<p>Hi,
I read/heard from a lot of people that being a first-generation student can be an advantage in the college application process.
Neither of my parents attended university (in Germany or anywhere else), and I am also the first to receive the Abitur, which you need to attend university. How can I emphasize this in my application? My Commonapp essay is about something else, and I don't think I can just write something in the additional information section like "By the way, I'm a first generation student and the first one to receive the Abitur".
Any advice on how I can write a statement about that without sounding whiny/pretentious?</p>
<p>Your counselor needs to specify this, especially if neither parent has the Abitur in addition to not attending college.
On the commonapp, the highest level of education achieved by your parents is a question, so you should write “10th grade” or “8th grade” or “11th-grade level vocational certificate”, whatever is appropriate.</p>
<p>Hmmm… thanks. So I shouldn’t write an extra statement?
Also, I put “business or trade school” for education level, since they both went to some sort of vocational school.</p>
<p>Or should I just briefly elaborate in the additional info section? Like: Details about parent’s education: Mother: 11th-grade-level vocational certificate, then vocational school for occupational therapy?
Also, for “employment status” there is only “employed” and “unemployed”. My mother was forced to retire early a while ago for health reasons; is it OK if I specify this, too?</p>
<p>Newsflash: vocational school counts as college too. A completed Lehre or Ausbildung is considered equivalent to an Associate’s degree in the US. And to be honest, an American community college has much more in common with a German Berufsschule than a German Universitaet.</p>
<p>
That’s what the education boxes in the parents section are for. (“College” and “Degree”)</p>
<p>If you want to draw attention to the fact that your parents got a vocational education and you are the first in your family to receive an academic education, you need to elaborate on how that fact is significant. Was succeeding at a Gymnasium especially difficult for you? Has your educational path been alienating you from your family and community? Have financial strains made your life difficult? What would it mean for you to attend college?</p>
<p>If you can’t make out how your parents’ vocational education is relevant to your college application, neither will the admission officers reading your application.</p>
<p>Littlebird: usually the “first generation” college student information relates to those students whose parents were in unfortunate circumstances and weren’t able to further their education because something interfered with their education (gang-related, caring for siblings/elderly, tribal issues, death of parents, etc.). If your parents had any training beyond high school, and this includes vocation and CC exposure, then they voluntarily attempted post secondary training and there really wasn’t a hindrance in attempting to further their education. I wouldn’t include your information in the comments box.</p>
<p>Actually, first gen = neither parent got a 4-year college degree. The degrees/diplomas LittleBird mentions are not equivalent to a 4-year (or 3-year-academic/university) college degree.
Attempting further education after high school or how many credits a foreign diploma is worth in the US or a vocational degree do NOT count.
However, first gen status is less important for internationals since higher education typically isn’t as common outside the US.
LittleBird doesn’t need to “justify” anything. Being from a first-gen family is accepted as having its own challenges, whether LittleBird was aware of them or not (adcoms know those and factor them in.) Of course the counselor would need to specify whether Little Bird is first-generation Abitur candidate, first-generation attempting 4-year college, etc. LittleBird only writes “vocational 11th grade + vocational diploma in occupational therapy” and the counselor is supposed to elaborate, NOT LittleBird.</p>
<p>Sorry to derail this thread, but I’d like to follow up on MYOS1634.</p>
<p>
That definition is mostly used by elite universities who are trying to advertise the ‘diversity’ of their student body. Most everyone else defines a first-generation college student as “one in the first generation of their family to go to college.” For example:
[First-Generation</a> Students](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/prepare/first-generation]First-Generation”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/prepare/first-generation)
<a href=“Tips for First-Generation College Applicants - The New York Times”>Tips for First-Generation College Applicants - The New York Times;
[Encouraging</a> first-generation college students](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/31/education-college-students-income/3324393/]Encouraging”>Encouraging first-generation college students)</p>
<p>
Standard challenges is a US context? Maybe. In a foreign context? Not so much. Not to say that there couldn’t be any challenges; if the OP feels that he has faced any particular challenges, I would encourage him to make that explicit. I’m just saying that he’s not going to get much mileage out of dwelling on the fact that his parents had a vocational education (it’s already covered elsewhere in the application) if he can’t even say why that merits particular highlighting. </p>
<p>Just to make my point, here are a few ‘standard’ challenges attributed to American first-generation college students that don’t really apply here.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>American first-generation college students are often from a lower socio-economic background. There’s no reason to assume that for the OP because his parents are as educated (or more educated) than 85% of the German adult population. Odds are that his family is solidly middle class. </p></li>
<li><p>American first-generation college students often don’t attend good K-12 schools, and even when they do, their parents may not enroll them in a college-prep curriculum. Doesn’t apply here because the curriculum in German schools is standardized and schools are funded on a state (rather than local) level.</p></li>
<li><p>The parents of American first-generation college students cannot provide them much guidance about what to expect at college. If the OP goes abroad, his parents are unfamiliar with the system regardless of whether or not they went to college in their home country.</p></li>
<li><p>American first-generation college students may not be encouraged to consider college in the first place. Doesn’t apply here because OP attended a college-prep Gymnasium, which means that starting from age 10 it has been taken for granted that he will go to college. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Statistically speaking, the main obstacle of first-generation students in Germany is that their parents will probably not enroll them in a college-prep school in the first place. But that decision is made at age 9 or 10 - distant past for the OP.</p>
<p>I see, this is way more complicated than I initially thought. The common app choices for education are very US-specific, so I am really a little confused.
This is what it says on the common app:
Education level (Note: in the list below, College refers to all degree and non-degree study at any level, including graduate and professional study)
The choices are: None, Grade School, Some High School, High School Diploma or equivalent, Business or trade school, College.
For now, I put “business or trade school” for both my parents, should I rather put “college”, since it refers to all degree and non-degree study? I’m not sure what that means.</p>
<p>The counselor would probably not be much help, since in my school/country, counselors don’t have the relationship with the students that they do in the US. Thus, my counselor does not actually KNOW much about me/my parents. He is just a school official that coordinates stuff (he’s also the vice principal), and he kindly agreed to send my transcripts etc.</p>
<p>I did, however, ask one of my recommenders to elaborate on the fact that my mother got diagnosed with a decease a couple years ago, which may, in fact, have resulted in some hardship concerning my personal situation (resulting in bad grades). I hope he actually does explain that.
The problem is, there is not much I can do about the recommendations any more since the deadlines are coming up and everybody is probably on vacation for Christmas.</p>
<p>I think I will at least point out the fact that my mother is not simply “unemployed” but retired in the additional info section, since the “employment status” question does not have that option.
As for the first-generation stuff, I think it does not have the meaning would have if I was a US student; the differences between the educational systems are simply too large, so I’ll leave it out.</p>
<p>Anyways, thanks for all your detailed answers. I’m glad there are people around here who actually take the time and make the effort to answer all the questions 
Have a merry Christmas.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>you should provide your counselor with a bullet-point list of elements that are important about yourself, especially if s/he doesn’t know you well.
(this is often done in the US too and is sometimes complemented by a “parents brag sheet” that the guidance counselor requests parents to fill out. Search for “parents’ brag sheet” in the Parents Forum for an idea of what is appropriate for you to include or not. The goal is to highlight your accomplishments, NOT to exagerate, and to help your counselor, keeping in mind they are free to use anything or nothing from the list your provided.)</p></li>
<li><p>leave business/trade for your parents’ education.</p></li>
<li><p>explain indeed that your mother is not just ‘unemployed’ but ‘in early retirement’ IF she perceives a pension; do explain it was caused by her health and required by her employer.</p></li>
<li><p>it must be obvious you attended a Gymnasium (presumably? Or did you attend one of the Comprehensives?) If your parents were not Gymansium-educated, and you attended Gymnasium, this is factored in but can be highlighted by your counselor due to the “cultural disconnect” that may occur, similar to a public-school educated family sending their child to boarding school in the US - the point being that you had some obstacles to overcome compared to a child of Gymnasium-educated parents in getting used to the structure, the communication patterns, expectations, navigating the system, understanding the hidden curriculum without adult help, etc., and that you did a good job figuring things out on your own. This is NOT a “sob story” or explaining how you overcame extreme difficulties.
Note: LOTS of Americans (the majority) do not have a 4-year college degree. A lot of them did very well, either in manual professions such as plumber, carpenter, etc, which are very well-paid if possibly irregularly paid, got a job and worked their way up, or created their business then made their way through business college to develop it, or, in the past, used to work in the mills/plants/factories where starting salary was 5 times minimum wage (those jobs are gone and now working in a plant pays living wage, not much more).<br>
Having parents who graduated from a 4-year college is still considered the standard, not whether parents took a couple classes as adults, attempted college then dropped out, or got a 2-year degree, because the parents’ experience at navigating the HS process toward college, at navigating the application process, and at explaining college based on their experience, is very different depending on whether they reached that “mark” that is graduation from a 4-year college, or not.
Many universities DO NOT factor this in, though, but if you need FA you’re probably not applying to those anyway (big state universities, flagships and directionals, in particular). Typically, highly selective LACs and universities do and they use the “graduated from a 4-year college” definition.
Finally, as an international, all of this matters very little except to compare you to international applicants who are also children from internationally-educated parents and/or attending international schools and/or coming from a “privileged” background - the great majority of international applicants belong to one of these categories and up to 80% international undergraduates rely exclusively on their family for funding, suggesting that they come from financially unusual backgrounds.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I considered everything you said and came to the conclusion that a statement about being a first-generation college student would, in my case, be superfluous. My need for financial aid should be clear enough from the CSS Profile I’m required to submit, showing clearly that I do not come from, as you call it, “financially unusual backgrounds”.
The fact that I am not familiar with the college application process should be pretty self-explanatory considering that I am an international student. Even if my parents had graduated from a 4-year institution in this country, I don’t think they could have helped me any more with the US College application process.
To answer your question: Yes, I did attend the Gymnasium. My mother did, too, but she didn’t get the Abitur but graduated with Fachhochschulreife. My father went to a Waldorf school, which is a different thing altogether. As for the “cultural disconnect” and problems with navigating the system that result from it, I was never aware of anything like that, especially not in a way that put me in a disadvantage compared to others.</p>
<p>Thank you again for answering all my questions; this whole thing has become a lot clearer to me. I’m kinda running late with everything since the Jan. 1st deadline is approaching, so I have to see what I can still do concerning the recommendation letters.</p>