Tue Nov 18 2025

For many students around the world, college presents a rare opportunity to change the arc of a life, to pursue the fabled “American Dream,” where anything can happen for anyone. But for those who are first in their families to attend and graduate from college—a cohort known as “first gen”—the promise of upward mobility means navigating what, for some, can be a mystifying admissions process. “I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” Dartmouth Dean Lee Coffin remembers about applying as a first-gen to college. Three veteran counselors from access-oriented schools and organizations in Boston, Los Angeles, and Kentucky join the AB host, sharing stories and tips about how to celebrate a unique life experience throughout an application and, later, on a college campus. As one observes, “It is time to showcase your tenacity, grit, and a desire for more.”