<p>I am a self starter and my parents did not go to college, my dad did for one year, however became very successful in his career. How much does not having college educated parents weigh in on the whole process? I am applying mostly to upper tier schools with some safties of course, the hardest school I am applying to will be BC and NYU and possibly Wake Forest.
I have been told everything from it gives me a big edge to it only matters with the top schools,etc......anyone with some knowledge on this, and could provide an honest answer I would love to hear from you. Thanks!</p>
<p>Bottom Line: being a first generation college student is almost always considered a hook and can almost be equated with URM status. First generation students bring new thoughts and ideas to the table, as well as providing colleges with a pretty statistic they can advertise. All god reasons to get them in. Not like you'll need help or anything. :-)</p>
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Bottom Line: being a first generation college student is almost always considered a hook and can almost be equated with URM status.
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<p>First generation is not now nor has it ever been considered a hook. It is a tipping factor. Even then it is a tipping factor when taken into consideration with other things, namely low income, substandard schools, not only URMs (because I have seen counseled my share of student of all races who were first generation college students). In addition each school uses first generation differently (some schools will only consider you first generation if your parents have never attended college, others will consider you first generation if your parents have never completed a degree. Still it is looked at in combination with other factors in your life.</p>
<p>OP states:</p>
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my dad did for one year (attend college), however became very successful in his career.
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<p>this may not give you a tip.</p>
<p>A hook is usually a unique personal trait or experience.</p>
<p>The most common "hooks":</p>
<p>Legacies</p>
<p>Developmental Admits (celebrities, children of celebrities, politicians, etc).</p>
<p>Athletes</p>
<p>Under Represented Minorities (this does not necessarily have to be racial, as women are underrepresented in sciences and engineering and men are under represented at many liberal arts colleges)</p>
<p>Geographic (can be a hook or maybe used as a tipping factor)</p>
<p>An EC can be a hook, if it is something that the college is specifically looking for.</p>
<p>Low Income can be a hook if a school is specifically seeking low income students</p>
<p>sybbie719 - I dunno. When parents don't go to college, education never seem to be familal priorities. Especially since colleges do advertise the number of first generation students in a particular class, I imagine that first generation, along with low income and unsupported schools as sybbie719 pointed out, is more important that sybbie719 made it seem.</p>
<p>However, the other side of the coin is for some students when their parents don't attend college (or complete high school) the parents also tell their children that education is the only way that they will have a better life (or the child feels that they do not want the same struggle that the parents had).</p>
<p>At schools where the admissions process is more wholistic, students are looked at in context of their environment and how well they took advantage of the opportunities presented. A first generation student attending a low performing school where ~50% of the students graduate and attend colllege is going to be viewed differently from the first generation student who is living in a middle class environment, attends a high performing schools where the majority of the students go on to 4 year colleges (and their peer groups are also talking about schools).</p>
<p>^ Agreed. [10 char]</p>