<p>Hi, I'm a freshman in high school, and I live with my grandparents, who can hardly speak English. I have a lot of very smart friends who are capable of making it to the top universities, but only do the ECs and study because their parents told them to. It seems as if their parents are managing their college planning and providing motivation (ever since elementary school) instead of themselves. I must say I'm a little envious of kids who have college-graduate parents. </p>
<p>Still, I am very motivated and I'm planning on going to a UC (top-notch universities seem... impossible), but I'm just wondering how much of a difference it would make if my mom or dad were here (to provide emotional and college-planning advice, since I'm pretty much on my own for that)?</p>
<p>Lots of high school students don’t have parental help in applying for colleges. Do you have a cousin, family friend who has gone through the process? Stop feeling envious of your friends and sorry for yourself and take control of your college application process. You need to be aggressive in seeking help and information from counselors. Find a counselor, vice principal, college advisor who is willing to meet with you to answer your questions about SATs, ACT, SATIIs, FASFA,loans, transfers to UCs by way of community college… Don’t let anything discourage you from achieving your goal of attending a UC. Go to the UC website and read about what are the classes you need to take in high school. Your sophomore year is crucial because your gpa is for real now. There are plenty of threads on CC about applying to UCs. Make this goal obtainable by starting early and finding out what you need to do to put yourself in position to be accepted into colleges of your choice. The library has plenty of books on the college application process, take time this summer to read them. Good Luck. Your lack of parental involvement won’t affect you unless you let it. Don’t let it.</p>
<p>My parents never push us and my brother got into several VERY nice schools. He did pretty much everything on his own (because he wanted to) and ended up incredibly happy. We live in a place with a lot of involved parents but he wasn’t at any disadvantage imo. Good luck! =)
Btw- he was pretty well-off, because when I asked him later about at what point schools were really hard to get into, his opinion was 10% or less acceptance rate (about his cutoff, lol, and he was class of 08, pretty competitive year). But my point is that lots of kids don’t have knowledgeable parents, don’t have CC or anything, and end up okay.</p>
<p>Colleges aren’t looking for students with motivated parents; they’re looking for motivated students! In most cases your self-motivation will be an asset, not a liability. Actually, so will being a “first generation” student (one whose parents didn’t attend college).</p>
<p>As Batllo says, you may need to do some extra legwork since you’re going to be more “on your own” in the application process. Enlist your high school counselor, get familiar with the admission criteria for the colleges you’re interested in, and start planning now to make sure you’re a contender. There’s a ton of information online, here and elsewhere, and many friendly people here who will probably chime in with advice when you post a question.</p>
<p>You’re already way ahead of the game if you’re thinking seriously about this as a sophomore. Good luck!</p>
<p>As long as you are motivated and use resources such as College Confidential, guide books, and your GC for help, you’ll be fine. Most students don’t get much help from their parents in applying to college. What helps students get into college most is being motivated enough to have good grades and to seek out info about the college application process. Fortunately, due to the Internet, the info about applying to colleges is very easy to find – including on colleges’ web sites.</p>
<p>It is great that you have found College Confidential. Between help you can get at school from your teachers or guidance counselor and help you can get here just by posting your questions, I think you will be fine. Good luck, good luck. I think colleges will be more impressed with you than with the kids who have always had every advantage.</p>
<p>I think you should make a point of specifically mentioning to your high school guidance counselor that you live with your grandparents, who speak little English and are totally unfamiliar with the U.S. college admissions process, and that you want to make sure that you are doing everything properly. </p>
<p>You are fortunate that your goal is one of the UCs – California guidance counselors are likely to be very familiar with what it takes to be admitted. </p>
<p>When the time comes to fill out the FAFSA and apply for financial aid, you may need to seek the help of a well-educated adult who speaks your grandparents’ language and can help with translating the terms on the form. Even if you are fully bilingual, you may not be able to handle this yourself because people your age are usually not very knowledgeable about financial terminology and financial matters in general. Is there a relative or family friend who could help you when you get to that point?</p>
<p>It wouldn’t hurt to mention your situation to some teachers, too. Like you, I didn’t have college graduate parents and I didn’t know much about the college admissions process. My high school chemistry teacher provided me with some very good practical advice that helped me a lot with getting through it all.</p>
<p>Find an adult who is interested in seeing you succeed. This can be a teacher, boss, relative, friend’s parent, family friend- anyone who takes an interest in your future and supports your efforts in the college application process.</p>
<p>To the OP: Please come here for advice and support. Many of us not only have finished the process (successfully) with our own children (including to UC’s, by the way), we know a lot about the systems/preferences/admissions history of various institutions, and would be happy to answer questions and make suggestions. You can also PM us if you prefer. </p>
<p>Although some parents do totally manage their children’s college admissions (in the East Coast they start before high school ;)), many students on CC have navigated private and public admisisons on their own, with a lot of help from contributors on this website.</p>
<p>I would also second Batllo’s suggestion, but in your case you may have merely other non-fluent relatives who are also not that acquainted with U.S. pecularities in admissions. However, teachers & administrators at school would be the ones to approach. You may find only one such person at a school who will commit to taking the time with you, but that would be worth it.</p>
<p>Im hoping since you are interested in a university of calif school, that you live in California. ;)</p>
<p>I agree with above that your inner motivation will be apparent to the universities and they will value that very highly.
But still, even as you have further education as your goal, don’t have that as your only objective, take time to explore your interests in high school as well- don’t obsess about grades- but try new things.</p>
<p>Hey…
just wanted to say that your parents should not dictate your future
I know how hard it is to “get ahead” without involved parents(i’m in the same situation)…but in the end you’ll be better off because you did it yourself</p>
<p>The one thing to make sure of is to find out from your parents how much they are willing to pay for your college and if they have any restrictions on providing that money – such as if they will only help with college if you go instate.</p>
<p>Also, if you’ll need financial aid, your parents should file their income taxes Jan. of your senior year, and also allow you to see their tax info because you’ll need that info to apply for need-based financial aid.</p>