<p>I felt like the application asking if you are a first gen. student is pointless, they only used it to determine your financial situation so that they can tell if you are disadvantaged, but i think if they ask the family income will explain alot more there whether or not being a first gen. student....</p>
<p>What makes you think that they ask if you’re first-generation just to determine financial situation? If they wanted to determine financial situation, wouldn’t they ask for family income, as they do in the financial aid applications?</p>
<p>It better not be! I’m a first gen Asian. This means a lot to me.</p>
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<p>I’m not quite sure how to interpret your comment, are you Asian and first gen in the US or first gen to go to college, as colleges only consider the latter for admissions purposes.</p>
<p>It isn’t just a question about income. Sure, first generation college students are often from lower income families, but not always. The issue is that first gen college students sometimes don’t have the educational advantages of other students even if they have higher incomes. Parents who have never attended college often are not aware of the things that they can do for their kids to help them get prepared. They may not understand the importance of AP classes, extra curricular activities, test prep, etc. If you are a first gen student applying to college from a high school where not a lot of kids go to high school, you may find that you are missing some things that are common for other applicants to have. It is helpful for the admission committees to know this so they can place you in context.</p>