My guess is not a spoof, just crazy regular thoughts from a typical California parent. I see it everyday, it blows. Just gotta protect your kids from the madness of it all. I had this exact conversation face to face with my neighbor who told me her son had failed them and disappointed them because he got a B and would now never get into Stanford like her friend’s kids. I asked her, don’t you want him just to be happy, and she actually said no, they just want to be content in life and the only way to achieve that was going to Stanford or an Ivy. You could not tell her anything that made her believe her kid was anything other than a failure and a loser.
I wondered if when she got old she would ever realize that her son lived knowing his mom didn’t love him because he got a B and that he let the family down. Would she feel sad about it?
Can’t be a “typical” parent anywhere, since most high school students have academic records that are nowhere near this good, nor do “typical” parents dream of super-selective colleges for their kids.
Of course, it may be that a specific social circle of hypercompetitive helicopter parents whose kids happen to be high achievers may find themselves to be “typical” within their social circles, and mutually reinforce such hypercompetitive attitudes among themselves. The OP may be within such a social circle.
A relatively popular strategy for college applications is to apply to reaches, matches, and at least one safety.
Penn and Columbia are reaches for virtually everyone and Cal and UCLA have become reach schools (or low reach…) for out-of-state applicants.
If your son doesn’t get into one of those four schools, it is not the end of the world; far from it! One of the blessings of living in this country is that we have so many quality colleges and universities. If you add a few match-range schools and at least one safety – make sure he likes the schools (read/research!) – you’ll be nearly guaranteed a positive outcome in terms of admission.
If you want to find out how much you’d likely be asked to pay for each school to which he applies, simply run the NPC.
There are many schools out there which give large merit scholarships for the scores and GPA.
OTOH, I don’t know if one teacher should be blamed for ruining anything. There were 3 Bs in first semester and a B and C in second semester which seem to be completely out of sync with the previous two years performance. The junior year UW GPA is 3.5.
Plus the list isn’t a very good list for econ…where’s Chicago, where’s UofM, Where’s Northwestern, Duke, , etc…before the OP does anything else, the OP needs to do some good old research on undergraduate economics to come up with a list of the “best” if the “best” is what the OP wants.
But I would talk to the Guidance Counselor/Department head about how the class was run.
Seems that projects are subjectively graded…how did they pedagogically relate to the AP test?
"I had this exact conversation face to face with my neighbor who told me her son had failed them and disappointed them because he got a B and would now never get into Stanford like her friend’s kids. I asked her, don’t you want him just to be happy, and she actually said no, they just want to be content in life and the only way to achieve that was going to Stanford or an Ivy. "
Did you roll your eyes and laugh at her? I would have. How dumb can you possibly be to think that the only way to life success is to attend Stanford or an Ivy? I would laugh at her, and then I wouldn’t have anything to do with her from then on out. Life is too short to deal with thoroughly stupid people.
Regrettably, I must say, yes, his life is completely ruined, and by implication, so is yours, and so is your neighbor’s and her son’s. You’re all completely hosed. Sorry.
If you fail to gain entry into a top Ivy League School, MIT, Stanford, and, maaaaaaybe, Cal Tech, you’re completely screwed. You’ll have to settle for the riff raff at Rice or Duke.
[Me Rolling My Eyes]
What a preposterous post. This place … it is interesting.
The son got all A’s until junior year, when he got 4 B’s and a C. Ordinarily these are great grades, but it does show a change and I wonder why…harder class content, change in work habits? Again, these are fine grades, just wondering why the slight dip. Not so he can raise them (not needed), but in case there is a need for support in some way.
Senior year approaches. Many kids have emotional difficulties in the last year of high school due to the stress of all this. I would try to let your son know that there are many options out there (and educate yourself on them: look at the Colleges that Change Lives site for instance). That you love and appreciate him not matter what his grades are or where he goes to college. That he should enjoy this last year and not do things for college admissions, even now.
If math and science are not strong points, he might want to change his senior year classes and go into college undecided so that he can explore his strengths. I am not saying that B’s mean that he is not talented in these areas, not at all, and understand there is at least one teacher problem. I have no idea what his talents are. But senior year is a good time to really think about strengths and authentic interests.
I have not read the whole thread so apologize if I am repeating anyone else’s thoughts.
@compmom He wants to go into finance solely for the salary. His interests and talents lie within creative writing, character design, fashion, and music. However, I told him to pursue his passions after he receives a stable job because I don’t want him to become a starving artist.
@bopper The big parts of the AP Bio exam, being ecology, evolution, and physiology, we’re never tested or given a project for, so he had to self study because he felt unprepared.
For everyone asking, we are in California.
Does his rank matter? His school is very competitive with 900 students and he is ranked 4.
YoungPik, for an immigrant who did not attend college your command of the English language is extraordinary. If your son has the same talent as you, I predict a bright future for him no matter where he goes to college.
@YoungPik Creative person here! I would encourage him to pursue a major that has some more creative elements if that’s where his passion lies–if he’ll need to use math in econ and got Bs in math classes, it may not be a fit. There are many humanities-centric majors that can also lead to a steady career–would he enjoy marketing? I work in TV marketing for my full time job and write novels on the side–I agree, re: no starving artists. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pursue what you love and support yourself. Or, if he likes finance well enough, he could consider/focus on entertainment business accounting? You’re ideally located for it.
There’s also things like global studies (many UCs), communication studies (UCLA), visual studies (UPenn)… he should explore lots of options. The story his grades tell certainly might lend him a strong application applying for a humanities major. Also, specific to UPenn: tell him to look into the Kelley Writer’s House. They recruit for writers, so it may actually benefit him to pursue his passion areas there.
So I’ve been lurking on this thread since it started, but I want to back up @proudterrier completely re: the starving artist issue. The thing about marketing matters in particular–my brother has a passion for theatre, and on some level I think that’s given him a lot of charisma. He has a job in PR now and he’s doing great. Moreover, he didn’t find a job in his more practical field (which he majored in) because he just didn’t genuinely care. He got asked to interview for a few really elite jobs, but he never made it past the first interview because of that. If your son can find a way to combine the two, that would be ideal.
@texaspg , the OP said money wasn’t an issue, so apparently they are not hunting for merit aid.
On the other hand, it does look as if the student hit a bit of a wall junior year. His AP Bio grade is countered by his 4 on the AP exam and 780 on the SATII, but his 3 on the AP Calc exam would seem to confirm his Bs in that.
That is why I think he ought to back off on the filler APs senior year and strive to get solid As on core classes. I also don’t understand why he is taking more calculus second semester. I think he would be better off waiting until he gets to college and taking whatever the appropriate class is in their math sequence. Lots of colleges have several calculus options, and LOTS of college students, especially premeds, one gathers, retake calculus in college in order to make sure to get a good grade in it.
I agree with @momofthreeboys that he should be looking at other schools that have good economics departments. He also seems to be good at history. Good econ/history/gov depts might be something to look for. That includes a lot of Ivies, but also elite LACs and other universities.
Okay, I just read this. You should, IMNSHO< be encouraging your son to find creative ways to make a good living following his true interests.
It sounds as if he might love advertising. Marketing. Software game design or marketing, film production or marketing, creative editing of websites, magazines, you name it. There is plenty of work out there for him. He can be creative without being a starving artist.
Your S sounds like a wonderful, creative, intelligent kid. Don’t try to cram him into a box.
There are lots of good jobs other than Wall Street finance. They may not pay as much, but many jobs pay plenty in terms of being enough to live on, if one is careful with money.
Although work in arts can be high-Gini (closer to winner-take-all), not all type of job and career paths are high-Gini. Finding a non-starving-artist job that pays enough to live on while having a decent career path and leaving enough time outside of work for his creative talents can be done in many areas.
YoungPik, you never answered the question. Who told you that your son’s future would be “ruined” if he didn’t get into a handful of schools, and why did you trust them? Do you still believe that?
“He wants to go into finance solely for the salary. His interests and talents lie within creative writing, character design, fashion, and music. However, I told him to pursue his passions after he receives a stable job because I don’t want him to become a starving artist.”
And why do you seem to perceive that only finance is a “stable job”? It’s like you live in a world where there are two options: Finance / high salary, or creativity / starving artist.