<p>My mom and dad are both immigrants. My mom has an associate's degree from a community college and my father got a 2 year from an community then a 4 year, then a master's. The thing is neither of them went through the college app process and they both went through the process relatively late.</p>
<p>I am an immigrant too if that matters.</p>
<p>First-generation usually applies TO something. The term is used in different ways.</p>
<p>Officially, the term first-generation can refer either to a person who immigrated to America and is here now, OR to the children that were born in America of immigrants.</p>
<p>Some people will use the term “First Generation Immigrant” (meaning you have immigrated here and are the first generation here) versus “First Generation American” (meaning your parents immigrated here and you were the first generation born here).</p>
<p>First-generation to college? The answer is no to that, too. Both of your parents have college degrees. Although they may not have gone through the application process that you are going through, they clearly went through some type of application process since they have college degrees – even if it was just filling out registration paperwork.</p>
<p>You are not first generation for college applications.</p>
<p>first gen = neither of your parents graduated from a 4 year college.
Email the specific schools though since some may consider that having a degree from abroad doesn’t “count” here. It’d probably depend on what foreign university it was. 
A school like Hamilton, which actively seeks out first gens, probably has an idea whether they’d consider you first gen or not. Email and ask.</p>
<p>^^^
My reading of the OP’s post was that his/her immigrant parents received their degrees in the U.S.</p>
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<p>How could anyone think that the OP might possibly be first gen? Their father has an UG and Grad degree, they are not first gen, period. Where he got the degrees is immaterial.</p>
<p>Entomom it does matter where he got the degrees for certain institutions. Every institution has different definitions of “first generation college”. Like above posters have said, some schools don’t consider foreign degrees, some don’t consider anything under a bachelor’s, etc.</p>
<p>Yes, colleges have different definitions, I’ve probably posted that more than anyone else on this forum. But having an UG & Masters, is not variable. I’d appreciate citations for any definitions that don’t include foreign degrees at those levels.</p>
<p>The degrees are not foreign. I asked because I thought it was more of knowing the ins an outs of the college application process. My parents went to college after but I don’t think they had to go through the process HS seniors do. Thanks for the inputs :)</p>