Hi!! Scotland here! I am a junior at Scripps College, and writing offer advice for students who are the first in their family to attend a four-year college.
If you are first-gen and worried about your experience attending college with other students who are not, your feelings are valid. It is difficult to take on new endeavors, especially with little support. However, it is possible to find your way through–as long you build your support system. The First-Generation at Scripps Program that Scripps Community of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE) are good places to start! SCORE is the home of Scripps’ CLORGs for students of marginalized indentities, you can count on the staff and club members to help you navigate your college experience.
The Claremont Colleges has many mentorship programs as well. You can be paired with a student mentor (through OBSA house, First-Gen at Scripps, the Asian American Sponsorship Program, the Chicanx Office of Student Affairs), and a faculty mentor as well. Faculty at Scripps are super supportive and accessible. If you find a professor whose work you’re interested in, reach out and try to meet with them. You never known what you may learn from their advice, research experience, and fellowship/career info as well. There is almost always something you can get involved in when it comes to the speciality of the professor. That said, please take advtange of that!! Faculty, staff, and adminsitration are some of the supportive you’ll find.
Other than that, keep an eye our for scholarships and fellowship programs for first-gen students, there are many out there, just got to look. I’m happy to help you with the search as well.
Good on you for applying to college, and I hope all goes well with you’re application process. This is a scary and exciting time, and I wish you the most positive of outcomes from it.
Scotland ’24