First-Generation Applicants

[stefani8]

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

I'm the first person in my immediate family to get an undergraduate degree and the first person in my whole family to try for a master's degree. My dad didn't graduate from high school and was a farmer in rural North Dakota and currently is a boilermaker and my mom worked for a newspaper until she was laid off last summer.

 

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

I had to figure out everything when I applied to my undergrad schools on my own because my parents didn't understand the process and I'm having to do that again but with obviously more intense applications. My parents have always been very supportive and helped me as much as they could but I've had to master doing FAFSA and all of the other frustrating paperwork that comes with applying to schools. My family also sometimes seems to think of school as only a part-time thing even when you're full-time and taking 18 credits. Because of this, I've worked at least two jobs throughout college.

 

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

I haven't heard from any schools yet but I just applied for three with 1/15 deadlines and I'm applying for another with a 3/1 deadline so we'll see. I graduated last month from college with International Relations and Journalism with a good GPA and I have great experience that can go toward my field. I've worked at a city newspaper for two and a half years, studied in Egypt and have done two really awesome media related research projects including one on human trafficking in Minnesota and another as a documentary on a Navajo Code Talker. So here's hoping! I'm a little nervous about getting accepted. :/

 

4) What has helped you reach your educational goals?

My motivation. I found my passion and can't see myself doing anything else.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

It's funny because I never know if this applies to me. I have an older brother, by six years, and he finished college. My mom finished high school, no college. My dad almost finished college but dropped out to become an entrepreneur. I am the only one who went on to get a grad degree (MA) and am the only one hoping to get into a PhD program. So does this make me first generation since my brother graduated from college? 

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but like I said, I've never really known how to answer this and for some reason felt dumb to ask.

Probably not. 

 

And it makes me wonder, is Steve Jobs' kid first-generation? Technically, yes. I don't see the big deal about first-generation. And I'm a first-generation. 

[Crucial BBQ]

Hi everyone!

 

Somewhere on this forum, I found an excellent thread for first-generation applicants to speak of their struggles and accomplishments during and after the graduate school application process. I thought it was an excellent thread, but the last post was from 2009, so I thought I'd recreate one! I think this could serve as a great support system for us, though I'm certainly not opposed to non-first-generation applicants joining in on discussion! I've found that I often feel alone in my pursuit of higher (and higher!) education since most of my friends in high school and in college were not the first in their families to attend.

 

Some questions to get discussion going:

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

4) What has helped you reach your educational goals?

(Feel free to add more!)

1.  Yes, for the most part.  My mom has some vo-tech; dad went all the way then dropped out in his last semester for unknown reasons...but he passed away before I went to college; grandfather has some college, but he also passed...long before I even knew what college was.  

 

As far as I know, I am the first to go for a graduate degree.

 

College was a dirty word around my house when I was in high school.  I was expected to join the Army, anyways. 

 

2.  Figuring out how it all worked on my own.  Not really knowing what financial aid was until my sophomore year; not really knowing what scholarships were until my junior year.  I mean, I knew these things existed, but I didn't really know what they were about.  

 

3.  Just surviving it all.  I'm not going to bs anyone, my GPA was nothing to write home about.  It seemed that every semester I would run into a brick wall of some sort: usually something to do with financial aid, but sometimes something relating to academics.  It felt like I would take two steps forward, then one back; one forward, three back; three forward, one back; and so on.  Semester after semester, something seemed to come up.  It was maddening.  Then I graduated, finally.  

 

4.  Pure tenacity and determination.  I wanted to quit many times and questioned my motives, and sanity, for putting myself into that situation voluntarily.  My ultimate goal has always been grad school, I knew that before I even began my first day of undergrad.  I always had that goal in mind no matter how much I wanted to walk away.  I know there are others out there who had to navigate a tougher route through college, and I am leaving a good amount of my headaches out of this, but I do know that most would not have put up half of what I endured.  They would dropped out before completing two years, more-than-likely. 

[Horb]

Probably not. 

 

And it makes me wonder, is Steve Jobs' kid first-generation? Technically, yes. I don't see the big deal about first-generation. And I'm a first-generation. 

 

I would argue he is. First generation means have your parents or grandparents attended and graduated college? If no, then you are first generation. Now, the first in your family to graduate? No, since you have a sibling that did. I think first generation is a better description, primarily because I find it unfair that just because a sibling is older you are suddenly experiencing change circumstances or something. But that is just me

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I would argue he is. First generation means have your parents or grandparents attended and graduated college? If no, then you are first generation. Now, the first in your family to graduate? No, since you have a sibling that did. I think first generation is a better description, primarily because I find it unfair that just because a sibling is older you are suddenly experiencing change circumstances or something. But that is just me

I'm not arguing that he wouldn't be first-generation. He clearly would be. I'm arguing that I don't see the significance of being first-generation. Nobody's giving Steve Jobs' kid a cookie.  

Edited January 25, 2014 by Gnome Chomsky

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I would argue he is. First generation means have your parents or grandparents attended and graduated college? If no, then you are first generation. Now, the first in your family to graduate? No, since you have a sibling that did. I think first generation is a better description, primarily because I find it unfair that just because a sibling is older you are suddenly experiencing change circumstances or something. But that is just me

And I agree on your last point. There's a clear difference between first-generation and first. If your older brother/sister graduated college 1 week before you did, he/she would be the first to graduate, but you'd both be first generation to graduate. I think it's insignificant if the graduation dates are so close, but it can be significant. There are people who are technically the same generation but are 40 years apart. 

[CommPhD20]

Hi everyone!

 

Somewhere on this forum, I found an excellent thread for first-generation applicants to speak of their struggles and accomplishments during and after the graduate school application process. I thought it was an excellent thread, but the last post was from 2009, so I thought I'd recreate one! I think this could serve as a great support system for us, though I'm certainly not opposed to non-first-generation applicants joining in on discussion! I've found that I often feel alone in my pursuit of higher (and higher!) education since most of my friends in high school and in college were not the first in their families to attend.

 

Some questions to get discussion going:

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

4) What has helped you reach your educational goals?

(Feel free to add more!)

 

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

 

I suppose it depends on our definition of family. Mom graduated valedictorian in a class of 12 students in the 1960s and ducked out of a dental hygienist program right before it started due to a family crisis. Her parents are first-generation Americans and neither attended high school -- my grandpa had to quit because he didn't have any shoes. He became a salesman and raised them on meager circumstances, her four siblings and her. Grandpa made a better life for them. None of her siblings attended college either. Mom worked for a while in customer service, did a nice job for herself, but ended up quitting after her boss was unsupportive following my birth (her second child).

 

Dad moved around a lot as a child, never had much money. His dad, at times, had a decent amount of money but frequently lost it through aggressive investing. He was a salesman trying to be a businessman and eventually left the family. Dad didn't finish high school, but now has a GED and after many years of working a few different jobs was able to purchase a small business from his step-dad. It has grown meagerly and given us a very nice, middle-class living. Dad has two sisters with degrees: one went to a state school in her 30s to become a schoolteacher. The other, who is a real ball of fire, went back to undergrad in early 40s, got her MSW afterwards, and is now getting a PhD. 

 

My two eldest brothers spent some time at tech schools. My next oldest came of age when my parents were doing quite a bit better and was able to get an athletic scholarship and graduated from a 4-year, regional public school. I'll be the first from my immediate family to pursue graduate education and they aren't really sure what the deal is. They are, reasonably, a little apprehensive about the whole "going to school to learn non-industry skills" bit. So far, it is basically, "we will support you so long as the PhD program is really going to pay for it." This of course means that every couple weeks they ask, "do they really pay for everything? They pay for you to live? Why?"

 

They've been great though and I haven't had to truly struggle financially to get to this point because my parents and their parents took on that burden. I'm very thankful even if I don't have a family full of college professors.

 

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

 

I suppose, as I mentioned, there is a great deal of skepticism. As I've explained and this makes me much more fortunate than many other first-gen applicants, my parents have provided a wonderful safety net financially. It's truly not something I've had to sweat about. Now, they won't be buying me any more degrees, but I haven't had to scrape for money throughout school or for this process. I was also lucky to get a near-full scholarship to my undergrad or else I probably would have needed to work my way through. I've been able to take my RA job and just have that as spending money for this and that.

 

The main thing is just know-how. I had no clue how a person became a college professor, what the real difference between undergrad and grad school was or MA vs PhD, that kind of stuff. Any substantive idea of what grad school was came to me in my junior year of college as I started to nail out what I wanted to do with my life with the advising of trusted professors. 

 

On that note, it's a part of society I'm unfamiliar with. We aren't high class people. I'm constantly surrounded by people that are "of money" you might say, and it shows. There isn't always something wrong with that and I don't necessarily have a low-income sensibility, if that exists, but there's just something different. Hard to describe, I suppose. The way you look at the world. Knowing that you might be a step away from financial calamity just makes you different. If my dad's business had a bad year? Sorry, the dream's over. Something important like a computer breaking? That's a big problem to my family to replace it -- we can do it -- but it's a problem and unacceptable. The thing that surprised me the most when beginning undergrad, even, was just how much people eat out. How do you afford this stuff? Anyway, this is trifling. I'm fine. 

 

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

 

An acceptance! 

 

It's great to see my parents seeing it all become real -- I think there was this lingering doubt. They, and even I, wondered if I had made some kind of grand miscalculation in thinking I could do this and it would work the way I thought. So far, so good.

 

4) What has helped you reach your educational goals?

 

All about my parents. Despite their complete lack of college background, they knew I was a smart kid and made it an expectation that I would go to college. I wasn't forced into it, I was raised in such a way that it was something I always wanted to do and felt like I was allowed to do. They have always bestowed me with the confidence to do what I want to. Before I could have known any different, they always insisted that I was a smart kid who could achieve whatever he wanted. Now here we are! They kept me safe, happy, confident, and managed to give me a really comfortable life without resorting to spoiling me -- if I had been spoiled, college wouldn't have worked. 

[Kleene]

I am also the first of my generation to go to college.

 

Both of my parents finished high school, but neither went to college. I have an older sister who did not finish high school. I do have a cousin who tried college, but dropped out after a few months. I believe I have an uncle who might have been to college. I am not sure, though. Some people at my university have enthusiastically asked me about my parents and/or siblings, expecting them to have studied (similar subjects). Usually they are rather surprised to learn that none of them went to college. Apparently, it is not quite standard. I myself am at least as surprised when people tell me about their parents who are maths professors or whatever. I have a friend whose both parents got PhDs in physics and both of their kids went on to study physics as well.

 

No, my parents have never been able to help me with any study related issues in the narrow sense. My father works in IT, however, and since I study CS we can talk about some things. My parents have no idea about applications, procedure or whatever, but I really don't mind that. They are extremely supportive and that is what counts. Whenever I need them, they are prepared to brainstorm with me on whatever problem there is. They are very aware of the fact that they don't know the ins and outs of college and grad school, and they will never pretent to have the knowledge but rather think with me in an objective manner. I love them.

[armchairette]

My own experience is a bit different than most 1st gen applicants/attendees as I'm only 1st gen on 1 side.  While my mother has a college degree (and extensive grad work but no MA/MS) and all but 1 of her siblings (and their spouses) do as well, my father and his side of the family have never gone beyond high school diplomas.  In fact, my father works in an apprenticeship-based field, where a college degree would probably be seen as a liability.  

 

My mother's side of the family is extremely supportive and I grew up not really realizing that many (most?) people don't go to college.  My mom once told me that she had the same experience and was shocked when she discovered that her own mother never actually finished a degree and that her father never attended college at all--they met at the end of WW2 when she worked for the government as a secretary and he was an Army officer.  Different time, I guess.

 

I'm not particularly close with my father's side, but I get the impression they can't really conceptualize why someone would go on for more school unless it was for a professional credential (MD, JD, etc). My family hasn't really been able to help financially at all.

 

On the accomplishments end, I'd say 3 out of 3 acceptances are pretty awesome.  Also, I'm flying home right now from the big annual conference in my field.  I was able to present there and participated in an event with a very big name in the field who turned to me and asked me to add other insights to the discussion.  I just about had a heart attack.

Edited March 30, 2014 by armchairette

[maelia8]

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

 

My mother only has a high school diploma, and she was the first child born in the USA to working-class immigrant parents. They were far too poor and ignorant of the possibilities to set my mother on the track to college, and she ended up trying it on her own for a couple of semesters of community college but dropped out due to financial difficulties and got married. My father went to a state school without much enthusiasm and graduated in a field he had no interest in, and he has never once used the degree that he got (he became an entrepreneur). None of his siblings or my mother's siblings have pursued graduate education, and about half do not have a bachelor's degree (in my father's family it's much more popular to join the military). My parents were honestly surprised and curious that I always cared a lot about my grades and beefing up my extracurriculars during high school - they were both C students and always told me that grades didn't matter as long as I passed. They never understood my desire to go to a small, highly-ranked private liberal arts college (my sister went to the local state school and has zero debts), but they indulged me anyway, for which I am very thankful. 

 

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

 

Ignorance from everyone around me about what my options were, how to apply, where to apply, etc. My parents, though kind and supportive, have always been completely in the dark - I figured out the whole college application process by myself, and had to talk my parents through paying the fees and signing the forms. I feel like I've basically blundered through the process each time and gotten lucky, since I never had any advisor, mentor, or knowledgeable person to guide me. My parents are also super independent entrepreneurial types who can't imagine ever working for someone else and can't understand why I want to get a degree where I will have a job in an office at the end. 

 

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

 

If nothing else, I've gained the knowledge necessary to advise others and help them through this process, so that future applicants (my students, my children?) won't have to go through this process blind, lonely, and doubting themselves, as I did. I really look forward to helping someone else through an application cycle in the future.

 

4) What has helped you to reach your educational goals? 

 

Determination, confidence, and a desire to prove myself to the world

Edited March 30, 2014 by maelia8

[bsharpe269]

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general?

 

My dad is very smart but going to college in his family wasnt the norm so when he graduated, he went the military route. My parents had me at 20 and my sister a year later and my mom became a stay at home. My parents got divorced when I was in elementry school and a few years later my mom decided to go back to our local state school so that she could get a decent job and support us. She graduated with a degree in social work when I was in 9th grade. I found watching her struggles inspiring... I saw how difficult it is to juggle school, work, and kids. Since I didnt want those same difficulties, I never considered not going to college right after high school. My younger sister did not find the same inspiration in my moms struggles I guess because she went down the exact same route... married a military man at 18, had a baby at 21, and now at 22 she is trying to figure out how to juggle her baby, work, and online community college classes. Some people in my extended family have college degrees in things like teaching, no gradute degrees.

 

2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant?

 

I am lucky compared to many people on here. Since my mom had gone to school recently, she was tons of help with things like fasfa, college aps, etc. The biggest struggle was probably money. Once my mom graduated, she had a hard time finding a job in her field. She ended up nannying and serving tables for all of my high school and college years. I had to figure out how to afford my college application fees from the money I made hosting in the evenings so I could only apply to 2 schools. Luckily, I got into both and attended the cheaper. I also worked throughout all of high school and college so that I could take out less loans.

 

3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant?

 

I think I have been fairly successful so far! I graduated high school with an IB diploma and got into a decent state school for college. I got a degree in applied math with an average gpa of 3.3 but did tons of reseach throughout all four years. As an undergrad, I did a presentation and published a paper. I also won a very competitive award for my research at graduation and did a REU at a top school. I am currently working on my masters and am again doing tons of research. My gpa is a 4.0 now since my work ethic has drastically increased. I plan to apply to phd programs in the fall!

 

4) What has helped you to reach your educational goals?

 

My parent's support has been incredible. I actually took a year off between undergrad and masters and I thought my dad was going flip out. Ever since I mentioned the phd, he has been majorly pushing me towards it. They dont understand the whole reserach thing and my mom doesnt understand anything related to math/science at all but it doesnt matter, they want me to do it because they know that I really want it and that I can! They are awesome. My fiance is also great since we totally understand eachother. He is in international business and working on his mba. He as as passionate about his field as I am for for reserach. We both freak out together if one of us gets a low grade! His ability to relate to me this way and his encouragement makes a huge difference!

[NerwenAldarion]

1) First to go to a real grad school (unless you count online at Pheonix University) but not the first to go to college

2) Not knowing the process as well as I should. I applied last year under the mistaken belief it was like applying to college, just send in my scores and resume and that will speak for itself. I didn't realize how important it was to go to the universities and meet the professors. After getting rejected across the board I did more research and my family learned that it was a bit more difficult than we thought. So I started emailing and phoning the universities and then taking road trips to meet the professors. Happy to say it worked!

3) Well getting in sure helped, LoL but really it just sort of is something my family has touted as a big accomplishment. It brought us all together as we tried to set things up. My sister and my dad and my aunt and uncle all helped me travel to a school of my choice at some point, they all pitched in to give me support in working towards this goal.

4) Knowing the process and I cannot stress MEETING the professors enough. It was so important, so much so that when I left Mercyhurst I was essentially told by the head of the department that I was in simply because they'd had a chance to meet me and recognize that I was a perfect fit for the program. That was essentially the only thing different between my first and second year applying to that program, I went there and talked to them. That turned my being rejected from my number one choice to immediately being accepted!