Quote:
Originally posted by lauradav
Hey newbie, sorry you're having such a tough time with your parents! My parents are very similar about schools, it's all about going to the best schools. I haven't looked at Fiske in a couple of years but does it really distinguish b/w UCI, UCSB and U of A all that greatly?
I was lucky b/c my parents always thought my choices were the "right" ones but one of my sisters had some problems with my dad when she applied to school b/c she would have gotten into most of the Ivys and she wanted to go to Amherst. She made a list of all the schools she was applying to, divided into far reaches, slight reaches, attainable and fall backs and wrote down what she liked, disliked, etc. about each school next to their statistics. She made my dad go back to Amherst with her and visit so that he could experience it first hand. It totally swayed him. The fact that she had done all the research and cared so much really impressed him and the visit to the school really impressed him. I don't know if there is any reasoning with your parents on this issue, but sometimes it helps to go in prepared for battle.
You might also want to talk to your dean or college counselor at school about the problems you are having with your parents. He/she can probably help you develop arguments or may meet with them to talk this through.
Good luck!
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Thanks, Laura! Right now, April (college acceptance time) seems just so far away... I know probably in the future, I'll look at all of this and laugh. But right now I just feel hopeless and I just hate all the pressure, not only from my parents, but from my classmates (very academically-strenuous school) to go to a "top name" school. It brutally sucks. I wonder why I didn't decide to go the other HS, where things are definitely much more nurturing and less competitive!
Well, among the Asian community (I'm Asian-american, and my parents seem to be thinking along with other Asian parents), UCI is thought of as a top school. And it is. Probably because it's slowly mirroring Berkeley (YIKES) in its academic pressure and never-ending studying. My parents, of course, love the idea that if I go to UCI I'll become this perfect student who will study a lot. My parents are very traditional Chinese parents, and they think basically that if you don't do spectacular in your studies, you aren't worth much mention.
UCSB is thought of a party school (and maybe rightfully so), but they always seem to forget that UCSB is a great school, too. Teh U of A? Well, here they know virtually nothing about it. And that's the problem
. My parents think it's nothing but a party school, I think.
Wow, Amherst is a wonderful school. It is, of course, the number one liberal arts college. My parents would be overjoyed if I were to go to Amherst! I think it's too bad that Amherst doesn't get as much of the spotlight that Harvard, Yale, etc. gets. I feel sorry for your sister that initially your dad did not support her decision
. I am so glad that he has warmed up to the idea tho!
Oh, counselor thing. yep, I've asked my counselor to talk to my parents, but only about the psych major thing. Maybe I'll drop in after Finals and ask her if she can talk to my 'rents about the U of A. My parents don't seem to give a damn though (pardon my language). After my counselor talked with them about how stressed I've been over the whole college app process, they're just like "oh." they don't seem to care, sadly. I don't think a counselor could help my situation that much with myparents
. They're stubborn and sooo stuck in their ways and beliefs!
thanks so much for listening to me rant laura, I really appreciate it!
