<p>I will be applying to Umich, and just wondering if being a first generation helps. My parents didnt go to college, but my brother who is 21 is in college. Do I still qualify?</p>
<p>i was actually wondering this too? Its not like you're the first in your family to go to school, but at the same time......you lack the college educated background.....i dunno...anyone?</p>
<p>generation generally refers to parent/child. If your parents did not attend you're 1st generation, and at many schools this is also true if they attended but did not get a degree.</p>
<p>The idea is that kids who's parents didn't go to college face more handicaps. This is true regardless of how many brothers/sisters you have who attend college.</p>
<p>Unless of course, your dad is Bill Gates who dropped out of Harvard Undergrad. :D</p>
<p>My dad went to seminary school... does that count as college??</p>
<p>i would say (for seminary school) unless he graduated with a BA, BS or equivalent, it would not be considered college</p>
<p>O.o </p>
<p>i'm first generation? </p>
<p>actually how does being first generation help? i have many friends whose parents are teachers, and these teachers know exactly how to prepare their kids for admissions. it's unfair.</p>
<p>First generation is great. Adcoms will know you lack the college knowledge from your parents.</p>
<p>
[quote]
actually how does being first generation help?
[/quote]
Like anything else in life, its a generalization. Not all people without a college degree undervalue education or live in areas with poor schools. But generally college education correlates with income, and income correlates with living in areas with better schools. And if generation after generation nobody in your family has attended college the assumption is that doing well in HS in order to get into college is not something that is stressed.</p>
<p>So when colleges see an app from a 1st generation student they tend to them a bit of a boost under the assumption the person wasn't on a level playing ground. For some schools its actually a number; 300 points if you're applying to UCSD (out of about 7,500 needed for acceptance).</p>
<p>Does being first generation help as much if your parents' income is high? Both of my parents became air traffic controllers when a college degree wasn't required to be one. Now they make quite a bit of money. I suppose for a point system it wouldn't make a difference, but would it make any difference at all for any other school?</p>
<p>What if for example, you parents finished college and grad school in another country and then did just grad school over again when we immigrated here. Is that still first generation?</p>
<p>No; college is college regardless of where in the world it was attended.</p>
<p>Shadow: So not true. Yes, your parents were college educated but the adcoms know that they don't know the system here. In China your college admissions are based on a single test. In Turkey, entrance is almost governed completely by standardized test scores as well. Or at least it was 25 years ago.</p>
<p>But colleges DO know that you should know the value of an education way more than first-gens.</p>
<p>my dad is the sole income earner. i think they didnt even finish high school.</p>