<p>This thread coincides with some of the ideas in the recently popular "I don't understand some people here" thread. I thought I'd share my story.</p>
<p>My parents are separated. I live with my mom. I am an African-American male. My mother did not go to college. My brother went to a mediocre school, took breaks, and eventually landed a job completely outside his Communications major. Our household income is sub $30,000.</p>
<p>It really is up to me to get my family out of this terrible game. </p>
<p>I actually have another account on CC, but decided to make this account for the sake of confidentiality. </p>
<p>I have always been a pretty bright kid, but due to some depression issues in the 9th-early 11th grade, my grades took a substancial hit. My A- GPA nosedived to a pathetic B-. Though it was disappointing, I still maintained a positive outlook toward life. It's what kept me ALIVE (no hyperbole). I had some nice ECs and an excellent SAT score.</p>
<p>I am now a senior. I have applied to these nine schools:</p>
<p>UConn, Fordham, Lehigh, NYU, Northeastern, Ohio State, Swarthmore, Villanova, and Syracuse (I was accepted into the University of New Haven at an on-site admissions. It was free to apply, so I'm not counting it here).</p>
<p>Only UConn accepted me. I was waitlisted by Syracuse. As you can see, no real safeties here. It was calculated risk I took. I was expecting something very similar, and that's what I got. </p>
<p>Now, instead of congratulating me on the fact that I will be going to college and starting my future, my mother is cursing at me for only being accepted into one, and how pathetic I am. I really don't understand. I'm trying to go through her thought process logically and I'm failing to see how she could say those things to me. Shouldn't she be ecstatic that I am going to be the third person in our family to go to college? That our family is getting better and better with each generation?</p>
<p>Does she see where I applied? I took some real chances here. If all she cared about was how many acceptance letters I received, I would have applied to community colleges and CUNY/SUNY. But instead, I gambled. I got into a great school anyway.</p>
<p>One of my ECs involved doing work for a state legislator who happens to be great friends with the president of the second most competitive school I applied to. After I told him I got a rejection letter from that institution, he agreed to follow it up with a personal phone call, requesting the president to evaluate my application himself. To this, instead of realizing that there is a glimmer of hope that I may be getting into a better school, my mother is continuing to cheapen and berate me. </p>
<p>I truly don't get this. I've been trying to maintain a positie vision, but it's getting exceedingly harder to do so as the days go by with my mom insulting me about everything.</p>
<p>How do you guys at CC feel about this? Please respond honestly. I need to know. I want this thread to serve as a reality check for both me and my mother.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, folks. I really appreciate it.</p>