<p>For those obsessing about how to boost their children's college chances, here's a piece to help put it in some perspective:</p>
<p>"Earlier this year, I found myself at dinner with a bunch of women I didn't know well. They were, for the most part, older than I, and mothers of high school and college kids. They were also a very particular subset: wealthy, privileged, living in Manhattan. The conversation swirled around private schools, tennis coaches (Maria Sharapova's!), Caribbean vacations (Anguilla is over, apparently), the best ice skating instructors (you have to get up at five in the morning but it's worth it). During the course of the evening, I was approached by a woman I don't know at all.
"Can I speak with you in private?" she asked. She looked shaky, seemed fragile..... "
continued here: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dani-shapiro/a-writers-advice-to-coll_b_49805.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dani-shapiro/a-writers-advice-to-coll_b_49805.html</a></p>
<p>Sometimes it's hard to know where to draw the line. </p>
<p>I didn't want to be anything like those parents, so I think I may have stepped back more than I should have. I didn't insist that my daughter take an ACT review course. Actually, I didn't even make her take a practice test. (She told me not to worry because she knew the ACT was the test where it was ok to guess, as opposed to the SAT, which penalizes for wrong answers--lol).</p>
<p>I didn't encourage EA or ED. She barely got her apps in on time. In all fairness, she did get mono last July and didn't really recover until December, but it just got to the point where I was tired of nagging about things in general, so I stepped back. I guess it's a life lesson, but now I wish I would have been more demanding. I have known parents like the ones in the story and I never wanted to be like that, but I think I might have gone too much the other way. Geez, this parent thing isn't easy, is it?</p>
<p>Thanks for the post! A truly worthwhile article to read.</p>
<p>Yeah-- it was interesting.</p>
<p>Sportsmama: Don't worry about backing off too much. Every kid I know whose parents let them do most of the college stuff themselves seems more in control and ready for school. It's good preparation for managing your own life as a freshman and beyond.</p>
<p>Thanks prefrosh. I'm just feeling a little bit guilty since my d is going to her fifth choice for college. As a parent, you want everything to work out perfectly for your kids. I guess if things don't work out she can always transfer.</p>