Sophomore Symposium

We love talking to students about the importance of going to college, but we love it even more when our students talk to us about it. And that’s the idea behind the Sophomore Symposium, an annual event we recently held with our high school sophomores (or FG 13 as we say around here). It all started

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High School Choice in San Francisco

How does it work, and how does First Graduate® help? December is an important month for families in San Francisco Unified School District. Unlike other cities where youth simply attend the neighborhood public high school closest to their homes, in San Francisco every family has a choice of where they want their son or daughter

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Press Release: First Graduate® Transitions Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/10/2016 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – First Graduate, whose mission is to help students become the first in their families to graduate from college, is transitioning its Executive Director of eight years, Thomas Ahn. Ahn, who served as Program Director prior to taking on the organization’s lead role, will become Executive Director of the

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SFUSD Enrollment Fair

Recently, First Graduate® students and staff attended the San Francisco Unified School District Enrollment Fair at City College. The fair empowers San Francisco families to make an informed choice about the right school for their children, from elementary school through high school. Every school in the district, including public, charter and private schools, was in

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2nd Annual All Access College Fair

First Graduate® was proud to recently host the 2nd Annual All Access Admissions Fair, the only college fair (to our knowledge) in San Francisco that focuses specifically on first-generation students. First Graduate® high school students and parents attended and we also invited students from partner organizations Leadership High School, Mission Graduates, SEO Scholars, and the

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Donor Breakfast @ Wells Fargo

Siddharth Alexander, a First Graduate® volunteer and donor, recently hosted a breakfast for Wells Fargo colleagues to introduce them to our students and share the impact that donors and volunteers have on students’ lives. Participating on the student panel were: Gaby Gucho-Oliva, Experiential Marketing Manager at Wag Hotels (Tufts University) Osvaldo Marquez, Treasury Management Sales Analyst

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Women’s Colleges: Pathways for Emerging Leaders

Last week, First Graduate® high school girls had a special opportunity to participate in the launch of a new event: Women’s Colleges: Pathways for Emerging Leaders. They joined together with local alumnae of Mount Holyoke College, Scripps College, Simmons College, and Spelman College to learn how attending a women’s college shaped the alumnae’s college experiences and

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First Graduate® Middle Schoolers Go Back To School!

It’s that time of year again! As some of our older students step on campus to begin their first semester of college, our youngest students have returned to Everett Middle School and James Denman Middle School to begin their 7th and 8th grade years. With backpacks, new haircuts and a few new inches in height,

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Senior College Application Retreat

“What does it mean to be the first in your family to go to college?” Our newest class of rising seniors, FG 11, sat in a circle at the Point Bonita YMCA and were prompted with this question. Although the week we spend with our students during the college application retreat involves us breaking down

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GoogleServe Partners Help Out @ Summer Program

This summer we were thrilled to partner with GoogleServe, bringing 24 Google volunteers to participate in our middle school summer program. At First Graduate’s summer program we strive to combine rigorous summer academics and college readiness with camp-like fun activities that middle school students love. The summer program is our middle school students’ first step in their

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