<p>To cheers: I only have a grandfather in Africa, and although he is supportive of whatever career I want to do, he wasn't really active in my dad's college admissions process, and I know that he wouldn't really concern himself with mine, unless I decided to go to college in Africa.</p>
<p>DianeR: Yeah, my dad does come from a place where even the high school one goes to determines a person's success. Thank you for your advice! Don't worry, I took a lot out of your post, because like you said in this situation there is no surefire solution. My dad wants me to apply SCEA to one of the HYPS, the only problem is that I want to apply ID (a form or EA) to Rice, therefore I would not be able to apply to SCEA. Based on all the schools on my list and on my "maybe" list, I just don't feel comfortable at this point applying ED to any of them, because I would like to compare the financial aid packages and have some options. My opinions on certain colleges after the visits could change drastically by the time May 1st of next year comes around.</p>
<p>To Mombot:I'm willing to push him and guide him, but I've found that most people do not want to be pushed or guided if they do not want to be. My dad is doing the prestige angle on my brother, who is only thirteen years old, in a very clever way. My bro. plays basketball and will probably get recruited to some school if he gains some height. So my dad is pushing schools like Duke, Stanford, UT-Austin, UNC-Chapel Hill, and etc at my bro., because they are prestigious schools that just happen to do well in basketball. My dad knows that the chances of my brother getting accepted HYP are slim (based on my bro.'s academic record so far and him not being a the best test-taker around) , so he's trying a different approach, and in between the NCAA Basketball games and commercials, my brother will probably be taken in by my dad's idea of "going to a prestigious school/"public ivy" is the only way succeed, but on the way to success you can play basketball" philosophy. </p>
<p>Your reasoning does makes sense, because my cousins (who will be graduating the same year as me) are all going through the process, but in a different way because of their parents. One of my cousin's will probably end up going to UIUC (she's in-state), because that is where all her friend are going and where her older sisters went, and her parents are going to give her free reign as usual. The other cousin will either end up at a CC or to a school that can give her a free ride (like her older sister, full ride at UMich-Ann Arbor), because my uncle doesn't really see the value of any education and is not willing to pay at all for it. Parents came from the same country, but have differing philosophies of involvement in the college admissions process and what is best for their own child.</p>