<p>My older sister has taken a few online courses, I am wondering if this means I am no longer first generation, or if I still am.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Generations refer to parents and children, not siblings. If your grandparents were born in chicago, for instance, as were your parents and you, you'd be a 3rd generation chicago-born person. This is true no matter how many brothers and sisters you have.</p>
<p>So if your parents didn't attend college, you're first generation. </p>
<p>
[quote]
The definition of first-generation students used most frequently was that their parents had no college experience. <a href="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_3_28/ai_72685312%5B/url%5D">http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_3_28/ai_72685312</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>what if you parents dropped out of college, would we still be considered first generation?</p>
<p>The way that this will come up on the application is that the application form will have a box asking for personal information about your parents including their occupations and highest academic level attained. The adcoms will interpret this info as part of your overall package and so it really isn't a matter of getting a "first generation" box marked off. An applicant gets a slight bump if they achieved whatever they achieved without the perceived advantages of having a doctor for a father and an attorney for a mother. For each parent, the common app asks for "College (if any)" and "Degree". I personally could interpret that to mean that you don't need to enter anything if they did not graduate.</p>
<p>That is how I interpreted it for one of my parents. However, you might want to bring up the subject with your parent(s) who dropped out, and find out how they would prefer to be labeled.
Also, according to my college counselor, some colleges do have a special pile for "First Generation" students, and it can give quite a boost. I don't know if this is totally true, but it sounds promising-ish.</p>
<p>first generation is a significant advantage at UC schools in CA, as well as at many schools nationwide. </p>
<p>Most UC schools are formula-driven these days. You get 300 points for being 1st generation at UCSD which publishes many of the details of how it evaluates apps. Considering that you need about 7,500 to get admitted that is 5% of the total! 300 points can mean the difference between admit or reject.</p>
<p>If your parents dropped out then you need to read the instructions carefully, and often you'll need to contact the admission offices directly. Some will still consider you 1st generation.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help everyone. My dad did not complete highschool, and my mom only has a GED. Any idea how much the University of Michigan takes 1st generation into account?</p>
<p>From looking at the UC application, I see there's a box for "some college/university" in the section about parents' education. Does anyone know if a student is still considered first generation if one parent falls into that category? </p>
<p>Neither of my parents completed HS, but my mom has taken a handful of remedial and vocational classes at community college. I think it's quite different from someone who got into a university but dropped out...I think they're really not in the same category, even if UC thinks so...</p>