I don’t think it’s broken, I think it’s just evolving as the percentage of URM and First-Gen “hooked” applicants is ever increasing as a result of the outreach from the schools.
And to the extent that these students, who are otherwise being provided the insight regarding college opportunities that they may never have known about, are now being admitted at higher rates and without any reduction in the school’s academic profile it’s a great thing; does it ding those who are unhooked - maybe, and does it make it more confusing to those unhooked applicants - certainly, but that’s a part of life evolving…
“Unfortunately, when my kids came up to admission, first gen was now in.”
I am pretty sure that to be first gen, you have to be first gen on both sides (ie, having one parent being an immigrant doesn’t seem to help).
If I am wrong, then my family missed an opportunity. However, I don’t recall the schools asking about this. Even if both parents are immigrants I don’t know how the schools would know (nor could I explain any reason that the schools should care).
Not sure what your point is @DadTwoGirls. My point is that college admissions is an ever-changing animal. What helped kids get in back then, is not the same as now, and will not be the same 10 years from now. I came from a lower middle class family as first gen. Back then, all the legacy kids were getting into the ivies.
I had to finagle, study for SATs with library books and claw my way into an ivy. First gen was not a hook. Fast forward and when my two students applied, did legacy help them? No, a large percent of the class went to first gen students. Their friends who were first gen had a much easier time getting into a top notch school and were highly prized. It was the opposite in my day. You didn’t dare tell the college you were poor.
What will it be like in the future? In college admissions, everything changes. Admission to elite colleges is a moving target. They are putting together diverse communities now, but not sure being a top student really matters much.
I think that my point is that I do not understand why “first generation” would matter to a top school, nor do I understand how they even know.
"My point is that college admissions is an ever-changing animal. "
That is a good point.
“but not sure being a top student really matters much.”
I think that this a true but sad point. Straight A’s, strong SATs, and great references that include things like “thoughtful kid who is highly respectful and very helpful to other students” doesn’t seem to get a student as far as I think that it should at the “prestigious” schools. It does seem to get them in anywhere else however.
First-Gen is first generation in one’s immediate family to attend college - it would be self evident if neither parent attended as that information is asked in the Common Application profile section; beyond that it would be self reported, as would ethnicity.
@DadTwoGirls, why is it sad to, as we grow as a society, be able to recognize many that were left out of the American experience for generations? Agree that it is most evident in those ~40 schools that are need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need, which also happens to generally be the top ranked universities and LAC’s, and to the extent they are able to extend their hand out and help lift up that’s great.
My twin DD’s are today’s ORM’s, and while they didn’t get into many tippy top schools that they were eminently qualified for, they did well.
I would imagine colleges don’t do much fact checking on apps. If you claim ECs and they weren’t mentioned in any of the LORs, they might catch the inconsistency. They might catch it if you claimed a national level award anyone could disprove with a 3 minute internet search. For the rest, it’s mostly a honors system.
FWIW, when I applied to colleges back in the late 80s, some of them elicited enough information to know that I was first-gen. I don’t know if it factored in for my round of admissions, but I was a student worker in my state flagship’s admissions office in the early 90s, and I know for certain it mattered there then.
“First generation” in a college context typically means first generation to attend to graduate college, not first generation immigrant (or anything to do with one’s family immigration history).
Beyond the uncertainty of the super-selective schools, a top student (4.0 GPA or close to it in hard classes, top end test scores) has more choices of colleges, including more affordable ones (merit scholarships or admission to more selective schools with better financial aid) than college-ready but not top students (3.0 GPA in average college prep courses, average test scores).
@ucbalumnus, totally agree. Apart from the top 20 universities and the top 20 LAC’s, a tippy top student will have confident matches to pick from above #21 and many will come with merit money - we just went through it and the distinction was very apparent.
@theloniusmonk, kids aren’t being rejected because their parents went to college. While the percentage of URMs and First-Gens are increasing, the avg scores are as well. So schools are finding well qualified students to further diversify the student population - all good!
unless a college counselor verifies that a student is first gen, the college won’t see the student as such. The whole app has to hang together as they say. There are multiple checks and balances. You may lie about some of your ECs but you can’t lie about first gen and “get away with it.”
I think there’s less checks than @preppedparent implies. Take a public school with 2000 students and 4 GCs. If the GC bothers to include first gen in the LOR, it’s because the student checked the first gen box on the request form for a LOR. It’s sort of ridiculous to think either the colleges or the school GC in that situation will independently verify a kid’s first gen status.
Let’s put it this way. High Schools collect a lot of demographic information on their students along the way. It’s unusual if the records don’t indicate whether parents went to college or not. The GC has to write a letter on each student. You can be sure that part of the letter has to do with whether a student is first gen or poor. GCs make it their business to know something about the kids they write letters for. They know colleges are looking for first gens, and they are smart people who aren’t generally fooled.
@preppedparent, your response is sad to me - 99.9% are honest and looking to do the right thing - the .1% that is broken will remain that way, but it won’t change what the rest do…
As an example, my twin DD’s could have exaggerated and or lied about EC’s on the Common Application; would it have caught the eye of a school they weren’t accepted to - maybe, but they themselves would never have done it.
^^ In cases where the gc has a huge student load, there may not be a personalized letter. It may be a form letter with the kids name written in the blank and a check that there has or has not been disciplinary action during the course of high school. What’s really broken is not so much college admissions, but rather middle school and high school education in large parts of the country, especially in poor communities of color.