<p>So there were these two asian boys in the room and thier parents were sitting behind them. There was the weirdest discussion going on. They were arguing that since they had almost the same stats that they would be able to both get into Ivies. But there was a competition between the two boys and they had to find something that could distinguish the two. So one of the them asks the other, "Did your parents go to college?" The other boy answers yes, and then the first boy jumps up for joy. He starts to yell that he has a better chance to get into Ivies since his parents both did not go to college. They are both first generation immigrants. Is this true? I found this to be very interesting and want to see which one of them is correct. </p>
<p>Is it true that the fact that you parents did not go to college make you a better candidate than a person who has the same stats and extracurriculars and who is also first generation, but his parents went to college?</p>
<p>yep, it implies you came from a tougher background, and thus flourished equally well with less opprotunities, therefore you will flourish even more than the other kid in college. (not that any of this is true, but that's the logic)</p>
<p>i think tech it would be called a deciding factor. It's not a MAJOR factor, but when the colleges have to make a DEICISION between similar applicants, i think it is a factor.</p>
<p>Anyone know if it's really whether one's parents have a college degree or whether one's parents are wealthy (or not wealthy) and live in a particular neighborhood. For example, a boy with parents who did not go to college but still make a good living and live in an affluent neighborhood vs. a boy whose parents did not go to college and live in a very poor neighborhood. Sometimes I think we mix up whether it's really about a college degree or the zip code in which we live. It's a subtle difference but still a difference.</p>
<p>I think the point of bringing up parents who have college degrees is the idea that you will be growing up in an environment that doesn't encourage a college education as much as the regular one so the fact that said applicant would even bother to apply shows motivation on their part, but if a parent makes good money it is very possible that they will be able to tell this by the job description and such, though some do slip through the cracks and that's just the college game.</p>
<p>I would say a kid who has potential to succed (good grades, test scores, etc)but his parents never went to college does have an edge. But so does a kid who either has parents who went to highly acclaimed schools or has parents and/or family that attended the school the kid is applying to. There are schools out there that like getting in kids that their parents didn't go to college and some schools just love bringing their alumni's kids in. Of course, no matter what group a kid's in, they better have the grades/scores/ECs/etc. to back up the fact that they should be there.</p>
<p>My parents didn't go to college, don't live in a rich neighborhood and don't have particularly impressive careers. It may have made me look better on paper, I don't know, but the fact is that neither I nor my parents had any clue of what we were doing in regard to the whole college search process. I know a lot more than I did then about it and I would have done pretty much everything differently and certainly gone to a different school.</p>
<p>How is it unfortunate that colleges favors students whose parents are not college graduates?</p>
<p>There are so many advantages to having educated parents. Think about the differences in the dinner conversations that the two families would have each night. The kid with the uneducated parents may not be even able to eat with his parents because he or she may be working for minimum wage to support his or her parents. Even if the two hypothetical college applicants are the same on paper, the kid with the uneducated parents would need to strive harder to overcome more obstacles.</p>
<p>This is why I am in favor of AA based on socioecomnomcal circumstances. Besides, if one is from a well-to-do family, one should be able to achieve more because of the many more resources at one's disposal.</p>
<p>Just because you don't have a college degree doesn't mean you can only work at McDonald's, you know. I know plenty of people who didn't go to college and have decent jobs - maybe not impressive, high powered, high paying jobs - but jobs that keep them well above the struggling to survive, kid has to work to help out the family range. It's not the fact in these cases that the kid has to struggle to go to college at all, it's the fact that the kid thinks "college" means that state college 45 minutes away where they can live at home, commute, and have a part time job.</p>
<p>I asked my mom to please drive me to go visit a college ('cause it counts on my application) and she said "I will slap you"</p>
<p>I know a girl whose parents are college professors. they pretty much helped her apply to college (they didn't take her sat or write her essays of course). she only had to sit back and wait.
She gets better treatment from the teachers at my school too for some reason.</p>
<p>So, I totally agree w/ fudgemaster.
I consider children w/ parents that frequent this website lucky because my parents don't even know how to use a computer. i check their email for them and help them type messages. But they care about my education just like anyother parent or even more. Only they really don't have a clue.</p>
<p>"No! Just because someone's parents were less fortunate than someone elses parents doesn't mean that college's would favour the first. "</p>
<p>Jonathan K "Uhh.. unfortunately, it does.</p>
<p>It's called AA, which is prejudice/racist."</p>
<p>Wrong. All things being equal, students who are the first generation in their families to go to college get a tip because colleges know that they didn't have the benefit of educated parents who could help them with academics or could guide them through the college application process.</p>
<p>When evaluating one's application, colleges take into account your parents' educational background and jobs. Of course, it's an advantage for many private colleges if your parents are alum of the college. At the same time, it's an advantage --particularly at the country's top colleges-- if students are first generation college. Why? Clearly, it's a heckuva lot harder to get the stellar grades in tough courses and stellar scores that such colleges require if your parents haven't been to college. Students who are first generation college miss out on lots of things such as not growing up with hearing standard English, not having books in the home, not having parents who know how to guide them into the appropriate classes, etc.</p>
<p>None of this has anything to do with affirmative action. The tip factor can apply regardless of a person's race.</p>
<p>I, for one, can attest to this. My parents did not go to college and I had to do many things on my own when it came to finances or academics or the college application process. It was annoying, especially when I saw so many kids around me, all with college-educated parents, getting help with all these things that my parents simply didn't care about. They saw no purpose in visiting colleges, did not think a college degree was necessary to get ahead, didn't care what I was doing in school, etc. I deal with all the college finances and they don't even touch the paperwork at all. I'm sorry if I sound really bitter but I tend to be this way when I hear others say that the parental factor doesn't matter, because it really does. People with supportive/educated parents are very lucky to have something to fall back on in times of need. If you lack the support then it becomes a whole new ball game. </p>
<p>So yes, I would prefer it if a college knew about such things. It's so much harder to get where you want to go when you don't have the at-home guidance. Most of the load gets shifted to the student. I do not think it is unreasonable to evaluate a student given the resources he or she possesses. </p>
<p>It's like evaluating someone who puts together a computer with the aid of a manual versus someone who figures it out by himself. Given all external factors constant, there's no reason for the person with the manual to do a worse job than the manual-less person unless he just isn't as skilled. And I think that's just the logic of college admissions. It's a big weighing game in terms of assessing the amount of work a student has done in order to get to where he or she is in life.</p>
<p>My mom didn't go to college, or even graduate high school. My dad on the other hand has a bachelor's in Economics and a bachelor's in psychology.</p>
<p>Would universities give me an advantage or disadvantage, or would it not matter?</p>
<p>BTW - I live with my mom, but I may be going to boarding school for high school. I already feel the disadvantages of not living with an educated parent.</p>
<p>Your having one college-educated parent puts you far ahead of students whose parents haven't even graduated from h.s. Consequently, you wouldn't get a tip.</p>
<p>In addition, your going to boarding school will be a huge advantage in terms of the quality of education and guidance counseling that you'll get. Colleges also will take those advantages into account when they evaluate your applications. More would be expected of someone with your kind of advantages than would be expected of someone who's in an underfunded, overcrowded school with lots of uncertified and overworked teachers and students who need remedial help and aren't college bound.</p>