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I am applying for MS in Industrial Engineering. Do you think it is safe to mention that I have a family business which I would like to expand with the aid of IE? Or will it be useless for their purposes since they may perceive me as a rich kid with back up who does not genuinely have the want and need to study?

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  • Whether your family is rich or not should have nothing to do with the admission.
    – Nobody
    Commented Jan 1, 2015 at 7:16
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    @scaaahu while it should have nothing to do with admission, most schools would be happy to trade a spot on an MS program for a new building.
    – StrongBad
    Commented Jan 1, 2015 at 16:24
  • @StrongBad I agree. Your comment is correct in practice while mine is correct only in theory.
    – Nobody
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 6:30
  • @scaaahu you sure they won't think I am undeserving?
    – user27227
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 11:35
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    I am not entirely sure. I think your passion about IE and MS degree should be one of the major points in the SoP. However, if mentioning your family business can help to explain why you're interested in IE and MS, then you should say it.
    – Nobody
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 11:44

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In my opinion, having a clear reason for going to graduate school can only help your application. Many people apply to graduate programs simply because it is the next thing after undergraduate. For you, there is a clear motivation and a source of focus.

With regards to this particular reason, it is not clear to me whether it would be good for a Ph.D., because of the research component. A master's degree, however, is designed to give you knowledge and skills that can be applied outside of academia, however, and so your motivation of applying this to a particular business is a good match (the fact that it is a family business I think should not particularly matter).

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  • user27227, it seems like a safe thing to do and this answer seems spot-on to me. The concerns will be first about your preparation and ability to succeed in the program, and having somewhat immediate practical application for the knowledge should be seen as a bonus for you. Besides, as StrongBad pointed out above, if you expand the business enough to become a donor, perhaps the university will get a new building out of it, and the mere thought of that should put your app at the front of the line. ;-)
    – Developer63
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 21:45

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