<p>So I've had this question for a while now, but I've never been able to discover which is more valuable. Do you have a higher rate of acceptance to some of the top tier schools (Ivy's, Stanford, MIT, etc.) if you are a legacy or if you are a first gen. college student. I'm not I guess what you would consider a "true" first gen. college student because my parents did go to college, just not in the U.S.; they are immigrants so I am the first gen. U.S. college student. So which would be weighed more heavily because from what I've read on Collegeboard, it seems a lot of schools put emphasis on first gen. students, but I'm not really sure if that is trustworthy. Any ideas?</p>
<p>omfg are you kidding me??? First generation counts if your parents didn't go to college in the US? sorry about that. yea anyway i would like to know the answer to your question as well.</p>
<p>i really doubt you're called first generation</p>
<p>your parents still went to college and got an education and urged you to do the same. the point of first gen is to encourage kids whose parents might not be supportive or educated and by applying to a college, those students reflect determination and maturity. </p>
<p>i am not 100% sure, but it would seem unfair if people with immigrant parents who went to colleges in other countries counted as first gen</p>
<p>Alright just wondering...that helps</p>
<p>First gen means first generation to attend college (anywhere) it does not mean first generation in the US. Applications ask for the highest grade completed by your parents, this is where they get first gen information.</p>
<p>It varies widely by school. MIT, for instance, doesn't give preference to legacies (they have said this openly and repeatedly), so any impact that being first-gen has is more than what being a legacy would do.</p>
<p>I think if your parents went to college in another country, they still went to college. What kind of education they got there might be part of your story. If you came from France and they went to the Sorbonne, I don't think that will help you much.</p>
<p>Agreed with froozle and entomom.</p>
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It varies widely by school. MIT, for instance, doesn't give preference to legacies (they have said this openly and repeatedly), so any impact that being first-gen has is more than what being a legacy would do.
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<p>That's odd--I've heard that too, yet MIT's common data set says that alumni relation is "considered."</p>
<p>MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research</p>
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That's odd--I've heard that too, yet MIT's common data set says that alumni relation is "considered."
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<p>That's very odd.</p>
<p>The only way in which MIT "considers" legacies is that the dean him/herself will read the application if the applicant is going to be rejected. This is mostly so that the dean can speak directly to the case if the irate parent calls wanting to know why their kid didn't get in. Every once in a blue moon, the dean actually disagrees with the decision (it's a decent-sized committee; everyone on it disagrees with some of the decisions about who to admit or not) and overturns it. I guess that could count as "consideration".</p>
<p>It would be cool if we had statistics. </p>
<p>Does anybody here know where one could find admission statistics for:</p>
<p>1) first generation college students
2) legacies
3) the rest (excluding URMs, athletes, etc)</p>
<p>at the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc, etc? That would be amazing information.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I've never heard any statistics for those. I think the top privates are afraid to release that info. UCs, by contrast, wear it on their sleeves (as per StatFinder).</p>
<p>Legacy gives money. First generation gives diversity and good publicity (giving back to the society). Which one do you think is more important?</p>