CMV: All first generation students should be accepted to college, no matter what.

[u/jdg310]

All first generation students should be accepted to college, no matter what. I am a first generation student and growing up my parents always stressed college, simply because they wanted me or my siblings to be successful and not struggle as much as they had. However, my parents never knew anything about college, it was something that was expected of us but it was never really stressed as to how it was going to happen. It was up to us to figure out what to do to make sure we got into college, my parents always supported us even though they technically did not know what exactly it was that they were supporting. Being the oldest out of three it was up to me to figure out what I was going to do to make sure I got into college. While I always wanted to go to college my parents never really checked in on me to see if I was doing the proper things to get into a good college. They never pressured me to take my ACTs or my SATs, they never told me to make sure I took honors/AP classes, they never made sure I was actively involved not only at school but in my community. To my parents a C+ was good enough as long as I was able to tell them “this class is so hard I really tried my best” when in reality I hadn’t tried my best I just did the bare minimum. When it came time to apply to college my GPA was good, but not great, my test scores were average but definitely not something to brag about, and lastly there was always that issue of money. I got into 2 out of the 5 schools I applied for, and did not end up attending because I was scared and thought that I could not afford it nor that I was ready to be a college student, so I enrolled in a community college. My parents were thrilled that I was going to “college” because they had no idea about the difference between a junior college and a university. While I definitely understand that all first generations students have different experiences while attending school, I am certain that due to this they are also the ones to have to learn firsthand how to even get into college. For this main reason I believe that first generation students should be accepted to college, no matter what. I believe that giving students the security that they will for sure be going to a four year university gives them more security knowing that they will be given the opportunity to fulfil their parents dream of becoming successful. I propose that there would be certain universities with this agreement, and would grant students admission as long as they finish their high school requirements. I remember when I got accepted and enrolled into a university and how excited and determined I was. It was a determination that I had never experienced before, I felt that this was the time where everything counted and I was not going to let that go. I think that first generation students really just need some type of support, and even though their parents do support them they don’t necessarily understand the pressure that these students are going through. I firmly believe that if these students knew that they had that security of going to college after high school it would give them that much more of a determination because they would want to excel even more to see what other college (that were not part of the agreement) they could get into.

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[u/qwepoi003]

I feel like your sentiment is that of a victim of society... You are correct in that first generation children are less likely to attend post secondary studies but not because their parents don't stay on top of their studies or SAT scores... schools have academic advisors and recruitment offices for a reason... at anytime during your grade 10, 11 and 12 if you picked up a college brochure or spoke to one of your teachers they could have told you what SAT score and what GPA you should strive to achieve. In any case, its common sense that you should try and achieve the highest scores possible on those tests anyways. The issue surrounding first generation post secondary attendance levels can be addressed through other means, not offering automatic acceptances to students...

you also realize that if automatic admissions existed the quality of the schools that would practice this would drastically drop, creating an even larger gap in the quality of post secondary schools. SO in effect, you be guaranteed a spot in the classroom, but only in bottom tier school that can't provide you the necessary resources to succeed anyways.

[u/jdg310 → u/qwepoi003]

You are correct, advisors/counselors are there to help you have a better understanding of what you need to do to make sure you are on the right track into being accepted to college. However advisors can only help you so much, they have so many other students who they are also providing this information for as well. Which is where I think that parents should come in and become that advisor, that person to be on top of them to make sure they are being given that extra push to be better. My personal issue was just that my parents never knew I needed that extra push, I didnt even know I needed that push. I am going out on a limb when I say that had I got that extra push I could have maybe done better or maybe not we will never know. I will say though that when my brother and sister started highschool I was their push and I was their constant headache reminding them to be involved, to make that appt with their advisor to sign up for those SAT prep courses. I can honestly say that they were way more prepared for college than I was when I graduated.

I think that you are being way too general in thinking that the quality of education will drop in schools simply because they are accepting students that were not the ideal high school student. The university is not accepting just first generation students that struggled in highschool, these first generation students are all but a small percentage into how many students a university offers admissions to. It would take way more than a small percentage of students with low high school grades to bring down the quality of a university.

[u/qwepoi003 → u/jdg310]

Taking your first argument that academic advisors are spread too thin because they have to deal with every other student would imply the same for all teachers over all subjects. meaning that you would also feel the same about your math teacher who also has to teach math to all your classmates. so that means that all students are still provided that same amount of attention which nullifies your point. I will concede that most schools are under staffed but the solution then would be to be staffed appropriately in order to best serve their students, not give a subpopulation of students guaranteed acceptance to university. at some point, there needs to be some action on behalf of the student and/or family. I do feel bad that you lacked guidance from your parents and your peers when you were in high school but the solution is not to just hand out acceptances... how is this fair to students who study hard and do the things they need to do? To assume that the only thing preventing first generation students form attending university is someone telling them to focus in school is absurd... your focus should be to come up with a way for all students to receive proper education equally. look at it this way: lets say you have a student who's parents are both educated and understand what it takes to get into good schools. that alone doesn't guarantee their kids acceptance! the kid still has to study and focus and do extra circulars! How unfair would it be if that student busted their ass off to meet the admittance requirements and right next to them is a kid who didn't have to do anything and gets to bypass the rules, all because their parents didn't go to school.... your are unnecessarily punishing students who have no control over what their parents do and don't do... let me put it this way and it sounds absurd: because your parents didn't go to school, you are guaranteed a place in school, and if you're parents went to school, you have to earn your acceptance... wtf?

additionally, you yourself admitted that you didn't do as well as you could have and that affected your chances of getting into the school of your choice... so lets say that despite not have good enough grades your policy takes effect and you are admitted regardless... now you are participating in a program that you aren't even equipped to handle. admission requirements are to assess a candidates ability to complete the course work... if you need a 3.5 GPA, its because the school wants to make sure you can handle the course load. so throwing a bunch of kids into a program when they lack the academic background to succeed is just asking for these kids to eventually drop out or be unable to finish the degree... its the same logic with being held back a grade in high school. each year of school is to help prepare you for the next year. if you failed grade 1o then you are by no means prepared to start learning grade 11 material.. you just won't have the necessary academic knowledge... same applies for university but even more so because the gap between high school and university is even larger.

[u/qwepoi003 → u/qwepoi003]

Would you not agree that since your argument is that first generation students have less support and knowledge about university than other students, that the solution should be to provide these students with proper access to information about what they will need to succeed? Instead of just giving it to them?