The assignment requires students to research and analyze the experiences of children of immigrants in the context of college in the United States, focusing on how parental influence shapes their education choices. Students must develop a clear thesis, support it with library and course readings, and present a structured outline before drafting their essays. Key points might include parental expectations, financial status, and the educational outcomes of different immigrant populations.

1. Essay Assignment #3
Required length: 5-7 pages, not including the Works Cited
This assignment requires students to use the ideas from our
readings to develop a research project on the experiences of the
children of immigrants and college in the United States. Your
purpose in Assignment #3 is to devise your own argument about
your chosen subject and to support your argument using various
sources (and your own ethnographic research if you would like
to). This assignment requires you to identify a specific topic on
your own and to do library research (and ethnographic research)
in developing your argument: you must include direct citations
from at least one (1) course reading and at least three (3)
sources from the library databases. It is optional to use your
own ethnographic research. In your essay, you should formulate
a clear and focused thesis and provide a detailed account of
your evidence.
As mentioned earlier, this assignment is to be driven largely by
your own research and thinking. You should be doing library
research as you write, not after you’ve completed a first draft.
Research and writing are thoroughly connected. Your research
process will involve reading, thinking, taking notes, and
perusing the databases and other sources until you have figured
out what you want to write. Then, as you continue writing, you
should go back into the research process again to get new ideas
or to find additional sources. Sometimes your argument shifts or
changes as you find new sources, and this is a good sign that
you are doing research-based writing correctly. Don’t be afraid
to change direction in writing the first draft—you can always
improve or clarify your draft in your revision process.
Remember that, in a short paper like this, you cannot write
something meaningful about all aspects of the experiences of

2. the children of immigrants and college in the United States, but
you can make a significant argument about one or two issues in
connection with this topic.
In Essay 3, you need to develop your own argument in
connection with the experiences of the children of immigrants
and college in the United States. You may pursue any
argumentative angle that you would like. You may want to
consider some of the topics raised by the authors that we read:
· Parental expectations/influence regarding education, college
major, career choice
· Other influences on students’ pursuit of a college degree,
choice of major/career
· Connection between parents’ work situation/financial
status/work ethic and the choice to pursue a college education
Comment by Zahraa Alquraini: I choose this topic
· Differences in educational attainment among different second-
generation immigrant populations
· Reasons for a particular second-generation immigrant
population’s high (or low) educational attainment
· Obstacles some second-generation individuals experience
regarding going to college (such as poor high school education,
lack of parental educational attainment, lack of family
knowledge about the college application/enrollment process,
financial aid, etc.)
Other important information:
· Use MLA style (see guidelines/models)
· Use present tense when discussing sources (Baum and Flores
explain; Wong et al. observe)
Research outline: On Thursday, April 11 or Friday, April 12,
you will submit an outline of Essay 3 to me (bring a printed-out
copy). I will offer you constructive suggestions regarding your
thesis, the development of your argument, and useful source
materials. Your outline should be a one- to two-page

3. description of your research paper.
· A working thesis
· An outline of at least three points each of which includes the
following:
1) a topic sentence
2) a counterclaim against your point or some aspect of your
reasoning
3) bullet points listing evidence you plan to use
(examples/expert testimony/arguments from our course
readings—listing author and page #; relevant personal
examples/experiences; information from your interview; or any
other relevant evidence you have located at that point)
4) One library source (all information required in an MLA
works cited entry) and a discussion of what argument/material
in the source seems useful for your point
· A list of Works Cited
Organize your outline clearly. Use headings to identify each
part of your proposal:
Title:
Thesis:
Point 1: 1) Topic sentence
2) Counterclaim
3) Evidence 1 (course reading: author & page # if it is a
reading source)
Evidence 2 (one library source: citation & discussion)
(Evidence 3)
Point 2: 1) Topic sentence
2) Counterclaim
3) Evidence 1 (course reading: author & page # if it is a
reading source)
Evidence 2 (one library source: citation & discussion)
(Evidence 3)
Point 3: 1) Topic sentence
2) Counterclaim

4. 3) Evidence 1 (course reading: author & page # if it is a
reading source)
Evidence 2 (one library source: citation & discussion)
(Evidence 3)
Works Cited (on a separate page)
·
Zahraa Alquraini
Dr. Rhee
English 812
April 10, 2019
Essay 3 (Outline)
The Effect of Immigrant Parents on their Children Education
Choices
Thesis:
Parent immigrants can influence their children education
choices as they go to college. Immigrants children tend to
choose their college majors based on their parent work,
expectation and financial status.
Point 1: Parent Inspiration
Topic sentence:
Most of college students follow their parent foot step when they
choose their majors in college.
Counterclaim:
Students are often inspired by their parent because they value
and honor them since their childhood.
Evidence 1:
Parent dedication to their work can make a huge impact on their
children career choices (Hohn, Mohammed 4)
Evidence 2:
In Turkey 2010, a survey was taken on 449 undergraduate

5. students from different universities to find out the influence
factor on their major choices. The survey result showed that
most of the students chose their major because they saw their
parents or other family member work in the same field.
Point 2: Parent Expectation
Topic sentence:
Parent sometimes pushes their children to choose certain majors
that they think it’s a better choice.
Counterclaim:
Some students admit that they chose their majors based on their
parent expectation.
Evidence 1:
Immigrant parents want to reach their American dream through
their children, which affect the children education choices just
to please their parent.
Point 3: Parent Financial Status
Topic sentence:
The tuition for college in the U.S. is very expensive in general,
which make the financial status of the students’ parents an
important factor that affect their education choices.
Counterclaim:
Immigrants students who came from a low-income family are
more likely to struggle if they want to pursue a higher
education.
Evidence 1:
Asian immigrants are more likely to hold a high skill position
like engineering or medical profession, where on the other hand,
the Latino immigrants are mostly holding positions like
unskilled labor or manual workers due to their low financial
status. (Baum 173)
Work Cited
Hond Marcia & Mohammed Denzil. “New Kind of Ellis Island

6. as Second-Generation Immigrants Land on College Campuses”
EBSCO Host. Web. April 10, 2019
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores. “Higher Education and
Children in Immigrants Families” Future of Children
VOL.21/NO.1/Spring 2011. 171-193 Print
Yazici Sedat & Yazici Asli. “Students' choice of college major
and their perceived fairness of the procedure: evidence from
Turkey”EBSCO Host. Web. April 10, 2019
Alquraini 1
Zahraa Alquraini
Dr. Rhee
English 812
18 April, 2019
Essay 3 (Draft 1)
The Effect of Immigrant Parents on their Children Choices of
Education
Majority of the immigrants have no option but to cope with
tough decisions relating to the provision of care and education
to their children in their destination countries. In certain
instances, the engagement of a child with the school and care
may assist in fostering acculturation between the child and the
parent. Parent immigrants can influence their children education
choices as they go to college. Immigrants children tend to
choose their college majors based on their parent career path,
expectation and financial status.
Majority of the students in college often follow the career
previously taken by their parents when making choices of the
majors they prefer to study. Although, there are other immigrant
children who choose their major based on their personal
interest, that is not the case for most immigrant. Normally, it is
the parents who offer the support in handling personal issues
and as well as serving the role of motivators to children in their

7. respective educational path and enhancing of their engagement
with the society (Hegna and Ingrid 1119). Thus, confirms the
inspiration that students often get from their parents because of
the value and honor they have towards from their childhood
days.
Parent dedication to their work can make a huge impact on their
children career choices since they are a big inspiration to their
children (Hohn & Mohammed 4). The existing work
environment or the present activities that the parents are
engaged in may dictate the interests of the children towards
their career they intend to pursue. Happiness of living parents
because of the occupation or wok they are doing that has steady
income may have impact as well. Hence, the article “Higher
Education and Children in Immigrants Families” acknowledged
that the work aspiration has the tendency of influencing the
future occupation that children would want to be in the future
(Sandy and Stella 7)
Immigrant parent sometimes pushes their children to choose a
certain major that they think it’s a better choice for their
children. Indeed, the role played by the expectations from the
parents has impact on the academic progress of a child and this
has drawn the attention of the sociologists and psychologists
Sandy and Stella (p.7) and Hond & Mohammed Denzil (p.4) in
the previous century. In certain instances, parents tend to force
their children to take certain major that have confidence in of
being good career choices.
Generally, the expectations from parents have had major role in
the academic success of the children. Students from parents
with more expectations get good grades, attain higher scores in
relation to the standard tests and stay longer pursing their
respective academic ambitions when compared to those from
parents with low expectations. Regardless of these assertions, it
is still eminent that parent is still offering and respecting the
choices made by the children on matters pertaining to education
(Mavrogordato and Marc 1039).
Higher expectations from the immigrant parents can form a

8. connection with the motivation of their children towards
success in learning institutions and the social form. In other
word, the parent academic expectations are the bridge between
the background of the family and success of their children. In
fact, majority of immigrant students choose their college career
because of the expectations of their immigrant parents to
achieve their dream through their children by pursuing a certain
major (Hohn & Mohammad 3). This could form such a big
responsibility on immigrant children to please their parent by
choosing a certain college major instead of choosing something
that they want, or they like.
Another aspect that affects choice of education among children
from immigrant parents is the family’s financial status. In the
United States, the tuition college is generally expansive which
lead the financial status of the parents of the students being a
huge factor that has major impact on their choices in education.
This could be linked with the limited resources that a family
may be have, which give their children less hope with
availability of career choices they intent to pursue in colleges
(Mavisakalyan 6).
However, there certain parents with good education and salary
or engaged in business that assists in supporting their respective
education. Immigration students who are from low income
earning families have higher chances of struggling if they
intend to pursue higher levels of education. A good example
identified by Mavisakalyan (p.6) is the case of the Asian
immigrants who have higher chances of holding top skilled
positions such as medicine or engineering. On the other hand,
immigrants of Latino origin are seen to be occupying less
skilled jobs because of their poor financial condition (Sandy
and Stella 173). Hence, immigrant children career level is
associated to the financial support from their parents.
In conclusion, immigrant parent has the highest impact effect on
their children education choices as they go to college.
Immigrant children education choices can be based on parent
career inspiration, expectation, or financial status. In fact, many

9. children tend to get inspired by their parent dedication to their
jobs. On other hand, many children force themselves to choose a
career path just to satisfy their parent eagerness of reaching a
certain dream in the United States. Immigrant parent can also
limit their children education choices because of a low-income
financial status. In my opinion, parent should support and
respect their children education choices as much as possible.
Education is a great weapon for creativity and society
development. Limiting children education choices can kill their
passion toward education, which will be no more than a path
that will end one day.
Works CitedHegna, Kristinn, and Ingrid Smette. "Parental
influence in educational decisions: young people’s
perspectives." British Journal of Sociology of Education 38.8
(2017): 1111-1124.
Hond Marcia & Mohammed Denzil. “New Kind of Ellis Island
as Second-Generation Immigrants Land on College Campuses”
EBSCO Host. Web. April 10, 2019
Mavisakalyan, Astghik. "The impact of immigration on school
choice: Evidence from Australia." Australasian Public Choice
Conference. 2009.Mavrogordato, Madeline, and Marc Stein.
"Accessing choice: A mixed-methods examination of how
Latino parents engage in the educational marketplace." Urban
Education 51.9 (2016): 1031-1064.Sandy Baum and Stella M.
Flores. “Higher Education and Children in Immigrants
Families” Future of Children VOL.21/NO.1/Spring 2011. 171-
193 Print