First gen question

Pride Only Hurts

"Are you in the first generation of your family to graduate from college?"

This is a complicated questions for me because my dad earned a bachelors degree over the course of his 20+ years in the military by taking classes online. He finished his degree after I had already started undergrad. I was the first person in my family to go to college in the traditional sense. My undergrad recognized me as first gen but I realize some institutions may have much stricter definitions. While my dad never "attended college" he did technically beat me to the degree. Should I just answer "no" to avoid the confusion?

Little Grasshopper

I am the very first person to go college in my family and graduated. I will be the first to go law school in my family if everything works out when I apply to the law schools and get my LSAT score back in December. I have been studying very hard for the LSAT.

Logician

Given that your father technically received his degree before you, I’d stay away from saying it. Yes, there are different definitions floating around on the internet, some saying “the first to attend” but I think the most concrete/prevalent definition of a first generation student is the first person in his/her immediate family to obtain a college degree. I suppose you could say it if you want but then you may find yourself in a position where you have to explain exactly what you did above and, well.. my gut reaction is that most people would not consider you a first generation.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your apps!

P.S. I saw a couple of your posts, congrats on the score!

Pride Only Hurts

@Logician said:
Given that your father technically received his degree before you, I’d stay away from saying it. Yes, there are different definitions floating around on the internet, some saying “the first to attend” but I think the most concrete/prevalent definition of a first generation student is the first person in his/her immediate family to obtain a college degree. I suppose you could say it if you want but then you may find yourself in a position where you have to explain exactly what you did above and, well.. my gut reaction is that most people would not consider you a first generation.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your apps!

P.S. I saw a couple of your posts, congrats on the score!

Yeah it's probably not worth having to explain. At any rate, I mention it in my personal statement so I suppose they can do with that information what they please.

And thanks a lot!!!

Kristen R

I agree with @Logician, it'd be best to answer "no", even though after hearing your story I'd still consider you first-gen, to avoid looking like you're trying to stretch the truth. I think mentioning it in your personal statement, like how your dad's passion for education has inspired you, will shed enough light on the topic. Many apps I've come across also have a question asking if you are the first-gen to go to law school, to which you can answer a firm "yes". Best of luck!

Lana Kane

I've always thought of myself as "first gen" since neither of my parents graduated college. But one of my grandparents did. Does that make me not a first gen? I've never thought about it too hard but this thread has me wondering...

joshowens16

I am technically 1st generation college graduate. My two older sisters graduated with their degree before me but none of my family prior us had gone to college. However it did not feel like we were first generation, my parents had a great income, even compared to people with high paying degrees. I would say our household income was mid 200K. I never considered myself first generation because I always felt that first generation was usually designated to individuals who overcame great struggles (poverty, immigration, abuse, etc) to become the first in their family. I know my definition is technically wrong, and without a bachelors degree the job market becomes very restricted, I just always had this "stigma" in my head.

I think you are first generation because you put aside years of your life to obtain your degree. While your father's achievements are no less impressive and important, he might have put himself in a situation where getting a bachelors degree was a no brainer and possibly even easy. Whereas you set out to pursue and obtain your degree.

Either way I think a degree is SO important. Comparing average income of college grads and non college grads reveals that having a degree not only increases your pay, but it opens up so many careers that just are not possible without a degree. (lawyers, doctors, engineers, therapists, teachers, professors, many fields in technology, I mean the list just goes on)

Pride Only Hurts

@"Lana Kane" said:
I've always thought of myself as "first gen" since neither of my parents graduated college. But one of my grandparents did. Does that make me not a first gen? I've never thought about it too hard but this thread has me wondering...

I could be wrong but I don’t think grandparents count unless you’re grandparent was your legal guardian. Yeah I never really thought about these things because my dad doesn’t even say he “went to college”. Seemed like a no brainer but it can get pretty complicated!