<p>Hi,
How important is being a First Generation College Student in terms of college admissions, especially at the Ivy Leagues? I am currently Valedictorian, a full IB student with a 4.8 gpa and 1870 sat's (boo!) I am also a First Generation College Student. Will FGCS really help me with admissions?</p>
<p>Bump...I think this is an interesting question. Let's spice it up a bit-compared to people who are URMs, how much does being a first generation college student help?</p>
<p>Actually, some schools even take into consideration whether or not your parents went to college but didn't graduate. My D is an URM and will be a first generation college graduate. We're thinking it isn't going to hurt her chances any. ;)</p>
<p>How about the "First in YOUR Generation to Graduation?"
Like for instance, all my other siblings only got a GED and thats it.
But my parents >_> Got degrees in other countries... Bah!</p>
<p>Zester, no, that doesn't count as 1st gen.</p>
<p>It means that adcoms will understand that you've had to work harder for your opportunities. However, it's a lot easier to quantify racial diversity than diversity related to parents' education, so it's not as big a deal has being a URM. It will help offset your SAT, but don't count on it to raise you too much in the admissions game. I'd aim to retake if I were aiming for schools as selective as the Ivies.</p>
<p>Some colleges think of "first generation" as "first in the family to attend and graduate from a U.S. college" so don't assume that you won't be considered first generation if your parents attended college in another country. Ask the individual schools you are considering for their policy.</p>
<p>Do your parents have to have a degree to not be considered a first-generation college student? My mom is the only person who ever went to college, but she only took a few classes and then dropped out and never got a degree, so would i be considered a first-generation college student?</p>
<p>yeah maybe</p>
<p>No First Generation means neither parent ever attended college.</p>
<p>Lightzout: Yes, you would. My dad took a few classes at a college but never got a degree, so I'm considered a first generation college student.
Hold on, I might have to take that back. Let me look. There was a thread on the meaning of first-generation college student here a while ago.</p>
<p>both of my parents attended a CC but never graduated, not even with AA.</p>
<p>how much does that benefit me?</p>
<p>I think the specifics of what constitutes first generation varies from school to school. Sometimes it's okay if your parents attended college but didn't graduate. Sometimes you have to be the first to attend. And since I brough that up, what, does that mean only oldest children have a shot at that status? What if you have older siblings? That hardly seems fair.</p>
<p>^ No, it's if YOU are the first generation to go to college. For example, my sister is in college right now but our parents never attended. Therefore, we are both FGCS.</p>
<p>First-generation college students who are the first in their immediate family to attend college face a unique set of challenges. First generation status is also looked at in conjuntion with other factors such as low income, attending a performing school etc. High school students whose parents never enrolled in college are less likely to be academically prepared for college and, even those who are prepared, are less likely to enroll in postsecondary education, according to a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report. </p>
<p>According tothe National Center for Educational Statistics; </p>
<p>First-Generation Students: Undergraduates Whose Parents Never
Enrolled in Postsecondary Education</p>
<p><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98082.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98082.pdf</a></p>
<p>I think you are still a fgcs if your parents went to college but didn't get a degree. This is because the whole point of being more lenient towards fgc students is because they normally don't have the same opporunities, etc as students with parents who hold degrees. So having a parent who attended community college for a semester and dropped out means that he/she doesn't have a degree so the child of that parent wouldn't have the advantages that parents of a college graduate would have.</p>
<p>By the same token a person can become a RN after completing an associates degree program (thus not obtaining a 4 year degree), a person can be a firefighter, policeman, electrician, plumber or crafts person having never attended college and can still carve out a good income for themselves.</p>
<p>4.8 gpa / 1870 Sat ???????? grade inflation?</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Bad standardized test taker, perhaps?</p>
<p>I've seen places define a FGCS as someone with parents who haven't earned ANY degree and also someone with parents who haven't earned a BACHELORS degree. </p>
<p>I can't seem to find any "official" source for this. </p>
<p>One of my parents earned an Associate degree at a CC, and the other dropped out of a four-year college. By one definition I am a FGCS but by the other I am not. </p>
<p>I'm confused.</p>