First to attend college? Forum

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CL7

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First to attend college?

Post by CL7 » Sun Nov 29, 2015 9:54 am

Hi All! I am having a bit of a hard time answering one question on the applications, the "are you the first in your immediate family to attend college?" I am the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college, but not the first to ever attend. I read a description for UVA undergrad and they consider the first to graduate the first to attend. Does anyone know if this is the case for most?
Thanks!

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DrSpaceman

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by DrSpaceman » Sun Nov 29, 2015 10:37 am

Typically this means in your immediate family.

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Companion Cube

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by Companion Cube » Sun Nov 29, 2015 10:44 am

DrSpaceman wrote:Typically this means in your immediate family.
That's not what they're asking.

OP, if you feel as though putting it wouldn't be dishonest, put it. If they didn't graduate, and don't have plans to, I'd say put it. If there's a place to add comments, just say that they attended but didn't graduate there.

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seashell.economy

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by seashell.economy » Sun Nov 29, 2015 11:18 am

I think it's a matter of degree.

Did only one of your parents take a few classes and then drop out without benefitting from that college experience? I think in that situation you could slide by with checking the 'first generation college student' box and most people would agree with you doing that.

But what if one of your parents went to college for two full years and was then recruited for a job because of their college experience? This happened to one of my friends: a sophmore at MIT and Microsoft gave him a job offer. In this case, I think most people would feel it is disingenuous to mark the 'first generation college student' box, because the college experience was a benefit, even if the parent never graduated.

I think you are best off just sticking to the letter of what the application says. If it says "Did either of your parents attend college?" Check 'yes'. If it says "Did either of your parents graduate from college?" Sounds like you should check 'no'.

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Skool

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by Skool » Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:16 am

seashell.economy wrote:I think it's a matter of degree.

Did only one of your parents take a few classes and then drop out without benefitting from that college experience? I think in that situation you could slide by with checking the 'first generation college student' box and most people would agree with you doing that.

But what if one of your parents went to college for two full years and was then recruited for a job because of their college experience? This happened to one of my friends: a sophmore at MIT and Microsoft gave him a job offer. In this case, I think most people would feel it is disingenuous to mark the 'first generation college student' box, because the college experience was a benefit, even if the parent never graduated.

I think you are best off just sticking to the letter of what the application says. If it says "Did either of your parents attend college?" Check 'yes'. If it says "Did either of your parents graduate from college?" Sounds like you should check 'no'.
Sure, if this is true, probably don't mark the box. However, if Op's family's story is like most college drop out stories, getting hired by Microsoft is not in the cards.

Check the box if you match the spirit of what the box is trying to capture. I think the box is trying to capture, some flavor of access to higher education was more difficult for me because my family didn't have much educational capital and so I had to blaze my own trail with limited guidance from them. If this is even a little bit true for you, check the box.

Also this box is likely more fore data gathering purposes and won't make a lick of difference in you being admitted unless it's also an interesting part of your personal statement.

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seashell.economy

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by seashell.economy » Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:39 am

Yes, my friend's MS story is rare (although not rare for MS employees in the 90s) however, I think this "so I had to blaze my own trail with limited guidance from them. If this is even a little bit true for you, check the box" is too permissive. So many people whose parents went to college could check that box if they followed this definition. It's not just about a parent guiding you through college, it is also about the demographic your family fit into when you were growing up, what your parents earning potential and opportunities were, etc.

The only case where I personally can see this being OK is something along the lines of what I mentioned above: if your parents only took a few classes (one or two perhaps) and then dropped out and never benefited from those college classes. Even my interpretation is likely too permissive for what admissions officers are asking for. That box is really for actual first generation college students. If your parents were absent, but held bachelor degrees, that doesn't count you as a first gen student. I think first gen does give a slight boost, because law schools and colleges like to boast about those statistics. If it looks like you fibbed on your application to make it look better, there could be trouble.

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ihenry

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by ihenry » Fri Dec 04, 2015 7:29 pm

The real complicated bubble cases that came to my mind is if your parent took some college-level courses without enrolling in a program leading to a degree, like per-credit paying, online courses, or advanced placement credits in high school. If your parents were actually matriculated in college undergrad program, lived in college dorms and were engaged in activities, attended classes with professor, etc. and for any reason dropped out, then sure they have "attended" the college. If they want to ask whether your parents have graduated from college, they will just ask whether they graduated or whether you will be the first person to have received/will receive a bachelor's degree; I don't know if there's any other way to phrase it if they want to ask if your parents attended college. It is not open to your own interpretation of its "spirits". That said, I think from the clarification given by UVA indicates that this term is a little sloppy in adcomms eyes, therefore it won't make a difference at all. If you want to play it safe, you probably want to say no.

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Skool

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by Skool » Fri Dec 04, 2015 8:05 pm

Ok, but just to make the point again, there's no evidence of the checked box in and of itself, without any further elaboration by the applicant, giving an applicant the slightest boost. No law school dean is saying to the admissions staff, "I want to see our first gen numbers up, and if you can't get them up, you're fired." The number is just going to go in some excel spreadsheet that MAYBE gets read during orientation to the incoming class or a donor funding first gen scholarships in a powerpoint presentation.

What intrigues me about the replies is, I can't imagine people feeling so strongly that 1) op shouldn't check the box because checking it is too permissive and 2) it's not up to an applicant to interpret an application as to meaning (and when meaning is foggy, its intentions or as i said, spirit) if they didn't have a fear that this permissiveness and leeway to interpret by applicants would introduce some kind of unfairness into the system since, again, this doesn't matter. But perhaps this is a topic for another thread.

Also, there is no possible world in which a good faith answer of yes or no comes up in any discussion relating to c&f or a retroactive modding of an application. It's just not a risk worth talking about.

dumdeedum

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Re: First to attend college?

Post by dumdeedum » Sat Dec 05, 2015 1:59 am

.

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