<p>I've been told I could get some scholarships, better admissions leaning, since I'm a first generation American. However, my mom is Eastern European, so I'm white. I was born in US. As I've been filling out applications, I've only been asked about my race, so I don't like any different than people who have been in America forever. How do I stand out and get fin aid? Any advice? Thanks</p>
<p>I am not aware that your race plays a role in financial aid except possibly specific scholarships targeted to a specific race or ethnicity (and generally the scholarship description would say so). It can improve ones chances of admission to college to be in an underrepresented minority group, and also to be the first generation of your family to attend college. But I am not sure you are going to meet any of those criteria. Sometimes people who are well meaning have a poor understanding of how financial aid really works…</p>
<p>You could go to a scholarship search engine and plug in your ethnicity to see if anything pops up. But generally the best merit and need based aid comes from colleges themselves to their accepted students.</p>
<p>I’m a first generation White/White Hispanic student. I<em>never</em> found any scholarships that were for first gen Americans that didn’t have some other necessary qualification to them (required minority or low income etc) and non were automatic (they required essays, etc). However, some individual schools might have some.</p>
<p>What is your situation?</p>
<p>Are you low income?</p>
<p>Do you have high stats?</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>Do your parents have a good income, but can’t pay much for college?</p>
<p>The best aid is from the colleges that give such. </p>
<p>Private scholarships are often only for one year, so not likely going to help you pay for four years of college.</p>
<p>Being a first generation American citizen is not a particular hook in and of itself. Colleges are looking for first-gen college students, though, even if their families have been here for several generations. Did either of your parents attend university in any country? If so, you are not considered a “first-gen” student for admissions purposes.</p>