<p>What exactly does that mean? Does it only apply to US colleges?</p>
<p>My parents graduated high school in China and attended Peking University for undergraduate. Then they came to the US for masters/phd. Am I a first generation student or no?</p>
<p>No, of course not. Your parents are university graduates, it doesn’t matter where.</p>
<p>No, your parents are college educated, it doesn’t matter where they attended.</p>
<p>x-posted BP</p>
<p>First generation = first person in your family to go to college. Bravo to your parents on the advanced degrees but that ain’t gonna help you. lol</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While the OP is not first gen, there are a couple of problems with this definition.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Colleges actually vary somewhat in their definition of first gen. For instance, if just attending counts, or if a parent had to earn a degree. That’s why this applicants are asked for the educational histories of their parents, not: Are you first gen?</p></li>
<li><p>It’s not really the first person, but the first generation. An older sibling can attend college, but the younger sib would still be first gen.</p></li>
</ol>