<p>My parents both went to college in China, and the application process is obviously very different (different times, different cultures). I was wondering if I could possibly check off the "First generation college student" box? Since my parents and I did not know the American system of applying to college, and I did not take college seriously until my sophomore year (currently a junior), I did not know to sign up for the most rigorous courses (all honors, but not many AP's this year).</p>
<p>Short answer: no. </p>
<p>But honestly, you’ll be fine. Just keep on getting good grades and when the time comes, you’ll know you did your best.</p>
<p>yeah, otherwise about 80% of asians would be checking the first generation box.</p>
<p>You had parents who went to college. </p>
<p>*Since my parents and I did not know the American system of applying to college, and I did not take college seriously until my sophomore year (currently a junior), I did not know to sign up for the most rigorous courses (all honors, but not many AP’s this year). *</p>
<p>Believe me…those of us parents who DID go to college in the US 30 years ago, also have no idea of how the present college application system works. It’s not anything like what we went thru.</p>
<p>Also…Many of us didn’t have AP classes when we were in high school, there wasn’t this “sign up for the rigorous courses” deal back then, either.</p>
<p>There is no “first generation” box to check. Different schools use different definitions of first gen; some consider you first gen only if your parents never attended anything past HS, others consider you first gen if neither of your parents earned a college degree. What college applications ask for each parent is: College (if any), Degree and Year. From that information they will determine if you are first gen according to their definition.</p>
<p>As the other posters stated, it doesn’t matter where your parents attended college, just that they did.</p>