<p>There's such a thing as "developmental admits" at the big schools. Children of hotshots get admitted in the hope of extracting donations from their parents. However, given the number of millionaires (9 million worldwide) your dad would have to be very rich. Or you could be the son of the PM, that might work too. </p>
<p>Anyway, the first-gen college might be more applicable if you were a US citizen. I don't really think the colleges practise significant affirmative action on the international applicant body.</p>
<p>PS. Not really laughing, more like o.o;; here ... Well, by THES NUS ranks pretty high, above most of the UCs and UMich. However, I'd like to see the SMU dude's evidence. Heh heh.</p>