Quick Caveat: Always look at a school's specific definition for this question, because schools ask about your parents' educational background differently. For example, I believe some of the UCs ask specifically if anyone in your family obtained a bachelor's degree from a school in the United States.

For the VAST MAJORITY of other institutions, you do not qualify as a first generation student if your parents did their undergrad abroad. This applies equally to international students and to US Citizens whose parents did their undergrad abroad.

Apparently this needs some rehashing after a Harvard Tiktoker, Olivia Zhang, made many videos implying that she is first gen, despite having parents who completed undergrad, masters, and PHDs abroad (and even an MBA in the United States).

Can we please take a moment to understand why those who have parents with bachelor equivalent degrees abroad do not qualify as First Gen. "First Generation" is a status designated to recognize the unique challenges that students who are the first in their family to go to college face. These students are unable to rely on parental advice for navigating seminars, academic advising, office hours, and many other elements that are crucial for college success. It is not a coincidence that the First Generation community overlaps significantly with those from blue collar, working class, and low income backgrounds.

Students with college educated parents are advantaged in this respect. They are not complete outsiders to the realm of higher education and its practices. Their families are more apt to recognize and emphsize the importance of education, and to thus better prepare and equip their children for the higher education landscape.

Obviously, foreign schools have their differences from American universities. If your parents received their education in China, or Brazil, or England, your experiences in college in the US will look different than theirs. But to equate these differences to a First Generation experience is improper and frankly insulting.

Especially for someone like Olivia, her parents' 15+ combined years spent in higher education will no doubt equip them with wisdom to share and privilege to pass on to their children. She will not be the first in her family to author a research paper, receive advising from a professor, or work in a white collar career because of the privilege her college degree will bestow upon her. Furthermore, she grew up with parents who emphasize the value of education, good grades, and hard work, because they first hand have been able to experience the upward mobility that graduate and professional degrees from top universities can bring.

I understand that the nature of social media and college admissions encourages students to market and sell themselves with compelling stories. While being the first in one's family to attend a university in this country comes with its unique challenges, it is not comparable to the first gen struggle. If it were, then plenty of wealthy, international students would fall into this category.

It really does hurt to see someone distort their story and obscure their privileged background so blatantly to build a following. It hurts more to see people defend this behavior, say that "its not that deep," and to empower someone to build a platform off of the false suggestion that she is first generation. It is always a shame when creators who build accounts to bring transparency to the admissions process are the opposite of transparent when it comes to representing their backgrounds.

For many of the high school students (or their parents) here on A2C interested in a top US school like Yale, today the "Inside the Yale Admissions Office" podcast released possibly the most useful episode over the past few years.

It is titled 'what Yale looks for (part 1): academic strength' and it covers easily 80% of the questions frequently asked on this subreddit about getting into the very top colleges.
- how important are recommendation letters really?
- what do interviewers (if you get an interview) listen for?
- would a very high standardized test score offset weaker grades?
- what stands out academically?
- do having a few B's on my transcript kill my chances?
- what % of applicants pass the academic screening portion of holistic admissions?

I recommend taking a listen to it, as it echoes a lot of the very best advice on A2C as well.

https://yalepodcasts.blubrry.net/2026/09/01/what-yale-looks-for-part-1-academic-strength/

do admission officers actually like the obviously trying to get your attention type of essay hooks? for most of the essays i see, i roll my eyes when i read the hook because its just so obviously trying to be a hook. i think its kind of overdone, i mean is the only option that people use the crazy or confusing first sentence hook. maybe its a step ahead the altogether boring essays but imo its not much better. some hooks can definitely be good tho just not the over dramatic type of im different hooks idk

How early is too early to submit a college application? Or, if you’re genuinely finished with it…is it ok to just hit “submit?”
It’s just a regular decision application, but is there any benefit of submitting it earlier this fall versus before the deadlines and early January? Are there any merit scholarships that may be available if I submit earlier?

looking to get into osu and maybe t20’s

For context, I am trying to major in engineering and I asked my AP calc teacher if he can write my lor and he said yes but he'll use ai. He told me to give him a brag sheet and that he will edit the lor so it wont sound ai but im scared it might be a red flag to admission officers. I asked my precalc/Algebra 2 for a lor teacher and he said yes and that he'll right a "pretty good" lor. But the thing is, I feel like my AP calc teacher knows me a lot better as of recent because of how I had him Jr year and im the president of his club. For my precalc teacher that wont write an ai loc, I only had him freshmen/sophomore so idk how much he'll be able to write about me. He told me he wont use AI but i dont know who to pick. I'm applying through questbridge, so I can only pick two teachers to recommend and I'm choosing my AP lit teacher as one. Should I choose the potentially better, but ai lor or the potentially mid but not ai lor?

I've been thinking about my personal statement, and I've drafted quite a few to no avail. I definitely want to finish before the school year, and I have an idea that might work. I was thinking of writing about how being scared about going to a theme park and researching the science behind the rides there(like roller coasters for example) kind of assuaged me, but also made me realize how much information and concepts there are behind things I kind of see everyday but used to not think about --- examples include how things like mountains get more blue the farther away from them you go or how those doors at train stations open automatically when you scan a credit card. Im trying not to talk about these things too much, but more about how fear has shaped my curiosity to learn, and how going into high school I became more curious about everyday things for the fun of it. What do you think?

Aiming for ivies/t20s and majoring in engineering/cs. Linear algebra is a 4.5 on our gpa scale (considered as an honors class) and apes is a 5.0 cuz its an AP. Ik linear algebra is college level, but most colleges wont even accept the class for credit cuz its not even a dual enrollment class, it’s taught by the school math teacher.

Since its not DE, considered an honors class and is a 4.5 on our gpa scale, and i wont get college credit for it, should i take APES instead?

APES will boost my gpa and is much much easier. The only thing is is since im an engineering major ik colleges want to see more math classes on my schedule, but linear alg will actually bring my gpa down.

Linear algebra honors or APES? Ty for help

Hey yall. I've been an avid stalker of this page for years (for giggles) & I've never thought I'd have to make this post.

For Jr. year, I switched schools due to several issues (medical + admin). I was underweight & I started having some issues due to that. By mid-year, I improved my weight, but I developed wrist tendonitis in my main hand. I also switched my career track in Oct (before my wrist problems began) to STEM (Math Ed/Actuarial Science) bf I finally believed I could do it.

My spring semester was rough with my tendonitis, especially bc I had to have a parent next to me to scribe for math & chem hw. I got A's in both, but I required more studying & more time management. I was finally able to get physical therapy too, from march to may, but it had to stop for the whole summer bc of summer classes (so I wouldn't have a hard schedule my sr yr) & my parent's job (other parent went out of the country). The whole summer, I worked hard on my summer classes & getting my ACT up to a 33, in order to get more scholarships.

Now that the fall has rolled around, I'm rlly burnt out. Working a job and summer classes irritated my wrists and its rlly hard to focus. In Calc 1, the class I worked so hard to get into, I have to spend extra time outside of class writing and watching videos (Prof Leonard my GOAT). & thats not to say I'm bad at the class; I'm constantly helping others & I understand the concepts. It's just tiring because I have to go the extra mile to even learn.

I'm just worried if going to uni is even achievable with my wrists. I've thought about going to the local uni, but I'd need a full course load for scholarships, & I don't know if that would even be sustainable or even something I'm capable of, for any degree, not just those I'd prefer. I'd have almost 2 years done with DE credits, but even then I don't know if I could get the degree.

I'm just posting this bc its been rlly tough to kind of give up on future plans I've held for years, especially as I hear other friends talk abt applying 2 college while I have to kind of be realistic and realize my situation. Thank you for listening <3.

I don't think I'll get accepted, i gave it my all during the last year, trying to manage full time work and studying and practicing, barely getting out to spend free time...

I waited 8 hours sitting on the floor outside the room with other applicants with 4 hours of sleep since i quit my job yesterday and i finished late, and then I walked in the room and they said this wasn't exactly what they were looking for... I couldn't even reply or debate since i was so out of words.

I'm losing my mind, it's like I've wasted an entire year of my life... I'm feeling angry, sad and ashamed that i couldn't do better.

I’m applying as an EE major but i was wondering if i should take a ap chem or take my fourth year of chinese; it would be ap chinese.

I have a low GPA (3.37 cumulative) upward trend
3.09 3.21 3.68
I have a 1500 SAT superscore and was looking at schools like

IU kelley, UIUC, NYU, Fordham, UW madison, Miami then a few "safeties"
My ecs are decent i worked multiple jobs ~20hrs a week year round and have really good finance EC's I feel like im cooked and not gonna get in anywhere any advice im still trying to improve my SAT

I took into account USNWR ranking, Niche ranking, acceptance rates, graduation rates, test scores, and overall prestige/program strength.

1. Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
2. Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
3. University of the South (Sewanee, TN)
4. Southwestern University (Georgetown, TX)
5. Northwestern College (Orange City, IA)
6. Southern University (Baton Rouge, LA)
7. Southeastern University (Lakeland, FL)
8. Northwest University (Kirkland, WA)
9. Eastern University (St. Davis, PA)
10. Southwestern College (Winfield, KS)
11. South College (Knoxville, TN)
12. University of the Southwest (Hobbs, NM)
13. University of the West (Rosemead, CA)

Should I make any changes, and am I missing any schools?

I’ve been hearing mixed responses on what to add to this section. I was wondering, would DECA, BETA, and HOSA, etc awards be acceptable to add to this section? Or should I rely on only like AP scholar and GPA awards.

help it won't let me put in an act date taken in 2026? is anyone else experiencing the same issue

Got an email from UATX today saying I was admitted based on my SAT score (I thought at first it was the University of Texas at Austin, but it is actually the University of Austin). Mailed from [admissions@uaustin.org](mailto:admissions@uaustin.org) (could have been spoofed, of course).

Was wondering if anyone knew if this was legit. I've seen mixed messages about it online. Said that to confirm my admission, I had to fill out a 5-minute application.

I know this is a common thing done by colleges now, but it seemed almost too good to be true. This is what it says in the email:

Your SAT score has earned you a place in the University of Austin's Class of 2031. Congratulations! To finalize your admission, please submit your five-minute application at your earliest convenience. The University of Austin (UATX) is a four-year, tuition-free private college forming the leaders and builders a free country depends on. Our students are admitted on merit alone, read the great books of the Western tradition, and train in mathematics, the sciences, and AI. Along the way, they learn from the founders, scholars and public servants shaping the country’s future. As a UATX student, you will graduate without debt, ready to lead. Here are some next steps to get to know us:

Book a virtual meeting so we can connect further. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about UATX.

Visit UATX. For those traveling from out of town, we will reimburse up to $500 in flights and accommodation-related expenses after your visit. Just submit your verified score through your testing provider.

Earn up to $40,000 more in merit-based aid. A 1500+ (SAT), 34+ (ACT), or 109+ (CLT) automatically qualifies you for Early Action Merit-Based Aid for housing and non-tuition expenses across four years.

At 1500+? You've already qualified. Apply, submit your verified score through your testing provider, and pay your $500 deposit by January 1, 2027. Not there yet? Retake your preferred exam as often as you like — we superscore. (This made it more suspicious to me, if they had reached out knowing my score)

Every generation inherits a civilization it did not build. Whether it flourishes depends on the people entrusted to lead it. We think you may be one of them. We look forward to all you will bring to our university, and to all that you will become within and beyond it. Welcome to UATX.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 10th grade; I used to struggle significantly to pay attention in class, and most of my grades were Bs and B+s. However, after my diagnosis and following the recommended treatment plan, my grades improved drastically, consisting almost entirely of As and A+s. My GPA settled around 3.5, and I also achieved an SAT score of 1560. I have been passionate about technology since childhood; I recently reached the Platinum level in USACO and have also won medals in AI Olympiads.

How will admissions officers evaluate my GPA? Setting aside my extracurriculars, do I have any chance of getting into universities like MIT and Harvard with a GPA like this?

I'm thinking of applying to UPenn and I had a question regarding Economics @ CAS in terms of careers. My ECs aren't very business-related but are more fit for CAS (instead of Wharton). Applying to Wharton would basically waste my chances, whereas CAS would give me a real chance - at least that is my impression.

My question is that are Econ students at CAS still able to equally access recruiting pipelines into finance jobs like Wharton kids, or are there a lot fewer resources for them? Will I be excluded from investment/finance clubs if I am a CAS student? Excluded from other recruiting events or career services?

Also, does anyone know how hard it is to be accepted for a UPenn Uncoordinated Dual Degree with Wharton?

P.S. - I KNOW you don’t have to immediately decide medicine or dentistry while applying to college!!

hello,

i am currently a senior in high school, and since my freshman year, i have spent my summers shadowing at a pediatric dental office. i do find the mouth very interesting, and i enjoy the human interaction dentists get each day, especially within pediatrics. however, i find myself going back and forth between dentistry and medicine.

i believe both are extraordinarily interesting fields. due to my interest in both, i find myself unsure on which path i want to follow. this feeling mainly came to me last month where i got the chance to shadow an orthopedic surgeon. the hospital environment was vastly different compared to the dental clinic, it was of course bigger and had a lot more people roaming around. i will admit that i was more intrigued while shadowing the surgeon, as the procedure i got to watch was on an open knee. of course, going into medicine doesn’t mean i would directly go into orthopedic surgery, and going into dentistry wouldn’t mean i would have to become a pediatric dentist, and since i’m still in high school i know i have a few years left to decide.

however, i still find myself really stuck in between the two healthcare fields. i do find oral health interesting, and i love how dentistry is a bridge between art and science. and another big thing that appeals me to dentistry is the work-life balance. while still being a heavy and serious job, i appreciate that most of dentistry remains having dentists working 3-4 days week without necessarily being on call, and as someone who wants to build a family in the future, i admire that freedom aspect. but, the wide range and diversity in medicine appeals to me a lot. there are so many different fields and different parts of the body you can choose from, and i do have more interest in the impact that medicine has on a being. the surgeon i got to watch was the reason someone was able to walk again, even after being told by another that she likely never would again. i have done some online research regarding OMFS, and it is the dental specialty that interests to me the most, so i do hope to shadow one soon. dentistry and medicine are both fields that i highly respect, and that i believe will never die down.

i mainly just wanted advice from people who have pursued, or are currently pursuing either field, and how they decided of course their the decision. i know i will ultimately need to make up the choice on my own, but i find it hard for me to quiz myself on which one i have more interest in because i have some type of built in bias towards dentistry, primarily due to my immense shadowing in that field alone. i do want to shadow more physicians and more fields within dentistry, however, the work life balance of dentistry is what slightly has more hold on me. both of my parents are engineers, and there are no types of medical or dental doctors in my family directly to seek personal advice from, however, seeing the stress and emotional health of my parents from their very long hours and full five day shifts worry me, as they also had to start their families quite late in their lives. i am also curious to know how each field feels about their life balance as well.

thank you so much, and i apologize for my big chunks of text!

Are the supposedly need blind ivies for international students like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, brown, Amherst and the others genuinely need blind? Or do they just say that?

I still have biology and the organic chemistry series left to take, which should help my GPA. Would it also be worth adding classes like ethnic studies or PE to boost it further, or do those not really move the needle?

I'm also pretty involved outside the classroom (senator for student government, tutoring, a club leadership role, volunteering, part-time work) not sure if that's relevant to the GPA question, but figured I'd mention it in case extracurricular course load factors in.

Mainly wondering: is it too late in the game to meaningfully raise a GPA and if not, what actually works best for doing so?😅

I am not sure if many people will be familiar with both schools. I also applied to Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Long Beach, but I am unsure if I would get into them. I already got accepted into Cal State LA, and Cal State Dominguez. The truth is that Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez would be much more convenient due to my work/home location.

Unfortunately, there is a little bit of a stigma with CSULA and CSUDH, especially CSUDH. I am worried about graduating from a school that is seen as a "joke", and being unemployed/underemployed.

My school caps aps based on gpa. I'm allowed to take two, only got accepted into one and am feeling pretty defeated. Is it worth it to self study? I've self studied 1 ap a year since freshman year, earning 4s on both of them. However, now that I'm a junior, I'd like to amp it up to 4 or 5. Is it worth it or do I just take the L? Ik for european unis I need to but will US colleges care ro value the self study 4s or 5s

i don’t get it. some poly techs have like a English degree if I majored in English at a Polytech or an IT school would it be any different than a university or a lac?

would it look bad or weird?