Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there are first gen groups, also academic support centers for most subjects like writing, languages, math.

Maybe but honestly I wasn’t first gen but was much closer in experience to their high school education — with my rural high school and parents who attended a school like University of Baltimore and had admin jobs with our rural county rather than the UMC or even LMC who attended elite and magnet schools.

But I would feel like a fraud going to get help intended for FirstGen.

I understand. It's especially hard when you don't feel like you fit perfectly with a group. But in reality, these groups are quite diverse.

First gen and Low income mean different things depending on the specific context in which a kid grows up. At the core, it's about being "under-resourced" compared to the majority of their peers at the school. It's not a monolithic group, and my guess is you would have fit in really well!

It's very hard to reach out proactively, but my sense is that the adults who run the FirstGen/LowIncome programs at these schools are by definition caring, empathetic, and supportive. Many of them had similar experiences to yours. Nobody is there to judge - they're there to help!

Anonymous wrote:I attended an elite university from a less r background and a rural high school with no AP courses. Few classmates pursued college, mostly at State. I arrived with major gaps in writing, math, and science, and struggled while peers thrived. A semester at State felt far easier. In hindsight, starting locally and aiming for elite grad school might’ve been wiser.

Do colleges now offer better support for students with academic gaps? Back then, options were limited and mostly tied to groups I didn’t qualify for.

They do offer more guardrails now, but they also lowered the bar on FGLI and pell grant kids in the name of socioeconomic diversity and rankings, as USNews cares. Some kids are just unprepared. It does no one any good to arrive as unprepared as you were, or worse.
I was unprepared too at ivy, but had a toptier score and had a few APs. I lagged initially then soared, phi beta kappa, and went to a T5 law with a fellowship. My kid at same ivy has poor friends like I was and they have more support now than i did but some are too far below what the bar should be and some do not want to put the effort in to learn how to study and compete with the private school or top magnet kids.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there are first gen groups, also academic support centers for most subjects like writing, languages, math.

Maybe but honestly I wasn’t first gen but was much closer in experience to their high school education — with my rural high school and parents who attended a school like University of Baltimore and had admin jobs with our rural county rather than the UMC or even LMC who attended elite and magnet schools.

But I would feel like a fraud going to get help intended for FirstGen.

Yes, there are first gen groups, also academic support centers for most subjects like writing, languages, math.

I am impressed at the support
Offered at our local community college. But kids definitely have to take the initiative. No one is seeking them out to provide it.

Depends on the school, but yes, programs for students from under-resourced high schools/communities are more common. Some are programs that originally focused on smaller groups (e.g., students from underrepresented minority groups) but have expanded to include all first-gen students or all students from less advantaged backgrounds.

*less resourced

I attended an elite university from a less r background and a rural high school with no AP courses. Few classmates pursued college, mostly at State. I arrived with major gaps in writing, math, and science, and struggled while peers thrived. A semester at State felt far easier. In hindsight, starting locally and aiming for elite grad school might’ve been wiser.

Do colleges now offer better support for students with academic gaps? Back then, options were limited and mostly tied to groups I didn’t qualify for.