<p>Alright. Have anyone else's parents kind of...lost it this year? I mean, I know we're all stressed about college and everything, but mine have kind of gone off the deep end. Last night's conversation:</p>
<p>Me: Oh, I'm signing up for the December SAT just so you guys know, since I've only taken it once before and I think I can get a pretty good superscore this time.
Dad: -starts screaming at me for wasting his money-
Mom: [joins in] AND if you don't finish your supplements and Common App by December 15th, we won't pay for college! [this is completely out of the blue]
Me: ??? I'm sorry?!
Dad: You don't even seem to want to go to college at all. Maybe we just won't pay.
Mom: We can't wait until you move out.</p>
<p>And this literally went on for over 40 minutes. I timed it. Keep in mind my parents were always cool! Before this year, I would have considered them pretty much the ideal parents. But now... they're totally bipolar. This seems to have happened with some of my friends' parents, too. Are you guys having the same experience? Any advice?</p>
<p>My mom’s going sort of crazy over the money thing, but I can’t blame her. I feel really guilty about all of it. Between the app fees, the fees to send scores, the fee for my October SAT, and the price of graduation supplies, I can’t blame her for getting kind of frustrated. I’m going to feel really, really bad when it gets closer to the deadline for room deposits and orientation fees and such. I get upset a lot, too.</p>
<p>Wow…as a parent, all I can say is that your folks must be really stressed out about something. Even though they were saying unkind things to you, try to not take it personally. I said awful things to my child in the past and I love him deeply.</p>
<p>well im a junior high schooler and tbh your parents havent “gone off the deep end” . mine have though. at times they even say they wouldnt pay for college unless i get into a need blind one. nows thats something “gone…”. anyway we arent that poor or not well off in any sort. its just that my mum and dad thinks that i should try my best. whoa… best of luck for your college anyway.</p>
<p>You parents sound like a mild version of mine. They have told me that they will not pay for me to go to college. Their solution is for me to get a scholarship and work for it. They’re serious about it, they are not saving a bit of money for it and my sister went off to college this year without any help from them.</p>
<p>My mom is like that for everything except college stuff. Mostly cuz i never talk abotu any college stuff with her so her bi-polarness cant be a part of it.</p>
<p>I would guess its a combination of them expressing their own college worries/stress and “my little baby is growing up” somewhere between the yelling. My mom goes from super sentimental to super i don’t care to super you’re a horrible daughter all the time.</p>
<p>same problem here @waitingforivy . the only difference is that its “super you’re a horrible son all the time” for me instead. lol. love my mum for it anyways.</p>
<p>The money stuff sucks. I’ve already spent over $400 on college apps alone. I really don’t get $70 appfees, especially with tuition beingas high as it is</p>
<p>Argh exactly! The app fees are beyond absurd. I really can’t believe that colleges even have the gall to ask for them, especially when you consider the insane tuition, like you said.
At lunch the other day, I added up how much money I will have given to collegeboard by the end of high school: $1,140 (from APs, SATs, SAT IIs, forwarding). Something is very wrong with this system…</p>
<p>As a parent, I think they are concerned that you haven’t gotten your applications in.</p>
<p>For example, my son was supposed to apply EA to University of Chicago, but didn’t do so, for no good reason. </p>
<p>So I am somewhat sympathetic to your parents.</p>
<p>Especially when I see some kids announcing on CC that they have already gotten all their applications in.</p>
<p>While their reaction was over the top, I think what they probably felt, irrationally, was that your announcement that you were taking the SAT again in December meant that you were putting things off (they are probably thinking "Oh my god, she hasn’t even finished taking her SATs yet, and the 12/31 application deadlines are approaching)</p>
<p>You are probably under a microscope and don’t even realize it. Every time you turn on the TV, they are probably thinking “why isn’t she working on her applications?”</p>
<p>As for “wasting money” by taking the SAT again, that is just plain being penny wise and pound foolish. If you can raise your SAT scores, that is a good use of the money.</p>
<p>If you want to STUN your parents you could say something really mature like, " You seem really upset about something . Do you want to talk about it ? " See what they say . I have 4 kids , ages 19- 31. I remember one day a son asked ME " How was your day , mom ? " I don’t think he had ever asked about me before ! Being a parent can be really hard sometimes , just like being a young adult is . It’s just different .</p>
<p>floridadad-- I totally see where you’re coming from. I often think about how things would look from my parents’ perspective, and I’m pretty sure I (rightfully) come off as a lazy space cadet a lot of (read: all) the time. I’m going to try to be a little more productive and open to hopefully improve the situation. I explained the SAT thing to them again and we talked it over. I paid the late fee with my $ and they paid the regular cost, and I’m all registered. Seemed pretty reasonable to me.</p>