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Just curious--how much of an advantage does a legacy have versus a first generation college kid?

By Ubercollegeman (Ubercollegeman) on Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - 03:37 pm: Edit

It's not so black and white.

Being a first generation college kid is ALWAYS looked favorably upon (and I personally respect these kids a ton).

Legacy varies, however. It ranges from helping considerably (at Harvard and Stanford, it's rumored) to helping kind of (at Princeton and a few other schools) to not even considered (UCs including Berkeley).

At least I think so...don't quote me on this :D.

By Celebrian23 (Celebrian23) on Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - 06:48 pm: Edit

1st generation is always a considerable advantage (think urm) a legacy depends, at upenn, legacies only apply for ed, rd they don't count them, and it depends on the school, at some schools it's equal to being a urm, at others, it just might tip the scales in your favor, and at others its obsolete

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - 06:56 pm: Edit

What if you are a first generation asian whose parents never went to college and mother did not attend high school? Does that kind of neutralize things out? .. ;)

By Dottys (Dottys) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 02:15 am: Edit

i think the process is kind of unfair. i think people who are for affirmative action should also be for legacy (and if you're against one, you should be against both). both are policies that reward past actions over which current applicants have little to no control.

By Ginacar (Ginacar) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 06:48 pm: Edit

Ok, I know I am stretching here, but would I be considered a "first generation" is only one of my parents graduated from college? I guess it shouldnt matter since I am a URM, but being Hispanic+first generation would be more desireable in the colleges' eyes, I'm sure.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 07:13 pm: Edit

You are stretching it.

By Liek0806 (Liek0806) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 07:55 pm: Edit

Ginacar you wouldn't be first generation. But being Hispanic already makes you desireable.

Does anyone know how many legacy students who apply are admitted to colleges(it doens't matter which one, i just want some stats)

By Celebrian23 (Celebrian23) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 08:23 pm: Edit

i think it's hard to tell becuase some legacies are right in the ballpark and being legacies just makes them more attractive while some have horrible grades and expect their legacy status to make a big difference in their application

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 08:40 pm: Edit

<-- first generation college AND immigrant. booyah.
That would override my whole being Asian thing wouldnt it? considering most east asian families who arrive in the U.S. have very highly educated parents and are relatively rich. I came here neither.

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 05:53 pm: Edit

Hey 1rock1ce,

me too. Family also makes 34 K a year before deduction . I'm not sure if that is rare though. My mom told me that most chinese immigrants are uneducated and have low income.

any comment on my situation and how that works out?

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 08:14 pm: Edit

Thunder - Your mom is wrong. The majority of asian immigrants that have come to the United States that have SUCCEEDED came here educated and came here with a bit of wealth. We studied this trend quite closely in Asian American History (a class i took). We found that uneducated asians who come here poor rarely come out on top of the pile in school (look at chinatown). Those that come here with at least college educated parents usually do not reside in Chinatown or such. Being first-generation is quite an important aspect of applying to these ivies and very selective schools. Sorry, but tell your mom is wrong and she is making a huge generalization.

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 10:02 pm: Edit

So first generation, low income, and immigrant conbined will carry as much weight as minority status or not? My parents have been here for 14 years as of now. Does that still count as immigrant?

Now that I think about it, most students from my school do have educated parents.

By Neobez (Neobez) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 10:27 pm: Edit

A first generation Legacy is prob as good as it gets

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 10:45 pm: Edit

Thunder77- most definitely. i thought about it more and more. When we apply, we will be looked at in a much different light than the normal folks. When we apply as first gen college and immigrant with HIGH scores and stats, that will make us stand out a lot more than just your typical middle-upper class kid. I doubt the income thing would have a whole lot to do with you since most colleges are need-blind.. unless you somehow include it or imply it in ur application. But i think just being first-gen and immigrant will place us in a much better position. For example, my 720 SAT2 writing score would place me just fine into the applicant pool because i speak mandarin at home and my parents speak about as much english as a 4 year old. They will put all of our stats and such into context of our background. BTW what are your stats and where are u applying?

Neobez - how do you become a first generation legacy? did you mean first generation immigrant?

By Deerhunter (Deerhunter) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 01:02 am: Edit

Irock: He was jesting.

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 10:53 am: Edit

I'm a junior right now so half my stats are still not available yet. I still have a big college list so I'll have to narrow it down by the end of this year.

By Tsunashima1 (Tsunashima1) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 02:51 pm: Edit

"For example, my 720 SAT2 writing score would place me just fine into the applicant pool because i speak mandarin at home and my parents speak about as much english as a 4 year old. "

Are you sure it would help that much? I have friends who came when they were 9 or 10 with parents who still speak almost no english at all. Yet they got 780-800 on writing.

I'm in a similar situation. I came to the US when I was 7, but I doubt that this fact would provide me with any significant boost. I hope I'm wrong though.

By Ahwosg (Ahwosg) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 05:45 pm: Edit

if one of your parents attended college but didn't finish, and the other didnt even finish high school but got a GED, what does that make you?

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 06:21 pm: Edit

tsunashima - are ur friends first generation college students? Also, thats great for them and that places them into a VERY competitive pool of applicants. Im just saying that my 720 in Writing will not get me looked down at. I never said it would help (my 720) but it also would not hurt me in anyway since i have a first-generation college student and immigrant background. Being the immigrant definitely doesnt help you if you came here rich and you didnt have to go through anything. I came here extremely poor. Also if your parents went to college, that would be a first sign to the adcoms that you obviously did not face the same hardships as someone who came here with 9th grade educated parents.

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 07:12 pm: Edit

I'm not too familiar about the college admission process, but is there room to put info such as non college educated parents, immigrants, non english speaking, low income family?

What 1rockice say is true, but it also depends how old one is when he/she came to the US. I came here when I was two and a half and I can score 760-780 on the SAT II Writing and on PSAT, even though parents both cannot speak english. This is because I have been here for a long time. It has more to do with how much you have been speaking english yourself.

By Thunder77 (Thunder77) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 07:13 pm: Edit

Also, does MIT look at the factors I just mentioned?

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 07:15 pm: Edit

Thunder - they ask you what language you speak at home and what language you learned first. They also ask about what colleges your parents went to... so if you put down none. its obvious they didnt go to college. They can see just from the general app cause it asks for some general info. the money thing doesnt apply quite so much though. Unless you include it into your essay.

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 07:16 pm: Edit

Thunder - ALL COLLEGES look at your background and hardships and such.

By Whtx (Whtx) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 10:54 pm: Edit

Are you still considered first generation if you got a sibling that went to college before you?

By Entropicgirl (Entropicgirl) on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 07:57 pm: Edit

I think so--it's called first GENERATION. (Your sibling is still in your generation).

By Andrew1218 (Andrew1218) on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 08:03 pm: Edit

my dad dropped out of a JC to start a business, my mom did not go to college.. does this count as first generation college attendee?

By Deerhunter (Deerhunter) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 12:01 am: Edit

No, since your dad did, if only momentarily, attended JC. It doesn't hurt though.

By Teal (Teal) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 01:18 am: Edit

How about First generation American (first to be born in America?

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 02:39 am: Edit

Teal - your pushing it. Thats utterly worthless... first generation american.....

By Celebrian23 (Celebrian23) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 11:22 am: Edit

Teal that means nothing