<p>I went Ivy for undergrad and came back to Canada for law school. Ivy admissions are brutally competitive for undergrad. Saying that you stand a very good chance of making Harvard or another school is a little premature. Admissions to Ivy grad schools (I am excluding professional programs such as medicine, law and business) is not nearly as difficult, mostly because US students don’t tend to go to grad school (you will see a a much larger percentage of international grad students than undergrads). Grad school admissions are based on undergrad performance, including GPA, research, recommendations as well as GRE scores. Also, grad school should be cheaper since more financial aid is available to internationals (including teaching and research fellowships). I would advise you to look at schools where you will have the chance to work closely with faculty and do research. This would include LACs, since profs do not have any grad students to supervise and they are more available to work with undergrads (on my visit to Bowdoin last year, the tour guide said that the school has more of its graduates go on to science PhDs than any other school, per capita). If you can make an Ivy or similar school for undergrad and money (or financial aid) are not a problem, I would definitely give it a shot. I would recommend you keep your options open for the time being (pick classes that will allow you to meet the recommended curriculum of the schools you are interested in, do your standardized testing, etc).</p>
<p>The above being said, there may be some merit to what your father and others (see posts by starbright) have said. It’s funny that such statements often come from people working in academia here in Canada (my mom told me the same thing, she worked for McGill and I would have gotten a 25% employee discount on the already cheap tuition had I gone there). I was fortunate, money was not a problem and my father said that I should work on getting into the best school I could and that he would pay. My mom pulled me aside and told me that it was only really worth it if I got into a school that was “better” than McGill. I regret considering only “top” schools as I could have found great schools that would have been a good match had I taken the time to do a thorough search. That being said, things worked out for me and I only regret not staying in the US for grad school (I chickened out and came back to Canada because I thought it would be better to get a professional degree than a simple grad school degree).</p>
<p>Being a father myself (although my eldest is now only 7), I can see where your dad is coming from. First off, there is the question of money. Even with full financial aid, an Ivy will cost your family at least 10% of their yearly income for four years (I am assuming that you do not fall in the under 75-80k range, in which case an Ivy would be essentially free). Beyond the cost, maybe your dad has some reasons for wanting to keep you at home (don’t know if you are a girl or boy, but the double standard thing may be at play). Perhaps he thinks that you are not ready to go away to school on your own (though it is the best way to become independent, even if your parents are picking up the tab!). Maybe he has bad memories of UM which is a hugh school (their football stadium has 100k+ seats!) and is scared of what could happen to you. I can’t really know what his thinking is. I also think that your father may want to shelter you from the pressure and competition (and quite probably the rejection) involved in applying to top US schools.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider, and you may take it for granted now, is that you may not go to grad school. You may burn out in undergrad, be offered a great job at graduation, choose another path, etc. In any of these cases, you will then have missed out on your chance to attend a school in the States and have spent four years living at home when you could have had the chance to live the college experience.</p>
<p>My suggestion to you is that you and your family go on a college tour this summer and visit some campuses. Aim to see schools that vary in size, locale, selectivity, etc. Think about heading to Boston for a week and visiting Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Brandeis, BC, BU, Wellesley (if you are a girl), Northeastern, Amherst, Hampshire, UMASS, etc. Go on the tours (though the campuses will be dead in the summer, you will get an idea of the feel of different schools). Your dad may buy into the idea of sending you away once he has seen some of the schools and you will get a sense of what it is you are looking for.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>P.S. if you are in Montreal, I give classes to local high schoolers who plan on applying to US schools, in case you may be interested.</p>
Oh and Im male and east indian (wear a turban, which might help me for applying to top schools??)</p>