<p>What percentage of the college applicants at selective schools are first generation students?</p>
<p>Does being first generation carry the same weight as being a minority? (Black, Hispanic, Native American, etc.)</p>
<p>Phew. I hope you don't mind all these questions.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>First generation is not a hook but a tip factor. Keep in mind that many schools have different criteria for determining first generation students. Some schools consider you first generation if neither of you parents attended college period, while other school consider you first generation if your parents have never completed undergrad (if your parents attended college in another country, you are not a first generation college student). Every thing is looked at in context. </p>
<p>First generation is usually looked at in combination with low income status/ low or under performing schools. There are some families who are very wealthy despite the parents not attending college (parents that own their own businesses, etc) so in this type of situation there is no tip in being a first generation college student.</p>
<p>^ My parents own a small business, but they just opened it 3 years ago, so it's still stabilizing. We live in Maine, where small business tend to be difficult to maintain because of the high minimum wage, etc. </p>
<p>The fact that my parents own a business in the first place---would they just look at that and assume that we make a lot of money?</p>
<p>Neither of my parents went to college of any sort. My mom hadn't finished junior high school.</p>
<p>I'm afraid of writing down stuff and then having it come off looking the wrong way. Like, I'm kind of reluctant to put down "business owners" as their jobs.</p>
<ul>
<li>Thank you for your response.</li>
</ul>
<p>Then go for another position that's also true but not necessarily business owner.</p>
<p>First generation status has to do with your parents' education, not how much money they make. Student with parents who lack college educations are going to have more challenges getting to college because their parents aren't as likely as college educated ones to be able to do things like the following: encourage them to take college prep courses and to prepare for things like the SATs; have extensive vocabularies; have large home libraries; expose their kids to info about colleges from a young age; iinvolve their kids in educationally-related activities from a young age; do things like take kids to visit colleges to support their kids' getting to college.</p>
<p>Of course, noncollege educated parents may be very interested in having their kids go to college. They just may not have the kind of skills in doing so that college-educated parents have due to their own experiences.</p>
<p>If you look up the common data set info for colleges that interest you, by seeing the # of Pell grant recipients, you'll get an idea about the percentage of low income students there. You may be able to find the common data set info on the college's web pages or in the thread posted on either this board or the other CC board about college admission and selelction. It also would be very well worth it to pay the $15 to fully access the U.S. News premium college website, which gives the kind of detailed info that you're looking for.</p>
<p>Put down the truth about your parents' business. Being a business owner doesn't mean that someone is well off. Colleges can get a rough idea about your income level not only by your parents' jobs (and business owner could be the owner of a very small, struggling business, not a Fortune 500 company), but also by your zip code and by whether you apply for financial aid.</p>
<p>Probably no one can answer your question about the weight that selective colleges put on being first generation. Selective private colleges will take that info into account, but it will be taken into account with the whole application. There's no way to determine exactly how much weight it will carry.</p>
<p>As a first gen, low income, Asian-American student from rural Maine, your best bets for getting into a very selective college would be to apply to private schools outside of New England (though you still may have a chance at New England ones. Keep in mind, though, that they are likely to get the bulk of Maine students who are similar to you).</p>
<p>Schools like Emory, Tulane, Davidson, Vanderbilt Rice, Washington U-St. Louis may have a harder time getting students from Maine, so your location could be a big plus there. At Davidson, and Vanderbilt, I also think being Asian may be a plus.</p>
<p>Cornell, Dartmouth and probably places like Bates and Bowdoin have had a hard time attracting minorities (and I think this includes Asians), so your being Asian may be a plus. I believe that all now are also interested in attracting more low-income students.</p>
<p>Execellent Midwestern colleges like Macalester , Notre Dame, and Oberlin also may find you a very attractive applicant as might U of Wisconsin, a top 50 school that has had a very hard time attracting minorities. Unlike many public institutions, it has some nice merit aid for out of state students whom it finds very desireable.</p>
<p>When applying relatively far from your home, consider how being that distance from your family may affect you. Due to your location, it also may be difficult to get back home for things like holidays. The difficulty of getting to airports as well as the cost may be things to consider.</p>
<p>"Probably no one can answer your question about the weight that selective colleges put on being first generation. Selective private colleges will take that info into account, but it will be taken into account with the whole application. There's no way to determine exactly how much weight it will carry."</p>
<p>This response should be posted on the top of the page--it's the true answer to all of these questions about how much does it help if....</p>
<p>If my mom (who is Asian) had to drop out of elementary school but my dad (who is Hispanic) attended one semester of college (but never graduated), am I considered first generation? Because my dad never actually graduated?</p>
<p>(And here I go off into a little speech...)</p>
<p>I think it's a really good thing that colleges look favorably on first-generation college applicants. It is very true that my parents do not have the same educational background as others, and as a result I've had to do a lot of things on my own. (I'm sure this is true for some non-first-generation students too though.) Both of my parents speak in broken English and the college admissions process is something completely and totally foreign to them. My greatest resource during the admissions process has been my older sister, who has recently graduated from college and had to figure all of this stuff out on her own years ago (and I admire her so much for that). At my own school, I see many students whose 'educated' parents are constantly breathing down their necks, checking their grades and whatnot compulsively and practically living in the guidance office to ensure that their child gets the best education possible. My parents are unlike these "helicopter moms" (hehe I found this term in a Newsweek article) and often have no clue as to what I am doing in school. My mom especially does not know my role in various clubs, my extracurriculars...simply because she doesn't understand the general concepts of clubs and civic engagement. I usually just explain to her vaguely what is going on at school (on the rare occasion that she asks me about it) in the little Korean I know. It's often very frustrating because I want to tell her about everything, I want her to be involved with my education, but somehow that seems impossible with what little she knows about high school and college. My dad is the same way. Just yesterday he called and asked where I am applying. I dropped the names of a few Ivy Leagues (among others of course) and he replied, "Oh that's nice mi hija. Isn't Yale in New York though?" Hehe.
This post is not me "whining" or griping about my "disadvantaged" status (I would somehow say that it is kind of advantaged rather than disadvantaged because of the challenges I have overcome and the many enlightening/learning experiences I've gone through these past three years!)...it is just about how much I would appreciate it if colleges would view first-generation applicants with more favor. I love my parents very much and they do so much for me. I'm very thankful for them, college-educated or not.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck Porkfriedrice</p>
<p>^ Thank you for that. That's exactly the way I feel --- the college application process is completely new to my family and the best resource I've had so far is, honestly, CollegeConfidential. It has taught me so much about the process, considering that none of my parents know what's exactly happening. I don't blame them. </p>
<p>I have no complaints about their parenting skills because they really are great people. It's just that I've lived under a very laissez-faire set of rules since they aren't around to enforce them. They aren't around to see what's happening in my life. Until this year, the only college they've heard of was Harvard, and they didn't know what the SATs were until I took them junior year.</p>
<p>But at the same time, I feel so responsible, you know? I do my own grocery shopping for the house, I've filled out documents and papers since 5th grade, I've never had my study habits enforced, I've never been taught to budget time, I cook, do the laundry, clean the house, run errands, etc. I know that may not seem like much, but some of my friends don't need to take the time to do this stuff because their parents do it for them. At the end of the day, I just feel so self-sufficient, and I'm grateful for the things and responsibilities I've learned through not having my parents around, you know?</p>
<p>I don't know what my point is. :-D I wasn't trying to toot my own horn. I think I just wanted to express that.</p>