3. STUDENT (APPLICANT, PERSONAL) INFORMATION
As noted above, colleges want a lot of personal information about you, including your name, address, birth date and city of birth, etc. Here are some things to watch out for:

Social Security Number
Not long ago, colleges were insistent about having an applicant’s social security number because this number was a way of keeping track of a student during the application process, as well as during the time he/she was an undergraduate at the school. Some colleges and application groups now leave this as an optional piece of information.

Identification With An Ethnic Group
Even though by law, you do not have to answer questions regarding your race or ethnic origins, if your family background is African American, Native American, or Hispanic, it is clearly to your advantage to note this on the application. If your family is of a mixed background, then identify the different categories or explain what it is in the “Other” section.

Also note any language other than English that is spoken in your home.

4. FAMILY INFORMATION
Students are often surprised by the information that applications ask regarding their parents and siblings. Consequently, at the last minute many applicants end up frantically tracking down information that only their parents can provide. So if you’re smart, gather this information way before you need it:

• Your mother’s and father’s professions, positions and names of employers (and sometimes even their previous occupations)

• The undergraduate and graduate colleges that both your mother and father attended, degrees attained and years of graduation

• Some state universities ask for parents’ gross annual income for the year you apply, as well as the previous year, and also the number of dependent students in the family

• Many applications also want to know the names and ages of your siblings, as well as the colleges they attend (or have attended), the degrees earned and their dates of attendance at the colleges