Using in-depth interviews with three cohorts of first-generation college students from an elite university and data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) of 03-09, this study will analyze methods of cultural and social capital acquisition through college and adolescent educational experiences. Notably, cultural and social capital acquisition processes will be studied to ascertain the impact it has on social mobility. How do first-generation college students activate, manage, and accumulate cultural and social capital while negotiating their marginal identities in an elite university with the unspoken promise of social mobility? Three cohorts of first-generation college students: first year students, second through
