<p>As a fellow parent, I don’t have issues with floridadad55 being involved in his son’s application to college. In fact, I think it’s quite appropriate and I applaud his efforts.</p>
<p>I do, however, take issue with his statement “Does he have any shots at the Ivies, and if so, which ones?” He, and possibly his son, are naively assuming that all Ivies are the same. It implies that the student and parent have not done enough research about the schools themselves and are only picking colleges based upon rankings. To wit: Columbia (with its core curriculum) and Brown (with its open curriculum) are complete polar opposites, even though both play in the same athletic conference. A student who feels at home at one, may not be happy at the other. </p>
<p>What matters most is “fit” – and fit cannot be found from among the rankings of US News.</p>
<p>floridadad55: Well, the truth is that you can turn any extracurricular activity into the most amazing thing you have ever done. It all depends on how he writes about it. Yeah his extracurricular list does seem kind of weak, but at least he has focused interests and depending on how he expresses that it can turn out for the best. As for ranking…his top 5% ranking is just fine! Colleges use grades and SATs as a means of getting people past the first round. Once they know you can do the work, they turn to your personality and your activities outside of school.</p>
<p>I have no guarantee how he will do in the process, his stats look incredibly good. He obviously is a smart child. I would just make sure he applies to some safety schools, and to the other ivys as well like Cornell and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Also as many pointed out…try to stay hands off the college process as much as you possibly can without killing yourself w/ anxiety. LOL. I know parents are stressed out as much as kids during this process, my parents seem to be pulling out their hair more than me. In reality, college applications are a very emotionally demanding process already, please try not to stress your son out anymore than I am sure he already is.</p>
<p>@davidlaboza
Yes. Kids these days are very independent. My parents don’t know I’m applying to Harvard. It’s not like they cared.</p>
<p>Mom: (in chinese) son, r u applying to univ now?
Me: yea
Mom: is it a good school?
Me: not bad
Mom: is it better than ***** (the one across the street from our house)
Me: yes… == (kill me plz)
Mom: you know we cannot afford to pay for your tuition, right?
Me: that thought never came across my mind</p>
<p>floridadad, I think your son should at least apply some of the Ivies. But he should do thorough researches of his intended major and comes out a list of his own. Then you can suggest few schools to add onto the list too.</p>
<p>IMHO, I think a parent should not let the kids handling colleges applications all by themselves, unless the kid is a super-independent and detail-oriented type. Parents can also provide many useful viewpoints and ideas that their kids may not experience before; as long as you don’t overtake your son’s college application process, go ahead and help out. That’s what I’m doing right now.</p>