<p>I’m a music major and my parents are clueless when it comes to most things involving music, so much like my ECs, I went through the admissions/audition process by myself - jumping in with a lot of research. My parents helped me film pre-screen auditions, flew with me to live ones, and told me their opinions on each school, but I did all of the research and choice-making myself.</p>
<p>@annasdad: I couldn’t agree more.</p>
<p>My parents mostly left me to my own devices. They encouraged me to do things that they thought would be beneficial, but ultimately left all the choices to me. I picked my ECs, my classes, the schools I was applying to, etc.</p>
<p>While they were happy to give advice, they never made it mandatory that I take that advice. Also, they stayed out of my business when it came to doing well in school and ECs - it was up to me how, when, and where I wanted to do my work.</p>
<p>I’m glad they took this approach, as it’s important for high school students to start learning how to manage their own lives, and it’s the student going to college, not the parent. We need advisors, not managers.</p>
<p>parents need a balance. they should definately be involved but not micro-managing.</p>