<p>Lol, well since everyone is offering their own little scenarios...stepmother has a phD, dad is working towards his BA? Am I first gen? :o Step parent counts?</p>
<p>Even if youre not first gen, they can't exactly prove youre lying.</p>
<p>Unless it doesnt fit all with your socioeconomic situation.</p>
<p>If you are first generation, then what they do is that they classify you in a statistical category ..... like the correlation of first generations families and their household income making less than $100,000.</p>
<p>Sorry about asking something that has probably been answered before, but just to get this straight: My mother took a years worth of classes at a photography school, but never actually got a degree, and my father is college drop-out, I qualify as first generation right?</p>
<p>Yeah, you qualify as first generation.</p>
<p>wat about me?? my parents didnt graduate college but my sister did.My parents dont earn more than 100K but will pay full tuition thru the proceeds earned from the sale of a piece of proprty ( P.S. im an international)</p>
<p>aj16, you would be a first generation. Your sister and you are considered to be in the same generation.</p>
<p>I always thought the question was pretty straightforward but I guess it can be a bit involved depending on ones situation. I always thought what was meant by the question was more if you were the first ever in your family to attend and hopefully graduate from college. For example when I applied for the Exploring Transfer program at Vassar College, I needed to be under this category. They defined it as being the first in your family to attend college. In your family including your siblings! but I am the oldest so that would be me anyway. They even specified if EITHER of your parents holds an Associates that means they DID attended college so you are not the first in your family. </p>
<p>I guess "first generation" would include all siblings so even if your older brothers or sisters have attended you are still part of the first generation to attend college. </p>
<p>Is that a good thing to be considered this? It depends on what you are going for...their thinking is that if your parents graduated from college it raises the chance that you will also follow in their footsteps. If they never went, you are at a disadvantage because it is harder to do something that your family hasn't experienced yet, you are on your own to make these decisions without much guidance or knowledge of it from your parents, which was definately the case with me. If you are NOT the first it reflects that you are probably not from the lower socioeconomic class and your parents are educated which in turn suggests certain things about them and your family. Assumptions that may or may not be true.</p>
<p>ok here's what RIDICULOUS what if.....</p>
<p>What if....</p>
<p>you're dad went to college in India and completed his education all the way through his medical degree. However upon moving the USA he decided he no longer wished to pursue medicine (and didn't take the tests necessary to practice medicine in the USA) and thusly went on to complete technical training for two years as a respitory therapist. The kicker: the dad in question has pretty much been a deadbeat (physically absent, financially absent, etc) except for the last year or so after his separation from his wife. Point being the dad was pretty much absent from raising his child (i'm being fairly objective). </p>
<p>Also what if the mom was pursuing a BA at dusquene university until her younger brother needed money to finish his engineering degree at clemson, forcing her to drop out of college, work, and finance her siblings education. </p>
<p>lol sorry to bust out the violin + the sob story, but.....does that make me a 1st gen college student?</p>
<p>edit: ugh, nvm just read a few posts up "Usually, if a student lives with just one parent, it is that parent’s educational background that determines whether the student is considered First Generation."</p>
<p>In all these definitions, it states that "if a parent..." blah, blah, blah. </p>
<p>What if my uncle went to college, but neither of my parents/grandparents did?</p>
<p>poozislove, i dont think that counts, because i think most of the application questions only ask about your parents.</p>
<p>I'm not first generation altogether, but I'm first generation in America fwiw. :) I'll throw in an lol for good measure.</p>