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11-22-2007, 05:44 AM
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#1 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: It depends >-┐ Berkeley <--------------┘
Posts: 1,806
| Am I a first-generation American or second-generation American?
I thought I'd ask this here, because ya'll are probably more informed about this kind of stuff  .
My parents immigrated to that States after finishing their undergrad education. Within a few years, I came out of my momma (in a hospital in CA).
Am I first or second-generation?
Thanks in advance.
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11-22-2007, 07:24 AM
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#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,815
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You are the first generation born in the US. Your parents are immigrants.
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11-22-2007, 07:34 AM
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#3 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 44
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Wouldn't he be second generation? His parents being the first to settle in the U.S.? Not absolutely sure...
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11-22-2007, 07:43 AM
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#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,098
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11-22-2007, 08:29 AM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: It depends >-┐ Berkeley <--------------┘
Posts: 1,806
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Haha, that's why I'm so confused. This is actually just for the restricted scholarship considerations (I think that's what it's called) for the UCs. I chose the option that I'm a "first-generation American" but now I'm not so sure anymore. I tried looking online, but results were like the above 3 posts  . I guess I'll stick with it, if I can't find another option that applies to me.
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11-22-2007, 08:32 AM
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#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: It depends >-┐ Berkeley <--------------┘
Posts: 1,806
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From the URL treetopleaf gave: Quote:
The term First generation immigrant may be used to describe either of two classes of people:
1. An immigrant to a country, possibly with the caveat that they must be naturalized to receive this title.
2. The children of immigrant parents, first in a family line to be born in the new country.
| My parents are #1 and I'm #2 haha.
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11-22-2007, 11:42 AM
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#7 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,815
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FWIW: the definition I gave was that used by my PhD-sociologist mother when she did her PhD thesis on Italian immigration to the US. If it's for a scholarship app or other organization, I would check with the organization for their definition.
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11-22-2007, 11:59 AM
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#8 | | Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 884
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My understanding is that dmd77 is correct: Your parents are immigrants; you are first generation.
The usage makes more sense when you look at it from the perspective of the native country. From Wikipedia:
"Nisei are people, or a person, of Japanese ancestry and the first generation to be born abroad. Their parents who emigrated are known as Issei, or first generation; subsequent generations are known as sansei and yonsei. These terms are in common use in countries such as Brazil, the United States, and Canada, where there are significant communities of Japanese immigrants and their descendants."
You are the first generation in your parent's family to be born abroad from their native country, so you are first generation.
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11-22-2007, 12:07 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 44
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"Nisei are people, or a person, of Japanese ancestry and the first generation to be born abroad. Their parents who emigrated are known as Issei, or first generation"
If this is correct, then you are second generation. Your parents would be Issei (first generation) and you, Nisei (second generation)
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11-22-2007, 12:10 PM
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#10 | | Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 884
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No, the quote says first generation TO BE BORN ABROAD. Nowhere does it say Nisei = second generation.
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11-22-2007, 12:52 PM
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#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,951
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Well, my entire life, I've called myself first generation. My parents came here as young adults. I was the first generation born here. Now maybe if they had come as babies it would feel different, but they were definitely immigrants. No one has ever corrected me when I have stated I was first generation. I've never heard someone who immigrated here referred to as first generation.
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11-22-2007, 01:06 PM
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#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Suffragette City
Posts: 1,755
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You are first generation.
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11-22-2007, 01:50 PM
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#13 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 927
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Not according to AdOfficer. If your parents graduated from college in another country, you are NOT considered first generation as far as college admission process is concerned.
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11-22-2007, 01:56 PM
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#14 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Southeast U.S.
Posts: 412
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You are a first generation American, since you were the first generation of your family born in this country.
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11-22-2007, 02:33 PM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,815
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Ah, first-generation college-educated is NOT the same thing as first-generation American.
First-generation college-educated has two possible meanings: first generation to get a college diploma OR first generation to attend college at all. FGCE (I'm lazy) is often used as a demographic marker.
In my case, for example, I am fifth-generation college-educated (both sides), 2nd-generation American on my mother's side (my college-educated grandfather and college-educated grandmother married and came to America), and 8-generation American on my father's side.
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