How should I describe my second but almost first generation college student status?

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Alexxxxx

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Disclaimer: I am not a first generation college student.

So, my mother, at the age of 45, went to a community college then transferred after 2 years to do online classes at a small university where she obtained a bachelor's in drug counseling. My dad did not even graduate high school. The thing is, she did not receive exposure to academia, did not do a science degree or grad school, and did not go into a high paying job (only $15/hr for a bachelor's degree and lots of debt...). In these regards, even though I am a second generation college student, I feel that I did not receive the advantages that second generation students get, and I feel more like a first generation college student. My mother was not able to help me through my college path, and had no knowledge of expectations in the medical field, connections, etc. Should I talk about this in interviews/on essays?

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^ Also it may be worth mentioning that she did not seek out going to college on her own, but rather was something that her employer pushed her to do.
 
Did your mom go to college during your childhood ?
 
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Should I talk about this in interviews/on essays?
No. IMO, it’ll look like you’re trying really hard to grant yourself the disadvantaged status. However, if it’s highly relevant to your aspiration to become a doctor, the sky is the limit.
 
Youre not technically the first in your family to go to college; you could explain your situation in the application
 
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I am also from a rural setting, so I feel like I could incorporate it into the argument that I did not have anyone in my corner pushing me for success in university.
So you’re interested in rural medicine? Usually, one’s disadvantaged status, like underrepresented minority in medicine or first-gen college student, is just a check box. When you say no, they will treat you like no, no matter what you wrote on your PS. Again, PS is for why medicine? Use examples relevant to your medicinal goal. If your rural background made you go to college, which subsequently led to you becoming a premed, you could add a sentence or two, but again ad coms wanna see why medicine not why did you go to college.
 
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So you’re interested in rural medicine? Usually, one’s disadvantaged status, like underrepresented minority in medicine or first-gen college student, is just a check box. When you say no, they will treat you like no, no matter what you wrote on your PS. Again, PS is for why medicine? Use examples relevant to your medicinal goal. If your rural background made you go to college, which subsequently led to you becoming a premed, you could add a sentence or two, but again ad coms wanna see why medicine not why did you go to college.
I see. I'm not particularly interested in rural medicine though it is a possibility, but I am currently drafting my PS and talking about the community aspect of being from a rural area.
 
I don’t mean this to come off as mean or rude but be really careful of how you write things. IMO You have spent most of your responses belittling what your mom did in attending school . How she doesn’t have a “science degree or a grad degree”. So what, my bachelors is in Theater. Your mom worked, went to school and raised you. Undoubtedly you saw her hard work and maybe even knew the hard work wasn’t producing more money etc. But make no mistake, your mom attending college while you were growing up did make an impact on you . It obviously wasn’t a positive impact but an impact nonetheless. Her degree is as good as mine or even yours. You should be proud of her instead of trying to think of ways to ignore her achievements so you can make yourself a first generation applicant.
 
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