<p>Today, I noticed that there was an update to the application status page saying I had been accepted! For a brief moment I was ecstatic because this was my top choice of higher education. However, when I confront my parents regarding my new found success, they didn't care. As a matter of one in my family thinks I'm smart. How can I show to them that this is a big deal?</p>
<p>p.s (I got in on my own, no athletic scholarships or what not)</p>
<p>Be excited because you accomplished something that you set out to. I know it sucks to have parents that don’t appreciate it (mine tried to talk me out of college in general…) but you’ve still got to be happy for yourself, not because you’ve made someone else proud.</p>
<p>It could also be that they’re worried about being able to pay for it. At any rate there isn’t really any way you can “show them that this is a big deal” except to sit down, talk to them and tell them that this is really important for you and it hurts that they don’t seem happy for you. If there’s some underlying issue (like money, distance, whatever) it’ll probably come up then.</p>
<p>Deaninator,</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to your question. However, I will say that our daughter is at VT and absolutely loves it. In fact, everyone I have ever met from VT – from current students to retired alumns – loves that school. It is almost like a cult, and I say that in a positive way. I am confident that, if you attend, you will not regret it. Also, three personal experiences:</p>
<h1>1: Last January, which weather-wise was just about the worst in history for Blacksburg, our daughter told us (to quote her as accurately as I can remember after over a year), “I was walking to an 8:00 AM class, and it was so cold, and it was snowing, and it was windy. And, for a second I thought to myself, ‘I could have gone to college somewhere warmer.’ And then I realized that there is nowhere I would rather be right now than Virginia Tech, even in the middle of January.”</h1>
<h1>2: We have a friend whose son got rejected from every school he really wanted to attend. So, without much else as an option, he reluctantly enrolled at VT. Within a week, he called his parents and said, “This is the most wonderful school imaginable. I can’t even conceive of going anywhere else.” A year and a half later, he still feels the same way.</h1>
<h1>3: I was a bit skeptical of VT because our daughter’s high school grades and test scores were much higher than average for VT. However, after visiting the school, I came away a big supporter of VT.</h1>
<p>Deaninator -
Were you accepted as a freshman or a transfer student?</p>
<p>I am enrolled as a freshman.</p>
<p>From your post on pre-med, it appears your siblings are attending (or attended) UVA, is that part of the issue? Your family is biased towards UVA?
Did you apply to UVA? Perhaps they are hopeful that you will get in there too, and they aren’t congratulating you until you hear from all of the schools you applied to, and make a decision (also, if you woke your parents to tell them they may have been asleep, noticed that you posted at after midnight…)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t even worry. If they’re worried about academics… Virginia Tech is a nationally ranked educational and research institution. We have some of the top Engineering, Architecture and Business programs in the country. The average GPA that gets accepted it about a 3.8. When it comes to academics, we’re no joke at all… we’re up there with the very best of them. Besides, we don’t wear suits to our football games :-)</p>
<p>If the post that someone else posted about your family having UVA ties is correct then I could see that. But as a parent, they ought to be happy no matter where you go. If you end up coming to Tech and they still disapprove then it will be a good lifetime lesson. DO NOT base your life decisions off of what other people want you do. You are becoming an adult and it is time to make your own life. Make decisions that make YOU happy. If not, then you will most likely look back 20 years from now and say “what if?”. Time to grow a pair. If your a chic then its time to put on your big girl britches. If your family can’t accept what makes you happy then F them. </p>
<p>And you are perfectly justified in being happy about gettin into Tech. This is a wonderful place. When I applied for colleges Tech was the second to last place I wanted to go. A week into being here I realized I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. I AM a hokie. There is something magical here. I reccomend you coming here regardless of what your family thinks.</p>
<p>If there is someone in life you need to satisfy, it is you not anyone, not even your parents.</p>