Just Dreading this Cycle Again

[Johnny523]

@LookAtMyShoes;d-2196712

Parents out there who have gone through the college admissions cycle more than once, how did you do it? And to define what I mean by admissions cycle, I mean, most of high school really. My daughter got through it, but it was so hard to watch her go through it. The endless studying, pressing in extra curriculars, night after night up until 2 AM or later finishing one of her many AP homework assignments. The endless pressure of getting that ACT/SAT polished, Subject Tests, PSAT, and AP tests. I swear she was studying or taking practice tests every weekend for 4 years.

She has stated multiple times that high school was miserable and she missed out on so much. She reached her goal, but now she’s forever damaged by it and will probably spend a lot of her adult life trying to overcome that hurt.

The easy solution for your son is don’t do it all this crap. Don’t load up on 18 AP classes. Don’t spend endless hours doing test prep. Don’t take 25 ECs to build a resume.

Of course this means he needs to set his college focus to a good but not elite school where he can get a very good education, have a great experience, and get a nice job after graduation.

People need to stop feeding kids the BS that they have to go to an elite college or their life is ruined. Enjoy high school - take challenging but not overwhelming classes, join the ECs that you enjoy, and have fun.