I am currently a Junior in high school and am starting to think about what colleges to apply to in the coming fall.
However, my mother has given me no choice in the matter and has already selected the colleges I am to apply to as a senior. Sure, it is fantastic that my mother wants to be so involved, but many of the colleges are places I am not very interested in or have good programs for the major I want to pursue (Pre-Med). Anytime I try to suggest a college lower than Ivy League, such as Emory University or Baylor University, my mother adamantly denounces it and scolds me for choosing “low” leveled schools. At this point, she doesn’t even listen to my own input even though it is my future.
What should I do in this situation to make her possibly understand that I want to pave my own path?
If mom is paying for college, then mom can decide what she will or won’t pay for. But the first thing you need to do is sit down with your parent and look seriously at what college and med school is going to cost. Many parents are unaware of how expensive it has become.
Your guidance counselor will make you apply to a range of colleges, reaches, matches, and safeties. Since Ivys are reaches, you will end up applying to non-ivys anyways. Hmm… sounds like yet another Asian story.
It’s often better to go to a lower-level college where you will excel than a competitive college where you may not if you’re applying pre-med. GPA matters a LOT in medical school admissions. Also, tell her to at least let you apply to schools with 20-ish% acceptance rates; for example, if you live in California, UCLA is great for medical school (although Berkeley is horrible for it). It’s not an Ivy, but at least that way you have some backup.
And @Optimyst, not all guidance counselors do that… My school’s certainly don’t. At some schools, counselors have over 500 students–do you really think that they’ll be able to talk to every single student?
Take a look online, and find some schools that you think would be a good fit in terms of program, size, distance, money, and other important factors. That way, next year when you have this conversation with mom, you’ll be able to speak intelligently about the schools that you want to apply to. Even if you are a good candidate for an Ivy, it may not be the best fit for you for any number of reasons.
Any college with an acceptance rate of 20% or lower is a crapshoot. It means admission is based on luck - you can do everything for it and not get in, simply because you play the flute and they want a trombone, or they related more to someone else, etc.
You know that and your mother doesn’t.
If push comes to shove, she may impose some colleges but you can apply EA, rolling, or RD to any college you wish. It starts in the summer before Senior year for best odds at scholarships.
Also, ask how much your parents have in terms of budget for your college. Run NPCs on your state’s flagship, one of your mother’s picks, and another university.
Buy Princeton Review’s Best Colleges and the Fiske Guide or Insider’s Guide. Start reading, with post its when you find something you like or dislike.
You know you’ll apply to a lot of top 25 colleges because your mom will want you to (hopefully, both from the Research University List and from the LAC list?)
YOUR job is to find other colleges that are matches (30%+ acceptance rate) and safeties (40-50% acceptance rates) that you like and can afford.