very interesting to read about low income and the struggles that he went through. What i have learned is to be grateful for what i have.

Iowa State University also has an on-campus food pantry called SHOP, Students Helping our Peers, opened in 2011. http://www.theshop.stuorg.iastate.edu/

I am not a student athlete but did come from a low income family and totally understand the struggles of supporting yourself through college. its not easy working three jobs and maintaining good grades while also trying to support your family.

Rather than eat SUPER junk food out of a vending machine, why not go to a store - WALK OR RUN for exercise - and buy some healthy food (MYTH - healthy food is NOT more expensive than JUNK FOOD from a vending machine). I guarantee that within a very short period of time you will feel better about yourself and maybe even take that LARGE CHIP off your shoulder!

This article brought tears to imagine the writer hungry, working so many hours and worrying about his family. Having said that, I was also a low income college student who went to a state university and paid my way entirely by working a full time job. I got some financial aid/grants from govt but that's it. I paid my rent and all expenses. While I didn't have to wory about my family's physical safety, I did act as a safety net providing funds to both my father and younger brother while working in college. This was 30 years ago. Many of my friends were in the same boat. The only time I felt as alienated as this writer was when I was to an expensive private middle school on a scholarship. Going to a state university is much more inclusive experience.

The protection of being white was never more obvious than when I commuted from Northeast Portland to Reed College. No one knew where I was from or how I came up. Fortunately my deadbeat father had left home and my mother was working, so I had housing and food. Basics are very important.

Thank you for this piece. I read it late, but am glad I did. I learned a lot from this piece and empathize with students like the author.

Great writing. I went to Williams, Amherst's rival, and hailed from suburban Chicago. We were not wealthy but I certainly had advantages that Anthony did not. A generation before, Williams and other schools like it began "diversifying" their class. Back then it meant admitting poor white kids from places like Wyoming or South Bend, Indiana, where my father came from, instead of North East prep school kids who were the bulk of the class. He was admitted to Harvard but he chose Williams for two reasons: 1. A picture of a fraternity party there published in Life Magazine which looked fun 2. A full ride scholarship and campus job to cover his other expenses. While I heard plenty of stories of his meager childhood existence growing up where he started working at the corner drugstore at 12, I never heard stories of him having to go hungry in Williamstown and he was always invited home for weekends and holidays by his roommate. He got into the fraternity. Back then his Jewish friends did not. He also tells the story of the double date he went on to Vassar with his best friend. Dad does not recall his date's name but his buddy went with Jane Fonda. While Dad struggled academically at Williams compared to the prep school boys, he went on to med school and a very successful career in academic medicine at a major Midwestern university. My point is much like Anthony's. While financially these schools have treated low income students well, there is no question they need to do more.

Excellent article. It's nice to see someone write an article about the reality of students in this situation. Wealthy students have no idea about what low income students have to deal with. Students from poor backgrounds can barely imagine what it would be like to be able to go to college and only have to think about their classes and their school work. Our society is so unfair, and skewed toward people with resources, and yet so many people still think that everyone has an equal chance in America. The truth is, a student from a safe, wealthy background has a huge advantage over a poor student from a high-crime area, and SAT test prep classes are an excellent example of just one of these advantages.

One place you might put in some effort is to find mentors near the college who can guide students like you when they come to a completely foreign situation. In college it’s not just book learning that’s important, its also learning how to get along in a different social situation than the poverty from which you came. Alumni mentors can help steudents get through the college years and help prevent students from going hungry.

Congratulations, Dr. Jack on your achievements. I was moved to tears by your story.Thank you for speaking to the fact that the College Board has now even considered an "adversity index", it means that their eyes have been pointed in the right direction. As a college staff member working with first-generation, Dreamers, under served and high-risk populations, I see firsthand what this article is about. Although I serve students in a community college setting, I too see the stresses that having the campus cafeteria closed during the summer brings. Many of my students don't have vehicles and they don't want the added hardship of paying for the bus for an "unnecessary" and time-wasting trip away from campus to get food, at least for those that can afford both bus AND food. Some of my students leave school and go to work in order to help their families, and the cycle is repeated. Many of my students will stay close to home and attend the four year colleges that are nearby, but not their first choice so as to avoid further hardships for themselves and their loved ones. We MUST get better at this. Not because I want to "correct or change our way of living in the USA" or because I believe we should "take the burden of child rearing from parents and put it on the taxpayers" but because investing in an educated population is a benefit to us all.

something that really resonated with me was the social isolation the author described. not just the weight of the pressures and problems from home -- but my own inability to blend in socially at an elite university coming from an economically disadvantaged background. when you are surrounded by privileged kids who all scored near perfect SAT scores, who don't understand why you can't eat out and pay $15 for every meal, who think you are making excuses when you say you have work (because you have to work a minimum of 20 hours a week just to be able to afford your $400 rent splitting a one-bedroom apartment with 3 other people), and not having the financial means to participate in sororities or clubs... adjusting to college is difficult. your network of friends is limited, people don't understand you and can't relate. opportunity alone is not enough. coming from a socially disadvantaged background means you are extremely self-sufficient: you are the rock and the pillar that you, your family, and your community has relied on for so long. when you spend your whole life as an underdog, you don't know any other way. your responsibility became your identity. all i think i really needed was someone to break the isolation. someone to tell me i belonged. that i was deserving of their time and care and not an imposter who somehow was selected by the admissions committee accidentally. someone to help me realize that unless i speak up, i cannot be helped.

I was a 1st gen student too, 30 years ago. My problems were not as severe as yours, I was never hungry or had relatives that needed money for example. But I had problems adjusting to the difficult work and work load, and my work-study job ate into a lot of my time. Nevertheless, for me getting to my college was the most astounding experience, like the lights being suddenly turned on in a dark room. In my high school there was nothing cool about being smart and there was no such thing as an intellectual discussion. Joyfully, all of a sudden that was turned on its head! I am profoundly grateful that my college, a large Ivy, took a chance on me: a woefully unprepared student who needed full financial aid. You raise a lot of very good points about how colleges can help more, thank you for this article, but can we also appreciate the generosity of colleges for enabling us to attend?

One does not need to attend an elite Ivy League school in order to make it out of poverty. Socio-economic gaps can be too much of a distraction and otherwise thwart well-intentioned programs. College students should at least start out in a somewhat comfortable environment leaving open the possibility for transfer to a "better" school if that is desirable. I vote for community colleges and other state-run schools

The author may be astonished to learn that not all white students prepare for the SATs with private coaches and special cram classes. Many of us just go in cold and take the test and do quite well if we had worked hard in our classes. I did study for the Physics exam, but all I did was check out a Barron's Guide from the local library. I did not spend a nickel preparing for any of the tests. Neither did my wife. Nor did we spend anything on our children for special preparation when the time for their exams approached.

Helping committed students from difficult backgrounds leads to a stronger, healthier society. Educators need to do some soul searching and realize how damaging a causal comment on potential can be to a student. Financial aid officers need their own lessons in budgeting to understand finance when people are on the edge. Besides voting and paying taxes, the well-off local families could volunteer to help these students navigate the nuance of The Ivy Leagues. I am sure having students like Anthony over for dinner during break would benefit both. Bridging the gap is doable and worth it. Well done Anthony~

Perhaps colleges should give out fewer scholarships, but make the amount of money greater. This way poor students with academic ability wouldn't have to choose between buying books or buying food.

leaving aside the article, the picture is a disgrace in need of proper lighting

A huge part of this article resonates with me so strongly that I'm confused why you would limit this experience just to Latinx and Black communities. My family is a diversity visa winner, it's been less than 5 years since we are in this country, and I'm the first in our family to go to college (and as a cherry on top, it turns out to be an American one). Coming to this country in 2015 with less than $10,0000 and a family of 4 felt so, so, SO alienating. The part where you weren't sure if you needed to pay for your professor's coffee & and the customs from this new life of yours; that's exactly how everything felt and still occasionally feels like, going to a top 30 university. While you bring up valid experiences of the lower class in this country, I think it's such a loss to alienate readers of different ethnic background who might feel the same and can be empowered by an article like this. There are racist institutional injustices woven in this country that affect Black Americans on a different level than others, but this feeling of alienation isn't exclusive to you guys; it's a class problem. You could unite entire lower-class america (well probably not all the Whites) under this article, but it ended up feeling exclusionary for the sake of cheep talking points.

Personal hardship is a social ill? This is neo-liberalism in all its terrible glory. Let's grow up.

unfortunately, quite a few people want schools to correct or change our way of living in the USA. schools were started to teach or educate people starting with six year olds. now, many districts start with pre-kinder garden, then kinder garden, etc. this is all geared to take the burden of child rearing from parents and putting it on the taxpayers. many people want the taxpayers to pay for child care for babies and toddlers. schools are now also expected to feed poor kids, provide medical care, etc. these are all GOOD things, but it has nothing to do with simply educating people. our form of government does not outwardly require that all people should BE equal or happy. our form of government provides that everyone should be able to pursue their own happiness. in our great country we have always had poor people, middle class people and rich people. our constitution does not mandate that all people should be rich or that rich people must support poor people or people who do not have money to travel home on a school's vacation break. those people could choose to be educated closer to home. the choice is their choice and not the taxpayer.

Lyrical. Thank you, Mr. Jack, for sharing your experience and perspective. Not only is this content extremely important, but your voice & writing style is enthralling. If this article were a book, I would still read the whole thing in one sitting.

Thank you for bringing this to the forefront. When I step on my child’s campus and look around, I take in the young eighteen year olds with their unearned expensive designer jewelry and clothing and, by no fault of their own that they were born into privilege, their lack of knowing what it’s like to have to work not only to fill their own bellies but that of their families that depend upon them to do so. I am from a neighborhood where everyone struggles to live, to eat, to pay rent. My mom often calls me and cries about not being able to make her rent. I was able to escape that and now live in an affluent bubble in the suburbs - but I completely understand the struggle. People where I live feel so good about themselves giving to charities. They write checks or raise money for the poor BUT they do not visit these neighborhoods, walk around (even drive around) and see, feel, understand what it feels like to be on the other side. This essay says it all. Thank you!

I guess any excuse is good enough. Maybe culture has something to do with it. My 36-year-old nephew has just paid off his modest home that he bought because it was the one that he could afford. He also has a wife and 2 kids. That’s after he graduated from university with no debt since he held down several jobs. His uncle served 4 years USN/USMC including a year in Vietnam, then attended college, still graduated with the $2,000 he had saved in Vietnam (combat pay) and retired at 58 a multi-millionaire.

Professor Jack; thank you so much for your brilliant summary of college life and poverty. It's shocking that we as a nation can't afford to make sure students are clothed, housed and properly fed while we spend billions on military hardware. Our youth are our future. How can they thrive in school without proper care?

Im feeling this even at the age of 63,black female. so much i could say, and thank you for this article.

Amherst College is an uber-elite school. And a professorship at Harvard speaks for itself. There's no question that Dr. Jack has done very, very well in academia, and should be congratulated for his achievements. Poverty knows no racial or ethnic barriers. A quick look at US population demographics indicates that there are ~16 million whites, ~8 million Hispanics and 7.5 million blacks living in poverty. It's a much larger issue than this article leads the reader to believe.

Dr. Jack, Nobody knows like we know. I had the opportunity to go to West Point but instead ended up at Yale, because I was female, 1st generation American and in my Caribbean-American family, in the 1970s, women in the military were...not heterosexual(insert 1970s word here), and my family at least had heard that Harvard, Yale, Princeton were the top schools. It was the first year that college TUITION (excluding room and board) had topped $10k. Unfortunately, because of my jobs, and my mom's 2-3 jobs, we were not poor enough for a full scholarship, so the EFC was $4k.(again this is NOT counting room & board) I wouldn't let my mom take out a loan so yeah, worked off campus (saw my first Klansman in 1980 in New Haven CT), worked on campus, the football stadium ticket shack, the Architecture stacks, etc. Dropped out 1/2 way through sophomore year. pneumonia. Anyway, 4 colleges and universities later, I did finish that b.a. degree. But yeah, making dinner out of the appetizer spreads from career fairs. Cramming into a car with 6 other people to get home for the holidays [$10 round trip plus splitting whatever bag of chips and 2 6 packs we could all agree on]. Choosing typewriter paper and ribbon over a new coat when asked, "what do you want for Christmas?". Even now, my mom regrets my dropping out of Yale (37 years later) "I would have quit my job and moved to New Haven to support you so that all you would have to do is go to class". I survived. And thrived.

Thank you for sharing. We were just talking about this very issue today. My daughter attends an elite college where housing is only guaranteed for the first two years. Off-campus apartments are ridiculously expensive and landlords require students to sign a 12-month contract (even though financial aid is based on 9 months). Competition is so tight for these apartments most leases are being signed right now for the 2020-2021 school year. My daughter and her friends found an apartment they like, and all they have to do to secure the lease is pay a $3000 deposit per person... for an apartment they won't be living in for almost a year. Apparently this is standard for most off-campus housing. I asked my daughter what the low-income kids do, and she had no idea. If they have to wait until financial aid comes in next year, they will be getting the worst choice of housing, and they might not be able to live with their friends. It's things like this most wealthier families and students don't think about.

I wished that more students from privileged background would read more stories like this; the same kids and their parents who complain that they cannot get to Ivy schools because kids of color from disadvantaged backgrounds have priority. I also wish I could argue better and explain better what people from poverty go through. I can relate about remittances, it never ends. Is it a burden? I sometimes think so until one kid from the same background said, it's not a burden because they are family.

Bittersweet and painful truth. Thank you.

Great article highlighting the very different experience of people on Campus. A large fraction of the students are struggling not just "poor" student, as income rise so is the amount of money you pay for tuition and board. My daughter is in college and tells us about large number of homeless students, I don't think they all come from "poor" families. These days you can't work to pay as you go when you need 3k per month minimum to cover university bills alone [assuming you get no price break]. Leaving off campus in California will still run about 1k per month sharing an apartment. At $15 gross per hour, that >20h per week just to cover housing. Student from families which are more affluent are more "bankable" and are able to borrow money to pay for tuition and board. Still this is "misery" deferred in many case. My experience studying in France was quite different since there was no crushing tuition to pay there. Still affording to live without working full time is a challenge everywhere. I lived with my mom until I was 24, no way we could rent a place for me to be away, I worked part time during the year and full time during summers. I am very happy I could and can now afford to just write a check to cover my daughter student life [apartment, car, tuition, books, insurance(s)]. If I wasn't though, I would definitely not sent her to a far away 4 year college. Local community colleges while staying home would have been the only choice we would have supported.

Thank you so much for this. I have failed (many times) to illustrate the disservice and disconnect that exists on campus. I'm an alum and former employee of an Ivy that prides itself on being the first in many diversity goalposts. However, the neglect of first-generation and low income students that I witnessed as Faculty-In-Residence still haunts me 15 years later. Each academic break (and there were many) left many students (who could not travel home or had no home) without food for days. Meal plans did not apply to the one or two a la carte dining halls that stayed open (presumably to serve staff). Of course I fed the visible students, but what of the ones holed up in their rooms? Past the enforced fasting was the lack of institutional support for those attempting to bridge a great cultural divide. I still see the face of one gifted and sweet young man as he spoke of not knowing who he was anymore and admitting he found it too hard to go home and be his old self and come back to campus and feel a fraud. He dropped out in his last semester of his senior year. Those shiny brochures mimicking a Benetton ad feel like false advertising to me. Compounding this feeling of; "hey, we let you in, what else do you want?" sentiment is the larger admissions tale (tainted with legacy, sport and financial legs up.) As I said, I can not do the injustice justice but so appreciate you doing so. Thank you.

Very powerful story. I live in the area and a first generation Southeast Asian. I grew in around drugs and gang violence. I struggled myself from undergraduate, masters, and now doctorate. The goal was never about accolades, it was more about possibilities coming from an impoverished environment and reaching back to help pull others up. Thank you for sharing. How could I reach out to Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack?

I also was poverty poor. It didn't not occur to me to apply to any college I couldn't commute too - I thought I couldn't afford it. However I had functional parents. Never, ever, no matter what happens should parent use children for emotional support - those phone calls to you where inexcusable. Never in a million years, my parents would demand ( and that what it sounded like - demand) that I bail them out - they are adults, why in the world DirectTV is in your name? you can't afford DirectTv - you don't get it. And yes, I speak from experience. I'm not sure what college can do beyond band-aids having food available on school break. What really needed is to someone to tell your parents to cut it off. But will they listen? You are conditioned to make excuses for your family - you love them. From outside, they represent everything parents should not be.

It seems to me the problems is not with the colleges and their "leafy green campuses" but the family back home demanding money from someone who couldn't afford it and should've just said no. In one sentence you bemoan the lack of money to eat and the schools' lack of resources for that and in the next someone, an adult family member, calling you to pay the bills. Seems the latter is the problem in this case. The last sentence kind of says it all.

It seems to me the problems is not with the colleges and their "leafy green campuses" but the family back home demanding money from someone who couldn't afford it and should've just said no. In one sentence you bemoan the lack of money to eat and the schools' lack of resources for that and in the next someone, an adult family member, calling you to pay the bills. Seems the latter is the problem in this case. The last sentence kind of says it all.

Brilliant article, so incredibly and succinctly descriptive of the struggle of so many students who gain admission to college only to find themselves mired in debt, family issues and unfamiliarity of the “code” of the elite. I am so grateful you shared your story—it should be required reading for every college admissions officer and educator in the country. As you correctly pointed out, the struggle begins with perceptions of students in elementary school. We must reform our entire educational system, set up to reward only those conventionally good students who fit the mold, and those whose parents pay for access (see Felicity Huffman). Bravo, and congratulations on your achievements.

Thank you for sharing your story and giving a voice to the difficulties that many folks. even folks who are given their "golden ticket," are facing. It illuminates needed light on a space that many do not understand. I can certainly relate in many ways to your story and college experience, although my story has many differences. For example, I experienced a lifetime of trauma, drug addiction, periodic homelessness and criminal justice system involvement. When I was 30, I was a newly sober single father with a GED living in a one bedroom apartment with my daughter when I started college. Everything was hard. Everything. Classes were, as your article described, the least of my difficulties; not just after I got in but sometimes still. Ten years later, while I have begun my second year of PhD studies in Social Work (thanks only to a seeking out a vast network of folks who could help; professionals and otherwise), there are too many that should be but are not in my position. Hearing stories like yours and having mentors like you, is one incredible anecdote that can move equity forward. Thank you for being you and sharing with us! Keep up the great work.

WOW!!! This article is soooo good! It really hits home with me. I can also remember attending an all-girl private high school in the Bronx and not able to go to any after-school programs unless it was FREE. My mother was only to pay the tuition. I probably had my uniform the entire 4-years. So Kaplan's tutoring, after school anything even the prom was out of the question. You did such an awesome job illustrating the transition poverty-stricken young adults have to bare while focusing on the future. I look forward to reading more from you!

Congratulations on your achievements. It clearly took struggle, discipline, and perseverance, (and a whole lotta stuff that I grew up too privileged to fully appreciate) in order to accomplish what you have. Your voice, and your story, is important to hear for colleges and universities to learn how they can improve the product they offer to the ones who could most benefit. You impress me enormously. Thank you for sharing your story.

Thank you so much for writing this. I can vividly remember my mother hugging me tight and saying through tears "Get everything you can out of this. Don't live like a pauper, if you need something we'll figure it out". She was dropping me off my Freshman year of college and I knew, in truth, that I could never burden my family with that sort of call. I was on full scholarship and working two jobs, and sometimes that was barely enough, but everyone was so proud of my for being first that I could not bring myself to complain and did not fully understand at the time why things were sometimes, despite a full scholarship, difficult in ways hard to articulate. Thank you for articulating them in this article.