Being a class brain isn't all it's cracked up to be!

Parents Forum
1

<p>NOTE: Yes, I posted this in the "What Are My Chances?" board and "High School Life" board, but I decided to post this here as well. Some people thought I was insightful, but many others apparently thought I was as kooky as Art Bell. CC is just as kooky as freerepublic.com. The scary thing: I once drank the Academic Performance Cult Kool-Aid back in the day. The scarier thing: Although I've long since defected from the cult, people today drink FAR MORE of the Kool-Aid than I ever did.</p>

<p>I graduated from high school in 1992 as salutatorian. I was a National Merit Finalist, and I took Honors/AP classes to the hilt. I vied for admission to Stanford and MIT. I was the equivalent of a typical CCer back then. But compared to today's students on this board, I was Ferris Bueller or Zack Morris. No, I didn't grow up on the backroads of Mississippi.</p>

<p>I am disturbed by the rise of the Academic Performance Cult, and the irony is that this mania has bubbled up years after I defected from this cult. (I didn't get into Stanford or MIT. I also noticed in college that NOBODY cared about my previous academic background.) I would not have survived undergraduate school if I had continued my intense attitude from high school, because I would have been up all night every night instead of sleeping at least 7 hours per night most nights like I actually did (and this was in electrical engineering at UIUC). The same applies for graduate school, where I earned my Master's Degree in electrical engineering at George Mason University.</p>

<p>I have (by CC standards) skeletons in my closet. Some "lowlights":
1. I was the first casualty of AP US History in the 1991-1992 school year at my school. The workload was TORRENTIAL. The class had more assigned work than all my other classes combined, and I was taking Honors/AP classes to the hilt. This forced me into the regular US History class. Of course, nobody in college cared which US History class I took.
2. As an undergraduate student, I was in the bottom of my class for a few classes. I wasn't firing on all cylinders (GPA of "only" 4.13 on a 5-point scale, or the equivalent of 3.13 on a 4-point scale). Nobody at work cared.
3. I just barely earned my MSEE (GPA of 3.03) and graduated at or near the bottom of the class. (This was because I studied a different area than my undergraduate electrical engineering specialty and also because I did a time-consuming independent study project and an even more time-consuming research project when it would have been easier to simply take two classes.) Nobody at my workplace today cares about this.</p>

<p>So in the long run, whether or not you were a perfect student won't matter.</p>

<p>Some things I've read on these forums are really disturbing. Some examples:
1. Hypercompetitive pre-schools: This is CHILD ABUSE!
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187035&highlight=pre-school%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187035&highlight=pre-school&lt;/a>
2. Someone who hates math is considering skipping AP Calculus AB and thus going from Pre-Calculus to AP Calculus BC: I was the math whiz at my school, Calculus BC wasn't available, and the idea of skipping AB would never have occurred even to me.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=203572%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=203572&lt;/a>
3. A high school frosh with a BLACK belt in karate thinks she has an inferior EC record
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=203451%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=203451&lt;/a>
4. Some students SKIP LUNCH in order to take more AP classes: NOBODY at my high school ever considered this.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42900%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42900&lt;/a>
5. An 8th grader is concerned about the SAT: Come on, even I never thought about the SAT when I was in 8th grade, and I was probably the only student at my high school who knew about the Princeton Review. By the way, preparing for the SAT is MUCH easier than doing well in school.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=44526%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=44526&lt;/a>
6. A student in a position most students would kill to be in feels SO LOST:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=45299%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=45299&lt;/a>
7. Pre-Calculus REQUIRES summer homework: I took Honors Pre-Calculus during my junior year of high school. We didn't have to do homework during the summer. I aced AP Calculus, earned a 5 on the Calculus AB AP exam, and went on to earn my Master's Degree in electrical engineering. If I could learn Pre-Calculus without having to do summer homework for it, why can't today's students do the same or simply not take the class if they don't belong in it?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=28615%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=28615&lt;/a>
8. A student with an SAT score of 730 verbal, 800 math, and 770 writing retakes the test: I responded, but I felt like I was among Unintelligent Design kooks from Kansas or right-wing fascists from Saudi Dakota.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147273%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147273&lt;/a>
9. There was a long thread about tricks for getting up in the morning on time. I was the first one to suggest going to bed earlier and getting at least 7 hours of sleep in the first place. Many people seemed to dismiss this as a kooky concept.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147696&page=1&pp=15%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147696&page=1&pp=15&lt;/a>
10. There are students who feel the need to drug themselves up to study more, as if being a drugged-up A student is better than being a healthy B student.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=201245&highlight=ritalin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=201245&highlight=ritalin&lt;/a>
11. Some students think that cheating and getting away with it is OK but earning a lower grade is the mark of a scumbag.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=161071%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=161071&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>All this makes NO SENSE. Just sit back, relax, and be content to be one of the top 10% of students in the nation. Even if you are the PERFECT student, Ivy-type colleges can still reject you. College admissions is a 2-tiered system: There's the normal tier where having sufficiently high stats gets you in automatically, and there's the crapshoot tier where having sufficiently high stats merely gets you considered, and most of those considered don't get in. None of the colleges in the normal tier have Ivy-level stats. The obvious conclusion is that once your stats meet a certain level, doing better doesn't really open up additional options. This is the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns at work.</p>

2

<p>Mediocrity is a lot easier than a quest for excellence. Why are you upset because some students push themselves to succeed and to learn? Short term goals such as a good grade in a single class or even admission to the "best" possible may not make a big difference in the long run, but there is nothing wrong with short term goals along with an overall desire to push oneself to achieve longer term goals. It sounds like you encountered some setbacks and have decided to settle for a lot less than your best. Many people will not notice or care if you follow the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns, but you will know the difference. It sounds like you are content to sit back and relax.</p>

3

<p>Uhmmm while the OP is alittle over the top, I think the point he is trying to make is that the system is going alittle insane. I am just as alarmed that kids feel the need to take ACTs/SATs two, three, four, times. What's with a 5 pt grading scale anyway. Excellent is A, Above Average is B, Average is C. Kids are being diagonosed at an alarming rate with ADHD and being given drugs starting at a very young age so they can "succeed" in school. There is a misconception that a highly competitive school is a better school and an even great perception that once you're in this highly competitive school that you will do "better" in some way post-education. Young kids are so over-programed that by the time they hit high school they've already put over 10 years into whatever and are just burned out on it (subsitute cello, football, ballet, any one of dozens of things for the word "it"). And I could go on and on and on, but I can read the underlying message in the OPs post and I don't totally discount it. I do support students that dig deep into their bellies and go above and beyond and have one or two things they are passionate about and work at and can string an interesting coherent sentence or two together. I suspect that's all colleges are looking for.</p>

4

<p>Taking SATs at least twice is probably a good idea, especially for the student who has not had prep classes and practice SATs. The increase in diagnosis of ADHD comes from many reasons, including the boring, inappropriate secondary school environments. I would doubt that this is being diagnosed solely because parents want to see better grades. I don't see anything wrong with kids who have lots of interests. If by "over-programed" you mean the parents are pushing these activities, then I would agree this is not always a good idea. Maybe it works in some Asian households, but for many of us, pushing kids accomplishes little and eventually they will rebel and burn out.</p>

<p>I think the perception that the "system is going alittle insane" arises from the increasing selectivity of a few elite colleges. It is sad that only a few will be admitted. That does not mean that students should stop trying to get into the best possible schools and it certainly does not mean that they should relax and take life easy just because they might not be admitted.</p>

5

<p>Good observation, as many kids are now pushed, instead of pulling themselves. In many cases awards should be given to the parents, and not the students.</p>

6

<p>Wow, great post, OP!</p>

<p>I've been a lurker out here for quite awhile now (post rarely) and I've lightened up a lot on my kids and my college expectations because of it. I see the stats some of these kids (or their parents) put up and the courses they take in high school (half of which aren't even available at our school) and I know there's no way my kids are going to get into an "elite" school if that is what their competition is. But that is OK! My rising senior d got about 2100 on the SAT (still waiting on the SAT IIs) but I don't feel she needs to retake them over and over to get a perfect score. She's a solid B+/A- and has ECs that interest her and that she enjoys. No sports, no National Merit anything, no student body/class office, val/sal, etc. Fairly average public high school. </p>

<p>She is a motivated kid and she loves her high school. She has a core group of friends who are pretty straight-arrow (in a school that had DUI-related student deaths last year) and they're all pretty competitive with each other in their AP classes. The colleges we're looking at, except for a couple, aren't necessarily "prestige" but ones that seem like a good fit for her academic interests and where she might feel comfortable, which I think is a better recipe for future success than an elite school (which she wouldn't get into anyway) where she'd probably just not fit.</p>

<p>I'm not knocking anyone who strives for the top (Ivy) schools; heck, I work with a group which is predominantly made up of Ivy Ph.D.'s (and the rest of us "lowly" UC graduates), so I do see a sort of school snobbery in the work place. But I bet I had more fun as an undergrad than they did, and yeah, my school was still majorly competitive, but I don't feel any less successful than I perceive them to be.</p>

<p>In my tireless college information quest, I've been finding lots of hidden gems, many of which I gleaned from CC posters (for which I'm very grateful!). And no, I don't consider it a copout that we're looking at, say, Dickinson rather than Amherst; I consider it reality.</p>

7

<p>It is very easy to think that whatever level of achievement you have maintained is just right while everything beyond it is excessive and everything below it slacking. However, it isn't fair. There is nothing inherently wrong with striving for the best, just as there is nothing inherently wrong with deciding that you don't want to be part of the ultra-competitive set. </p>

<p>If you do decide that you want to try for elite colleges, there are certain sacrifices you must make - mainly of time and effort. Admittedly, there are times when this becomes excessive to the point of being physically unhealthy or dishonest - for example, when it gets to the point that you are getting two hours of sleep a night for most of a year, which was true of someone I know, or if you are resorting to cheating to maintain your rank. However, in the vast majority of cases, students on the elite track are not compromising their integrity, social lives, health, or happiness, and so it is really a personal decision how motivated and competitive one wishes to be. They do not deserve to have their motives continually questioned or to be blamed for following their dreams.</p>

<p>If someone works overtime because he wants to save up some money, or because he wants to position himself for a raise, he is considered enterprising and ambitious. If a student accepts a heavier burden of homework because he wants to get into the best school he can, he is giving in to a "cult." How is this fair?</p>

8

<p>As a poster who has frequently railed against the frenetic college applications process some of our students find themselves in, I empathize with the OP's point. However it does depend on the individual student too.</p>

<p>Often this desire to achieve is outwardly driven by anxious parents, the irrational desire to attend Harvard just because it is Harvard, hs friends AND introduces stress and anxiety into the student's life. It is a well kmown fact that there is very important brain development which occurs in teenagers and this anxiety and stress can extract an emotional toll on the student. </p>

<p>However there are a small percentage of students who are inwardly driven and thrive on pushing themselves beyond reasonable limits. To do less would be stressful to them and I would never stand in their way.</p>

<p>Our role as parents is to understand our children and to recognize those things which will bring joy and happiness into their lives.</p>

9

<p>Unfortunately the process also typically rewards students for lying, cheating, and stealing (assuming they don't get caught like the woman at Harvard). Parents are often co-conspirators.</p>

10

<p>I agree with a lot of what the original poster says.</p>

<p>While I have garnered a great deal from following the discussions on CC, it is also an eye-opener. Of course, a group like this tends to be self selecting for these traits (call it type A perhaps), but other people casually visiting may start to question their own more laid back approach as wrong--not getting in synch with the program may cause their child to "miss out" and have less of a chance in life.</p>

<p>It would make for a very interesting psychological study that meshes with all kinds of attitudes that have been percolating through society for years and many baby boomers seeing children as creations that reflect back on all the BB hopes to accomplish in this life. Kind of a "legend in their own minds" syndrome, if you will. Then there is this cult of the adrenalin rush, pushing to the limit, all kinds of dangerous and unhealthful stunts performed. At the academic level, maybe the equivalent is stuffing APs to the gills, taking every EC known to man, going without sleep and rest to prove... What exactly? A sports metaphor? Then maybe too many people have read that inculcating a strong competitive drive is what makes families like the Kennedy's a legend. </p>

<p>To me, it boils down to fear, really.
At the mundane level,fear of disappointed expectations</p>

<p>Fear of letting one's parents, relatives, teachers, mentors, village, class down</p>

<p>Fear of not being allowed to join with a special group that has come to embody some conception of "the best"</p>

<p>Fear of being left behind--unrecognized</p>

<p>Fear that not getting into a particular college will negatively affect one's future, the shoulders one can potentially rub, one's job, marriage, ad infinitum</p>

<p>Fear that life may not hand out what perks and privileges one expects they deserve</p>

<p>Fear of not being right about all the time and effort spent (what if they have been playing mind games with themselves, psyching themselves out to believe something that is not true?) </p>

<p>Fear of not doing something wonderful and noteworthy with one's life (the earlier the better, right?)</p>

<p>Fear of not being competitive enough compared to another person, class, ethnic group, country... </p>

<p>I could go on. A person has to face these types of fears to get past them and to stop ascribing these absurd values to places or people. I don't for a moment buy into the idea that someone going to a particular college or having such and such of a position gives them a higher value, makes them superior to those who have not. That is what many people believe they are buying. Must get into the TOP college/university. Total bunk. Others see it as opportunities (hot housing) they will have in learning that will not occur elsewhere. Again, underlying this is an attitude (often benign) of being different, special in some way, capable of great things as long as all these planets align correctly, deserving. So, if the world was contrary this same person <em>couldn't</em> do great things? Come ON, people!!!</p>

<p>So, yes, I agree with you in much that you wrote and had to laugh at the Free Republic comment. It's really easy to Drink the Koolaide when it seems as though so many adults/kids are buying into it all around. Problem is that there seems to be no middle way being followed that is more balanced and allows true enjoyment of the process of learning. It's really fear based under all the Hoo Haa pep cries, I do believe.</p>

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<p>So now deciding not to try for an elite school is an act of courage? Honestly, I think it takes some guts to decide to apply to schools with acceptance rates of 25 % or less (much less, in some cases) even with really strong applicant pools. Do you think it doesn't hurt to get a rejection letter? Or to try as hard as humanly possible in a class and find out that it is possible that a B + is the best you can do? If I had spent all of high school taking regular math classes, I could have spent my life telling myself that I was just as competent as those in AP - I just wasn't willing to play the game in a subject I didn't like. But I took the course, proving without a doubt that I just wasn't as good at math and science as many of my peers. And I did this out of fear of dissapointing expectations?</p>

<p>I got into my first choice school ED. I could very well not have gotten in. I could also very well have applied to a slightly easier school ED to increase my odds of acceptance there, sacrificing the chance for choice number 1 rather than risk getting rejected from choices 1-5. But I didn't. I took the risk.</p>

<p>I could have decided to go to an easier school on the rationale that it was easier to stand out as a big fish in a small pond than as a small fish in a big one. But I decided that it was worth trying to be a big fish even in a big pond - and if I failed, at least I tried.</p>

<p>During college, I could avoid the hard classes to preserve my GPA. Instead, I'm taking some of the hardest classes and hoping to be able to preserve my GPA anyway- and even if I don't, I be learning along the way.</p>

<p>I could listen to the dire warnings that PhDs are a dime a dozen and frequently wind up jobless or as poorly paid adjuncts and choose a safer career - but I want to be a professor, so I'll go ahead and hope to be one of the ones who make it.</p>

<p>The point is, while I'm not talking about dramatic risks or enduring greatness, given my own abilities and desires I want to achieve as much as I can. And if the fear I'm struggling against is fear that I'll compromise and accept limits without trying to surpass them, then call me a coward. Just don't assume that everyone who made different choices is doing it out of some nobility or courage.</p>

12

<p>I don't understand how some ambition and enthusiasm relates to fear.</p>

<p>We Americans are largely fat and lazy. We watch a lot of spectator sports and TV. When we do exert ourselves, it is likely to be a hobby involving some sort of motorized devices. If we do amble across a golf course, then we reward ourselves with ample drink and food. Few of us push to excel. We are more likely to take the easy way and be satisfied with instant gratification.</p>

<p>Kids often have a higher level of interests and enthusiasm. Whether it is school, sports, or music, we should encourage them. I would even go so far as to say parents might consider doing some pushing. Certainly, not to the point of creating fear. At the very least we need to provide the opportunities and support.</p>

<p>It is often not just the very best students, athletes or performers who strive to excel. There is some satisfaction in doing your best even when you do not have the ability to win at the Olympics, perform at the Lincoln Center, or be accepted into an Ivy League school. There is plenty of sitting back, relaxing and finding balance. I would rather see more striving towards excellence even if it means some failures and disappointments. I certainly don't see any problem with trying to gain admission to an Ivy or to other reach schools that make sense for an individual student.</p>

13

<p>A follow up to item #8 by the OP.</p>

<p>My DS did not, and will not, retake the SAT. He had to take the ACT for a scholarship at his high school and did (35). From a purely admissions strategy point of view, I think there is something to be said for taking the test once and saying "I did my best and I'll stand by it".</p>

<p>His current debate is whether or not he wants to take any SAT II's or just pass on applying to those schools that REQUIRE SAT II's.</p>

<p>Interesting post jhsu. I, for one, hear loud and clear what you were saying in the #8 thread.</p>

14

<p>Yeah. I quite agree with ICargirl. Sure, I think the OP makes some very fine points, and I for one am listening very hard to what he has said. But I think ICargirl has hit this one clean across the field and into the nickel seats.</p>

15

<p>CC sometimes IS as kooky as freerepublic.com, but I don't think anyone here actually takes ALL of this stuff seriously.</p>

<p>Some of what jhsu says makes sense, but there is a lot of bull there, too.</p>

<p>Preschool: Believe me, people obsess about preschool, and at some level they ought to. It's actually developmentally important, or can be. But everything in Manhattan is exaggerated, and then the press charicatures it. Don't take those stories at full face value.</p>

<p>Skipping AB Calculus to do BC: I dunno. It's either/or at my kids' school; no one does both. To me, it's not a matter of whether you like math, it's a matter of whether you are ready for the course and want to take it.</p>

<p>ECs: Newsflash: High school does not absorb the available energy most kids have. Some of the discussion here about ECs and their quality is a little overheated, but kids ought to be doing some ECs. And as they get older (and I mean 16-17, not 14-15), that doesn't mean just going to another class somewhere (and I suspect that's all a black belt in karate means -- you've put in the time in karate class). Forget Harvard, that's just growing up.</p>

<p>Skipping lunch to take AP classes: Both of my kids and all of their friends have done this, and not because they were grooming their college apps. Mostly it was lunch = boring (especially when scheduled at 10:00 am and no friends available), classes = interesting (at least the ones you'd skip lunch for). They skip lunch to take a class they care about. Not everyone does this, but probably 40-50 kids a year in grades 10-12. My son did it this year not to take an extra AP course, but to take a really difficult elective that ate time and gave him no extra credit (except the chance to study with a demanding-but-skilled teacher).</p>

<p>8th graders and SATs: Sounds crazy to me, too, but there are a bunch of programs for 8th graders that are extremely cool that require the SAT, so a few of my kids' friends took it back then. No big deal, just doing what they were told. It's not like the SAT is THAT hard. The kids who did this were pretty gifted, and their 8th grade scores were about 100-150 points lower (V/M combined) than they got in 11th grade.</p>

<p>In the work place, no one cares how you did in college: Damn straight. It matters some for your first job, or for getting into grad school (and how you did there matters for your first job after grad school). But the point is learning something. In most cases, when you get a C there's probably some important stuff in the course you didn't learn fully.</p>

<p>My son is a SWRK who legitimately enjoys school and succeeds most of the time. He's lucky in that way, and he knows it. He wants to go to Harvard, too -- he spent three days visiting a friend there, and thought it was heaven on Earth, and he's not immune to the brand aura. But I am morally certain that he has not done a single thing that he will regret having done if he doesn't get into Harvard or some similar school. And if I caught him doing that, I'd try to stop him.</p>

16

<p>I agree 100% with the OP.</p>

<p>The worst part is the arrogance and superiority complexes so many kids have, though. Too many think that there's no point in applying to a university unless it's ranked in the top 10 or that any school that accepts more than 25% of its applicants is below them...um...no. I don't care how impressive their stats may be, they've done nothing to excuse that type of attitude. </p>

<p>Oh, and let's not forget about the ones that apply to 10+ schools. I'm sorry, but that's just pathetic. I applied to three schools: one that I knew I wanted to go to (and will be attending in the fall), one that I was a bit curious about, and one that my mom forced me to apply to (seriously...she was still yelling at me to write my essays an hour before the midnight deadline). I really see no point in applying to more than five.</p>

<p>My personal favorites, though, are the kids that score 34 or 35 on their ACT and are absolutely disgusted that they didn't get a 36. Come on!</p>

<p>Some people really need to deflate their egos a touch.</p>

17

<p>At my son's graduation, both the valedictorian and salutatorian seemed to be boasting of their lack of sleep during high school. It seemed like that was something to be proud of. Both of my kids have commented many times about the amount of whining that goes on in their classes - too much homework, the teacher graded too hard, they thought they did a great job on a project and they only got an A-, play practice went so late, etc. Are these kids really enjoying high school or are they just taking on too much in their quest for an elite education (and thus the complaining).</p>

18

<p>Katharos: Do you think that a community college is "beneath you?" While you might not describe it that arrogantly (and most of the students you are complaining about wouldn't either), I would guess that you wouldn't be satisfied with attending a CC for the same reason others might not want to attend State U - because you feel that you've worked harder, and are perhaps (although not necessarily) smarter than the students who typically attend. I don't think that this is arrogance. If there were several young members of a law firm, and you worked longer hours and had taken on more complex cases than any of the others, you would justly expect to be made partner over them.</p>

<p>You are also being unfair in criticizing people for applying to more schools than you deem appropriate. First of all, if one can afford the fees and wishes to do so, there is nothing really wrong with it, even if you think its silly. Second of all, I see from your previous posts that the schools you applied to had acceptance rates of 60% or higher. Since I infer from the fact that IIT offered you $78,000 in merit aid that you are a very strong student, all three of those schools were safeties for you. Hence, you had such a strong chance of admittance that you didn't really need to apply elsewhere. However, if a person is applying to very competitive schools, he cannot be sure of acceptances at any schools on his list (besides one safety, if he's smart), so he needs to apply to a number of places. In fact, applying to 10 + schools shows a lack of arrogance, since it is an acknowledgement that the applicant might not be accepted at many of his choices. There is also the finanacial issues - some families want to compare offers. If you need aid, applying to only one or two schools and hoping that they come up with the money isn't a a good plan.</p>

<p>palermo: So both of your kids complain about the amount of complaining. And then you come and compalain about the amount of complaining on a thread that started with a complaint!</p>

19

<p>People complained a lot at my hs school, too. I'll admit that I was one of them from time to time, but mine was mostly directed at how much school I missed for my activities. I mean, I missed 33 days my Senior year...and that doesn't even count sick days or days I missed a class or two. </p>

<p>It really sucks having to make up work on top of completing new work...especially when you miss the whole last week of a grading period...and then two more days the week you get back. As much as I hated catching up, though, I really don't think I would have done anything differently.</p>

<p>Boasting about lack of sleep during your graduation speech and whining about an A- or two is a bit overboard, though. I see nothing wrong with striving for a final transcript of all As - I sure did - but there comes a point where you just need to relax and have some fun.</p>

20

<p>My parents tried to fight against me when I decided to take 6 AP classes this year with no lunch period, but I didnt let them and I took the schedule anyway. My parents tried to not let me take the SAT a 3rd time, I did it anyway. My parents tried to make me not as concerned with college admissions, but I came on this site every day and was obsessed anyway. Of course this didnt work and I will be attending BC this year, but I still think it was good for me to push myself in school and take the most demanding courses, and it will carry over to next year, when I hope to earn a high enough GPA to transfer up to one of several schools that I am looking at. On the subject of parents pushing kids, parents should know how their kids are doing and they should do what they can to make their kids more successful in school. No matter what anyone says, doing well in school is important in life, and its better to go to a top college than to go to a lower ranked one, otherwise people wouldnt want to go to better schools. People who say otherwise are people who couldnt get into better schools and want to make themselves feel better.</p>