<p>Hiya! I'm filling out the Common Application and I have no clue what to put down for my parents' education.
They don't know either woop big help.</p>
<p>But basically my parents & I are immigrants to the US from Belarus. And I know my mom took just 3 classes @ a community college there and my dad took like 1 class here at a community college here but that's it. It wasn't a significant class though, just English learner's one for like 3 months.</p>
<p>Do I put they have some college or just high school degrees? I'm not sure. Do colleges check, like if I put down just high school, do they go like "oh no your mom took 1 math class in a foreign country and dropped out?" </p>
<p>Thanks for the response loquatical! But on the common app it asks to put down “high school” or “some college” I don’t know if my parents would qualify for “some college” - personally I don’t think they would because they know absolutely anything - but I’d prefer to be correct! </p>
<p>If they were not for college credit, they would not count.</p>
<p>Honestly, really they want to know if your parents are college <em>graduates</em> more than caring if they “took some college”.</p>
<p>“Some college” implies they were pursuing a degree and dropped out. If they took independent courses, not intending to or not qualifying for pursuing a degree, I would say it is completely honest to say they had “no college” at all.</p>
<p>A class at a college is not always a college class. A kid who takes a pre-college class at a college doesn’t have “some college”. An ESL class that is not towards any degree is not a college course. A training course in accounting that is taken at a CC but could not count towards any degree is not a college course.</p>
<p>We don’t know what level of colleges you are aiming for, whether this really matters. You have to go by the individual college’s definition. Some colleges mean never enrolled in a degree-seeking program. Some mean never graduated with a degree. Chapman seems to be equating “have not completed” and “first to attend.” Ugh, those are not the same. I think the key here is: did they take the classes as students enrolled in a degree program or just on the side? English learning is not what the colleges mean, you are ok there.</p>
<p>The .ed link is old, things evolve. Maybe there’s someting more current, but it’s still is up to the individual college. If your mom just took some random classes for her own enrichment, not a matriculated student, I think you are safe stopping with the hs degrees both reached. Look online for how each college words it.</p>
<p>I mean ultimately do colleges check? I don’t think that school my mom took like 3 classes in even exists? And she said she took math and 2 “fun” classes</p>
<p>No, not to my knowledge. But if your parents achieved much in their lives, offered you a comfy lifestyle, some of the first gen boost can be affected. This isn’t a hook in a vacuum. Why are you so worried? </p>
<p>I’m not necessarily worried, I’m just a really paranoid/ocd person getting everything correct, and for a local scholarship essay I’m writing about my family’s difficult transition so I was curious! But thanks for the insight! </p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. I’m a college administrator and I would not consider your parent’s situation as ‘some college’. IN my book, that’s an associate’s degree at least.</p>
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