I am a junior in HS and my mother received a master’s degree OUTSIDE of the United States and she hasn’t been and won’t be helping too much with the application process.
The definition that Brown University uses for first-gen very inclusive. It says that you can identify as first generation if your parents received degrees outside of the United States. However, some colleges are very vague with their definition. For example, Harvard University says that first generation means that neither of your parents hold degrees from a 4 year university. So does this mean I would identify as First Gen to Brown but NOT to Harvard?
–Typically you do not determine if you are first generation. You write down your parent’s education and each college will view it as they see fit.
–The definition I see for “first generation” at Brown is as follows: “While the term “first-generation college student” is defined as a student whose parents did not complete a four-year college education, at Brown we encourage students to think of the term more broadly. We welcome any student who self-identifies as having minimal prior exposure to or knowledge of experiences like those at Brown.” https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/first-generation-students/ IMO if your mother has an advanced degree earned outside the US she would have expereince with college education and you would not be considered as first generation. I do not see anything written where Brown does not include a college education received outside the country.
To build upon what @happy1 says, neither Harvard nor Brown asks family related questions on the college-specific portion of the Common App. The main section asks you to list your parents educations, including college(s) attended and degree(s) received. There is no box that says “Check here if you are first gen.” The college will make that determination based upon the info listed and decide how much of a bump, if any, will result.
Did you ask your mum if her degrees counted for nothing? If your mum had her degrees from the UK or Australia etc would you discount those? The Brown thing is hilarious really, but schools aiming at widening their applicant pool will do anything for numbers right?
The vast majority people with multiple degrees will never have had some rarified Brown like experience.
Think about it. The intention behind first gen is to identify students who will be the first in the families to attend college. 20% of a class can be reserved for such students. After accepted, those students are typically given extra support to make it through 4 years. Those who have parents who attended college outside the US, already have advantages in learning that first gens don’t.
She received her degrees from India. @happy1 On the Brown website it says:
“At Brown, we think of it more as any student who may self-identify as not having prior exposure to or knowledge of navigating higher institutions such as Brown and may need additional resources. For example, if a parent attended a four-year college in a different educational system outside of the United States; if a student has only had close contact to people with minimal college experience; if a student and/or parent feel that they are unfamiliar with college culture at Brown-- these are diverse ways in which students might identify with the first-generation identity.”
According to this and the fact that although she holds a degree (which did not transfer at all in the United States), she knows virtually zero about the modern US college process, would Brown consider me in that group?
I asked undergrad admissions at Columbia and they explicitly told me that they would NOT consider me as having first-gen status.
By the way, here’s some info if you think that would affect anything:
I live in central Virginia and attend a relatively small high school, from which no one has ever attended either Brown or Columbia (or pretty much any top-tier college, sometimes makes me think that my high school might be blacklisted).
My family is low-income, ethnicity is Indian, grades are stellar, very very heavy extracurricular involvement, pretty much the most in my graduating class.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it doesn’t give you that much of an edge to be first generation, especially if you are not and underrepresented minority.
Your mom has multiple degrees so you’re not a first generation student. I would be careful about trying to present yourself as one. Even knowing that such a group exists and that it might offer a slight boost shows you know your way around the college application process. There are plenty of competitive applicants at super selective colleges. You want to give them reasons to accept you. Pretending that you’re in the same situation as a low income student whose parents are high school graduates may work against you.
You are not first gen and you know it. If you deliberately don’t include that info in your application, you are lying. You are required to acknowledge that everything in your application is true. The application asks about parents’ education. You need to put the info in the app.
Many, in fact probably most, students don’t receive help filling in their apps. You don’t get a boost because your mom isn’t helping you.
Your mother has multiple degrees (both undergrad and grad) from a country that is well respected for its educational system. You are not first generation.