<p>I am asking on this forum because im a first gen and going this college application process basically alone. Do you think my list of colleges is acceptable for someone like me? I plan on applying to GA State, UGA, Grinnell, Ursinus, Macalester, and Oberlin. I plan on majoring in either Psychology, chem, or physics</p>
<p>3.5/4.0
rank is like 190/700
took one AP class so far, taking 2 this year as senior
30 ACT(plan on taking again and getting a 33)
2 years Science Olympiad
2 years french club
2 years chess club
1 year JV soccer</p>
<p>Black male from south GA</p>
<p>First gen</p>
<p>Low income(messed my grades up pretty bad, had no car 9th-10th so it limited my ECs, couldn't stay after for tutoring plus we were homeless for awhile)
two schools in my town one 75% black(inner city) other 75% white(county, full of rich kids), I attend the latter because my mother felt it would keep me out of trouble.</p>
<p>A 30 ACT and 3.5 GPA should make you a lock for the Georgia schools … all else being equal. That means the rest of your list is fine … because even though they may be financial reaches, you’re not relying on an acceptance there. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Yes, I was going to say the same thing. I think you will be accepted to several schools on your list. But whether they will meet your aid sufficiently for you to attend is another discussion. Be sure you explain your situation in your application about being homeless and inability to stay for ECs first two years. Also, have an adult with some college application savvy review your essays with you if possible (possibly a teacher at your school).</p>
<p>I agree that your list looks fine for admissions since you have solid safeties, but you need to be sure about financial safeties and should be running FA calculators. My only concern about the Princeton calculator is that since P is a extremely generous school (one of the four most generous in the country) for need based FA, they will be a best case scenario, it is likely that the other privates on your list will not be able to offer as good a FA package as P.</p>
<p>Please make sure your high school counselor knows about your family’s situation of having been homeless, and how that affected your first couple years of high school. He/She can then talk about that in the counselor section.</p>
<p>What was your GPA junior year? What kinds of grades do you think you’ll have first semester of senior year? What math are you taking this year?</p>
<p>I think that colleges will look favorably on a student with your challenges who then demonstrated strong success as a junior/1st semester senior, but you also need to figure out the financial situation. Do you know your family’s EFC?</p>
<p>we make about 25k-30k a year and do I have to tell my counselor about my financial problems? I never liked to get pity points and complain, I was hoping I could just write about in my essay</p>
<p>Your GC should be an advocate for you in your admissions process. They often fill out a form about you or even write a letter about you to the colleges. Colleges sometimes call them when they are seeking more info about you as an applicant. I would definitely tell your GC that you are worried about those 1st two years (GPA, no ECs) and explain that your family was having financial issues and you were homeless for part of that time. Trust me, it is in your best interest for the GC to know those facts. Especially if you have done well in your junior & senior year, it is not a pity party/complaint scenario. Colleges LOVE that story (overcame adversity and proved that you could do well).</p>
<p>It’s definitely not pity points and it will probably sound better coming from your counselor than from you. (Though of course you should feel free to address the issue too.) I agree that you should have a financial safety. As long as you have a couple of safe schools I think it’s okay to aim as high as you like. Personally I am of the school that if you haven’t been rejected anywhere, you probably didn’t aim high enough.</p>
<p>Unfortunately you have missed the Sept. 30 deadline for Questbridge - that program would have been perfect for you. </p>
<p>That said, don’t throw in the towel yet. You should focus on schools that “meet full financial need” WITHOUT loans for students in your income bracket. </p>
<p>Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin meet full need but include loans to meet full need. Amherst does not include loans, plus I think you would qualify for an application fee waiver from Amherst.</p>
<p>I know it’s not comfortable to ask your guidance counselor for assistance, but that’s their job. If they don’t know your background and financial situation, they won’t know how to best assist you.</p>
<p>I just came from Grinnell’s financial aid presentation a couple of days ago. I got the impression that they try to limit loans to $2,000 per year, which is not much. So I would keep them in your application pool if I were you.</p>
<p>first gen is confusing.
Some define first gen American and mean naturalized citizen, others define it as first generation born in America to immigrant parents.</p>
<p>But there are other, better place for “what are my chances?” kind of questions.</p>
<p>For college admissions first gen has nothing to do with immigration, naturalization or citizenship. First gen refers to first generation to attend college, not first generation in the U.S. </p>
<p>There are different definitions of first gen for college, so it is rare that a college or program actually asks, “Are you first gen to college?”. Rather they ask for the college history, if any, of both parents. Then colleges/programs decide if the applicant fits into their definition of first gen.</p>
<p>First generation to go to college is something many schools take into consideration, and these students sometimes get “the benefit of the doubt” in admissions. Additionally Elon Univ, for one example, is making an attempt this year to identify all the first gen kids in their freshman class and reach out to them by organizing a group for them.<br>
[The</a> Pendulum - Elon identifies first-generation students on campus](<a href=“Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan”>Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan)</p>
<p>Don’t worry about “pity points.” You have had to overcome real, significant disadvantages that other students have not had to deal with. They have affected your academic performance, and thus are relevant to an admissions committee that is evaluating your record. How well does your GC know you? If there are 700 kids in your class, your GC may have a very large number of students that they are expected to help.</p>
<p>thanks for clearing up my confusion entomom.
I thought I had read threads here in the past where first gen American did in fact come into play for students. I thoiught it was referred to as a “hook” Apparently I was wrong and first gen American has no bearing whatsoever in college admissions. My mistake.</p>
<p>“But there are other, better place for “what are my chances?” kind of questions.”</p>
<p>I disagree, especially since he is asking “Am I aiming too high?”, not "what are my chances. He is coming here for surrogate parents! Very different viewpoint than what you will get on the “chances” sub forum.</p>
<p>OP, personally, I don’t think you’re aiming out of reach. Keep hope alive.</p>
<p>When I read the first gen thing… It only means first gen from one’s parents, not first gen ever, right? See, if my grand parents were college educated, but my parents aren’t, colleges would consider me as a first gen because they only ask for parent’s info… just pondering :)</p>
<p>and that, jvt is part of the confusion about first gen student.
Clearly, the phrase “first gen in my family” includes grandparents, unless of course a person wants to argue his grandparents are not his family. But does the school use that phrase?
If my great grampa went to college, my grampa went to college, but my dad didn’t, surely no one would call me first gen to attend college in my family. In that example, my dad would actually be an anomalie- he would have been the first one that didn’t! But, exactly how the college words it, is the key. do they say first gen in family? just first gen? Some even ask using the word “attended” and that is different than “graduated”. Maybe dad attended, but didn’t graduate? Every school’s wording differs.</p>
<p>In my personal opinion, if a school asks if student is first gen, I think they mean to include generations before parents. Here’s my reasoning- if they were only asking for parent’s info, wouldn’t it be much much easier and clearer just to ask if parents attended(or graduated) college? Why even use the phrase first gen, if all a college wants to know about is the applicant’s parents? I believe saying “I’m the first one in my family to attend college” has a very different meaning than “My parents didn’t attend college”.</p>