First in Your Family to Go to College? You Are Not Alone!

Being the first in your family to apply to college can be overwhelming. Where do you even start?

So, you’re the first in your family to go to college . . .

The expectations. The unfamiliarity. The not knowing what to do or where to turn. Feeling lost and in unknown territory, as your high school years start to wind to a close, college is around the corner, and you fear you may not be ready for it. Being the first in your family to apply to college can be overwhelming, and it can leave you feeling more than a little stressed out. Where do you even start?

First step: take a breath. College applications aren’t as scary as they sound if you keep a calm attitude. People get scared when they try something they’ve never done before, even more so when they feel they have no one to help them. But don’t worry; there are people who can help. And as first-generation student, I should know.

When I started thinking about college, I had no one to show me the ropes. My parents were certainly very supportive, but they didn’t know about all the hard work that goes into the college search, the soul searching that had to be done in order to write a good personal statement, the organization process of keeping all of my due dates in check, and all of those visits to my counselor's office. For a while I was convinced I was completely on my own.

The thing is, I really wasn’t alone. I learned that the trick is to ask the right people: counselors, teachers, even fellow classmates. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Talk to that one senior you know about what they did to start their college application process. Maybe their answer will help, maybe it won’t, but it definitely won’t hurt (or offend) to ask. In the world we live in, it’s pretty hard to do everything on your own, so speak up. And people like being helpful!

Another easy thing you can start to do is simply look for and research colleges. Even if you don’t know what types of colleges you prefer or what major to study or where you in the country (or world) you want to go, you can start forming an idea of what these things look like by seeing what’s out there. It also doesn’t hurt to start early. Use websites such as College Greenlight or CollegeXpress (hey, you made it!), simply research schools through their website. (While you’re there, you might even find some pretty cool scholarships too!)

A really helpful tool is also joining college preparation programs. For example, if you’re a junior living in Chicago, I would strongly recommend applying to Chicago Scholars, a program that not only helps you step by step through the college application process (seriously, they look at everything) but they help you after you’ve gotten into college as well. Ask your school counselor for information about programs that you can apply to and what you can do to get into them (some might require applications). Don’t be afraid to talk your counselor. No matter who they are, don’t let a bit of shyness stop you from going to a person that could have the answers to all of your questions! Counselors are there for a reason, and they’re there to help.

The key thing here is to keep calm and take that first step in your college search. Try not to freak out and turn away from the problem—I know I did for quite some time. Just take a breath. Find out what you want in a college, what you like, what you dislike, and keep going from there. Keep your perspective wide, and then start to narrow it down as you focus your interests. Find a support group, whether it be your friends, your counselor, or your parents. You’re not the only one applying for college; there’s someone out there that can help.    

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About Cindy Lopez

Cindy Lopez lives in Chicago and is the older sister to two younger brothers. She loves writing, reading, watching old movies on her pink VCR, and watching the sun set on pretty ranches. Cindy hopes to someday own a Victorian house on a hill with a huge library and a wicker chair facing the West.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress
Kory Gilbertson

Kory Gilbertson

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me explore my views on college in that "why do I wanna go to a certain school" way. It’s helped me explore the best fits in all of these outstanding choices. All these college admission counselors can access my accolades showing them how I could help their college. This source of information helps me show these admission directors who I am and what I'm interested in. Thanks to this platform, my experience for education will be better than most, and I'm so grateful for all that it has provided for me.

Jeff Parsons

Jeff Parsons

Counselor

Thank you so much for this valuable information about these opportunities. I truly appreciate the CollegeXpress communications and use them to keep my high school seniors informed about their opportunities!

Sonny Harris

Sonny Harris

College Student

For the entire year before college, I spent a lot of time deeply considering what major I wanted to go into and how to fund my higher education. After a lot of research, I came across CollegeXpress, which helped me ultimately find a ton of scholarships for which I could apply—and some of which I received! If it weren’t for CollegeXpress, I may not have found those scholarships as they didn't appear on any other scholarship search forum. Additionally, I learned more about the options I had been considering for my major through CollegeXpress’s resources. In the end, I chose to major in Computer Science, as it seemed best suited to me and the careers in the field seemed enjoyable, and I've never been more excited to move into my future! Ultimately, I want to thank CollegeXpress for offering their services. I received enough financial aid in scholarships to fund my entire freshman year of college and even got some money refunded which I used to purchase a new laptop, and I bought all of the books I needed for the semester!

Elizabeth Stafford

Elizabeth Stafford

High School Class of 2021

As a UK student moving to California due to my dad's job in the military, when I first signed up for CollegeXpress a few months ago, the college process ahead seemed daunting and incredibly stressful. That all changed after I started to explore what this website had to offer. Not only was I helped by the vast array of resources available to me, but through being a CollegeXpress member, there have been so many more benefits. There have been emails with college tips—all of which I found incredibly helpful—as well as invitations to events and notifications of scholarships that'll make college possible for me. Overall, I'm very grateful to CollegeXpress for all of these things and more. Not only have they helped me grow my understanding of the college process, but they've also helped me to grow as a person, giving me new skills that I can take with me through life.

Chris Bell

Chris Bell

Bell College Consulting

The college lists on CollegeXpress are indispensable for sussing out creative additions to a student’s list, and the college-specific pages provide terrific commentary and suggestions for related schools. CollegeXpress is among the most trusted sources I use for information for my students.

College Matches
X

Colleges You May Be Interested In

Stanford University

Stanford, CA