I just read through this whole thread, and am I the only one who suspects OP is pulling our collective legs? For starters, the whole Vandy EDII thing doesn’t seem to add up; how does one change EDII to RD? Although I admittedly know nothing about Vanderbilt admissions, I thought EDII (in general) was binding. Even without that issue, the drama quotient is just a notch or two too high…And if I’m wrong, I sure hope OP appreciates the thoughtful responses and advice that has been provided here.
WHY do you think you’ll be lonely and stressed?
They won’t be there with you. You’ll be on your own. FREE.
Free to sleep whenever you want. Free to eat what you want, whenever you’re hungry. Free to go out or listen to a guest speaker or stay in the library or climb the climbing wall.
Free to take the classes you want (just tell them youre taking whatever they think you should be taking, or must take gen eds). Don’t waive your ferpa rights and they’ll have no access to your records (don’t mention this obviously.)
Free to join a volunteering group. Free to choose your own activities. Free to ignore them. Free not to respond to their phone calls.
Go to Princeton and make it yours.
Also, remember: Princeton is to the ivy league what Vanderbilt is to the Ivy+. If you loved Vanderbilt, thee is NO rational reason you wouldn’t like Princeton.
- I switched before results came out
- They want me to do BA CS. I tried explaining I don't want to,but they have the money.
My parents are ACADEMICS. THEY KNOW THE GEN EDS AND CURRICULUM WELL. Very narcissistic academics
Yes – unless you applied somewhere with a full-ride scholarship, they have the money.
Your choices aren’t really “Princeton or Columbia,” they’re “Princeton or nothing from your parents.”
Did you apply to any full-ride scholarship schools? Do you want to try for one last-minute?
The colleges on the full-ride list are not Princeton or Columbia by any stretch of the imagination, but you would be able to get some personal control that way.
I assume I should suck it up
Ideally, you own your decision here. If you’re sucking it up because your parents or people on this board told you to suck it up, that’s not good for your mental health or your college success. If you’re going to Princeton with the mindset going through the motions, you’re missing the opportunity in front of you.
Can you suck it up at Princeton and still be you? Or do you need to find somewhere you can go where your parents won’t hold your purse strings?
I feel terrible for you @Dankjewel. This should be a time of celebration and relief, not extreme stress and unhappiness. I actually agree with you about the overall Princeton culture, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find your people.
I also have a slightly different perspective to offer, for whatever it’s worth: many young adults start college with an unrealistically optimistic outlook that stems from the idea that the “perfect fit” college exists and can be found. I think no college is perfect, and the experience is mostly what you make of it. I know a young woman who got accepted to a great school but didn’t really want to go to college, so she had pretty low expectations. She ended up being pleasantly surprised and had a wonderful experience. I know another young woman who went to school thinking she’d found that elusive perfect fit…only to be disappointed at the first thing that went wrong. She’s currently struggling a bit. So, that’s my long-winded way of saying that Princeton might surprise you, and perhaps having low expectations is a blessing in disguise.
You have gen eds to take. No one will make Princeton allow you to skip gen eds. Look them up. They’re pretty extensive.
Do you know whether you have any aptitude for CS?
If they are academics, they know they can’t call your adviser and demand you study CS.
(By the way tell your adviser “my parents are getting a nasty divorce and if one of them calls please don’t say anything basically, it might be used in the proceedings.” Which is entirely true and the adviser should be aware of but it has the benefits of protecting you.)
Your parents aren’t all-seeing. Once you’re at Princeton you’re out of their reach.
Thank god. The only other option I have is Dartmouth college, basically mini Pton imo
@MYOS1634 Princeton gen eds are weaker, and my parents are belittling me and saying I am too stupid to go through a rigorous core
They’re always belittling you. You know better than to believe them.
Princeton’s gen eds are fewer but NOT weaker and you can create your own core - just take the equivalent of Columbia is corebat Princeton.
Why are you going in circles? You paint them as abusive, unrelenting, and set. Then you go on about trying to convince them. You don’t see that? You’ve learned their methods.
Claiming you won’t have friends is oh so dramatic, too. For heaven’s sake, going to P isn’t the end of your life. It’s an opportunity. You have food and shelter, few real life threats, get real.
But nooo. Lol. You want Columbia, ii has to be Columbia, you’ll make friends there, be happy!
I’m afraid you have much to learn about life. And how we proceed. Without drama, without this lack of perspective. That’s not mature.
If you want a good future, leave this and move forward.
Agree with Bubblewrap. If you go back through the OPs posts, his very first post in the fall of 2015 said he grade 11 (class of 2017) and a Korean citizen, then goes back and forth on whether he’s a US citizen, then says his young sibs are not bright, then says he’s much brighter than they are and are the ones the parents are counting on to be successful.
The suicide threats are extremely concerning - if real, then s/he should seek help immediately because suicide is a permanent solution to a situation that can be improved. If the suicide threats are not real, then learning better ways to interact with family and others would lead to a healthier life all the way around.
Whatever the truth may be, if any of this is real, I hope the OP will take advantage of the counseling services wherever s/he ends up.
OP you are under a lot of stress, and it is a rough time. There is so much going on, at a deeper level than just a college choice, and it sounds like time to draw upon every ounce of maturity you posess. Take some time to let things sink in. Maybe have some heartfelt conversations with friends who can help you regain a positive attitude. Enlist the help of a family friend, relative or clergy if you need to. Sending best wishes to you.
I am not buying most of this? If the parents are the prestige monsters claimed, why would they be disappointed that he didn’t get into Chicago?? Columbia is more prestigious than Chicago. If they are grads of Chicago as pointed out, even they would know this…
At the end of the day, you know your options.
From this point it’s your decision to make: Take their money, and the conditions they place on it, or don’t.
My parents disowned me 
They won’t take calls from me… how can I pay my deposit and things like that. How can I even go to college???
Why do you need to call your parents?
Don’t you see them?
Look, something as brewing all year. Then you poked the bear.
We’re trying to help but you’re not listening ot anything anyone on this website tells you.
Let them calm down.
Don’t call them. Don’t respond. Ask a friend to go sleep over say there’s trouble with your parents.
Legally they can’t disown you. Anyway your stats allow you to apply for near a free ride (did you send an app to UAH like we’d suggested before?) You’ll be free of their influence.
In addition, say, ok, you’ll join the army or defer, and tell all their friends why.
It’s very hard to understand someone who really wants Vanderbilt as their perfect fit then gets into the Ivy version of Vanderbilt and doesn’t want to go.
@MYOS1634 I am at school right now.