<p>Before anyone writes a simplified answer, here is my situation. My parents both went to college; my mother got a B.A in India and my dad got an engineering degree from University of Bridgeport (ranked as the worst college in the US according to Reuters). A lot of URM's get a huge advantage because their parents never went to college at all, but I cant see how my situation is that distinct. My parents had to work up from extreme minimum wage 3.30/hr during the 1980s to finance my dads graduate education at the worst school in the United States. Many of my Indian friends have parents who have not only gone to college while in financially stable position but have exploited the fact that once upon a time Indian was URM and gone to ivy league schools. So ultimately, do I get any advantage for the fact that I am first generation American Indian (not native American) applying to higher level schools?</p>
<p>bump..............................................................</p>
<p>I doubt it, but it would be nice wouldn't it? My parents didn't go anywhere notable. My mother went to Community College for two years and dad went to St. Bonaventure U, which isn't at all prestigious. No grad school. For most of the time after that my parents lived in Syracuse, and dad worked for the painting business grandpa started, which doesn't really require a college degree. :/</p>
<p>bump 10char</p>
<p>No, you are not first generation. Your father graduated from a US college (no matter how "badly ranked" it may be).</p>
<p>Applications do not ask if you are "first generation". They ask for the highest degree attained by your parents. For your father, that's a domestic college degree. For your mother, it's a foreign degree. You must list them both.</p>