Are you the first in your family to go to college?
Choosing to attend college is choosing to invest in yourself 和 your future. 作为第一代大学生，你们正在为未来的几代人铺平道路. 你应该感到骄傲. 在芝加哥乐博平台APP, 我们热情欢迎第一代学生，并为他们提供成功驾驭大学的资源.
对于家长和倡导者:
Your support 和 encouragement is crucial in ensuring your student’s success. 这里有一些建议和技巧，可以让你的学生走上获得学士学位的道路:
Talk to high school 辅导员s 和 teachers. 他们是你学生的拥护者, 太, 他们的见解可以帮助你和你的学生在大学搜索和申请过程中.
为你的学生找一位导师一个会鼓励他们，以身作则，关心他们未来的人.
和你的学生一起参观大学. The best way to determine if a college is the right fit is to pay a visit. 哥伦比亚提供 旅游及活动 这可以帮助您和您的学生了解我们的校园和我们的文化.
If your student enrolls at Columbia, utilize the 父母发射台. This webpage has information about student support, 乐博平台APP, 校园社区, career preparation 和 more—all in one convenient place.
其他可以帮助你的资源:
三人组帮助低收入和第一代大学生实现他们的最大潜力，并坚持到毕业. TRiO is a federally funded Student 支持服务 program.
In 2021, the Scholars Project was created as part of Columbia College Chicago’s 社会正义倡议, to better support students who identify as BIPOC (Black, 土著, 和 people of color) or first-generation college students. 乐博平台APP项目的使命是通过将学生与关键资源联系起来，促进公平的学生成功, helping them to identify their strengths, 和 empowering students as they develop a sense of belonging at Columbia. 乐博平台APP项目将与来自历史上被边缘化背景的学生一起，在他们在乐博平台APP课堂内外的各个方面进行合作.
学生的多样性 & 包容 (SDI) supports students through programming, 教育宣传, 有意识的社区建设. SDI’s programs 和 events aim to engage Columbia students in the exploration of their identities; 和 in underst和ing the ways in which identity is uniquely actualized, 表达了, 和生活. SDI为学生提供了围绕权力问题进行对话的机会, 特权, 和压迫，以发展更大的知识和了解自己, 彼此, 他们的社区, 这个世界.
Columbia partners with UStrive 和 I’m First!, 一个在线社区，为现在和未来的第一代大学生提供灵感, information 和 support on their journey to 和 throughout college.
要知道的高等教育术语
- 招生覆核委员会
招生覆核委员会 是审核申请人填写的申请表以决定他们是否会被学院录取的小组吗.
- 学分
学分 这些单位是否表明学生已经完成并通过了学位所要求的课程. Each course is assigned a credit, or credit hour, value. 学生必须获得一定数量的学分(由每个课程决定)才能毕业.
- FAFSA
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid. 乐博平台APP使用FAFSA的结果来确定为学生的教育提供的经济援助金额.The FAFSA provides access to grants, loans 和 Federal Work-Study opportunities. It takes about 30 minutes to complete online, 和 it must be completed each year you are enrolled in college.
- 金融援助
金融援助 上大学是否获得了任何形式的经济资助. 经济援助主要有两种形式:奖学金或助学金(你不必偿还的援助)和学生贷款(你必须偿还的援助), 通常有利息, 毕业后).
- 推荐信
推荐信 is a letter written by an instructor, 辅导员, 顾问, 导师, 或者其他评估你的技能并说明你有能力在大学阶段取得成功的人. Columbia requires one or more letters of recommendation to apply.
- 取向
取向 is our official process of welcoming new students to the college. 在这些活动中，你将了解校园，获得校园卡并注册课程. Columbia organizes 取向 dates by major, 所以你会遇到未来的同学，并听取你所在院系的老师的意见.
- 登记
登记 is the process by which you enroll in classes for the upcoming semester. 每年注册三次，分别是秋季、春季和夏季学期. New incoming undergraduate students register at 取向.
- 食宿
食宿 is the amount a student pays for housing, meals 和 other living expenses.
- 学费
学费 is the cost charged in exchange for instruction 和 training. 乐博平台APP按学期或学分收费，取决于兼职或全职状态. 学费 does not include the cost of textbooks, fees, or room 和 board.
Meet one of our first-generation alums. 这可能就是你.
弗兰克EnYart '17 is a recent Fiction grad from Sidney, Ohio. 他就读于当地的一所社区大学，并在2015年转到乐博平台APP之前获得了俄亥俄州塞达维尔大学的副学士学位.
- How have your parents’ backgrounds influenced you?
Even though they didn't do super well in school, they always pushed me 和 my sister to work our hardest in school. They really were examples of hard work for us to see. I would see my dad work in his factory job, something he didn’t really like but knew he had to do, [和 that was] how I felt about the work I had to do in class. 这不是我关心的事情, 一定, but I knew it was going to lead me to something better at some point.
- Did you ever talk to them about the value of education?
They were really adamant about us going to college, 充分利用我们的处境，真正追求我们热爱的东西.
- What kind of support was available to you at Columbia?
人们真的很平易近人. 我记得我(独自一人)来参加培训，完全离开了自己的舒适区. 我吓得魂飞魄散, 和 one of the first people I met was the manager of my department, 谁会坐下来然后说, “这个项目就是这样的, 下面是课程.” It was super easy to fit in 和 not feel like an outsider.
- What was it like navigating the financial aid system?
对我来说, it was as easy as just walking here, 他们说, “Sit down for a couple seconds 和 we'll talk about it.” It was pretty clear to me what I had to do 和 when I had to do it. 作为第一代学生，我的父母根本不知道(经济援助体系)是如何运作的, it was very easy for me to navigate by myself.
- What’s one thing you didn’t expect to happen as a first-generation student?
我没料到会有这么多人和我处境相同，也没料到会有这么多人这么容易接近. The school I went to before was very…I wouldn't even say prestigious, 但它是非常同质的. I felt more like an outsider there, in my own state, than I do here.
在乐博平台APP，你能找到你想做的事情，并把它做得很好, 人们真的很关心它. I’ve met a ton of great writers here. 找到可以建立社区的人非常容易，这是我完全没有预料到的.
- What does a college education mean to you?
对我来说, 这是一个机会，让你花四年的时间做你真正关心的事情. 我无法想象在我的生命中还会有这样的时刻，我可以花四年的时间和其他20多岁的年轻人坐在一起，谈论一个写于100年前的短篇故事. 这种事不会再发生了.
所以我认为对我来说, 大学是一个机会，在你必须做成人的事情之前，把大量的时间投入到你关心的事情上, 和 it's a time to just be totally focused on you 和 what you want to do. I don't think that ever happens outside of school.
