<p>i think i’m first generation. how much of a hook is it?</p>
<p>marginal at best</p>
<p>could you give an example? like what scores, gpa, etc would a first-generation applicant need as opposed to a non-first generation applicant? (just so i get a general idea of how much it helps.)</p>
<p>In California, join the crowd.</p>
<p>are you saying that most cali applicants are first-generation? or just that you are also from cali and are first-gen?</p>
<p>whitecadillac: No one can tell you exactly how much it will help to be the first in your family to attend college. First-generation status probably helps more if the applicant has succeeded against the odds, i.e., despite a poor school and low income. In general, first-generation applicants do not get the same kind of admissions boost that URMs, recruited athletes, and development cases get. It’s not a genuine hook – more of a tip. How strong or weak the tip is will depend on your circumstances.</p>
<p>ah, ok, i see. well, my family has relatively low income. i think my school is pretty good, but how does one define a “bad school” versus a “good school”?</p>
<p>I mean there are plenty of 1st generation students from California, Texas, Florida, New York, any state with a large immigrant population applying so it is not an unique hook or boost as stated in the above post but more of part of your profile.
One characteristic of a “good school” is a history of sending a significant number students EVERY year to Ivies and tier 1 colleges.</p>
<p>First generation is helpful IF paired with other tips, such as low-income, and a hook, particularly URM. So, URM + low income + first generation is a “good” position to be in, but white, middle-class, and first generation is nominal at best.</p>
<p>ok. one more q…what is considered “low income”?</p>
<p>Low income is probably less than 60,000 a year. However, I think its also important to note that being first generation is not going to resurrect those whose applicants are already dead…ie you have terrible stats/etc relative to other yale students (your outside of the top 20% of class, a 500-650 on math or CR of SAT, no ECs).</p>
<p>haha, yeah. well, i’m within yale’s range but not near the tippy top (2140 sat, 3.85 uw gpa, top 3% of my class, great ec’s though i think…) i was just wondering if first-gen would help me a little.</p>
<p>but damn about the low income. this year my family’s gross income was 62000. damnnnn.</p>
<p>Low-income for Yale is $60,000 or less, it’s true. But when Yale looks for low-income they, like other schools, often want to boost their percentage of students who are Pell Grant recipients. That puts you at under $40,000. And Yale never sees your financial information in your application, so you’d have to write about being low-income or imply that it has affected your life somewhere in your application. $62,000 is no $100,000, but it certainly isn’t poverty level either.</p>
<p>Does Bill Gates’s daughter qualify the first generation since her father didn’t complete college?</p>
<p>Yale does need diversity at least for publicity and it also admitted Bush’s. </p>
<p>Sometimes diversity is skewed. Why no diversity in professional sports? It’s all for money. Same for school.</p>
<p>^Bill Gate’s daughter would not qualify as first generation because he attended some college and his wife has an MBA and undergrad from Duke.</p>
<p>^^Correct. Pease remember that the people reading your application are not brains in a jar. Bill Gates’ kid might get an admissions boost for one of several reasons (celebrity parent, potential developmental admit). But no admissions office would give him/her a boost because Dad didn’t complete college.</p>