<p>Hi all, thank you so much for all your responses. I really appreciate the help - I just woke up so I’m going to try and respond to all that I can.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 et. all, I am definitely gearing for Wellesley. It sounds like the perfect school for me and my parents are very happy with it. Hopefully I will be able to get in ED and all this will be DONE and dusted and I shall have no more problems. I’m just worried about the apocalyptic scenario that awaits me if I DON’T get into Wellesley.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan and @PhxRising (+ all other queries on the absurd ranking list) = The reason why my parents are using the USNews system is because they feel the most important aspect of a university is its level of prestige - and supposedly the USNews system does the best job at measuring “prestige”? They want me to apply to two colleges of their choosing because “all their friends’ children have gone to Ivy league universities” (not true but it keeps them happy I guess.) I just checked out the Forbes list - it looks pretty great! (And guess what, it’s topped by Williams. HA.) I will consider bringing this list up to them. </p>
<p>@MiamiDAP My school’s counsellor is vaguely crazy and no, people have asked him to extend the limit before. He won’t budge much. My school is also part of a foundation of schools that mandates all schools within that foundation to place this absurd limit on students - so this policy isn’t going anywhere for some time. I think I’ve heard of some people convincing my counsellor to extend that limit to maybe 7 schools - I’ll have to check to see what they were talking about!</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse @elsacc et. all, So far I have down: Brown, Dartmouth, U of Chicago, Princeton, Yale. I don’t know much about U of Chicago, but I’ve done lots of research on all of the others - the irony is I was going to apply to Brown but decided not to ultimately because I was a little unsure of their academic structure and I found school climates I liked a little more. I have nothing against Brown though, it’s a GREAT school.</p>
<p>@happymomof1 @ClassicRockDad @jkeil911 - re: US Safeties, finances and other: I live in Hong Kong. I’ve sat down to talk with my parents about finances before, all they will assure me is that they CAN afford to pay for my college, and if it’s HYPSM they’re willing to pay double if it means I get a “Ivy league education”, but they’re also not completely willing to throw money at a school they don’t think is good. Hence, my dilemma. U of Sydney is on my list because my IB predicted for U of Sydney law (the major my parents want me to choose right now… which I am not 100% happy with but think I can manage well enough) is much higher than the requirement, U of Sydney is a good school close to my grandparents, and I feel my extra-curricular activities are strong enough to pull up my application (if they even look at those). I considered maybe schools like Bryn Mawr or Smith as a more reasonable match / perhaps a “safer” school. My parents think that Bryn Mawr would be lowering my standards… thus I might as well stick to U of Sydney. I think I will try and find another safety with a good merit aid package, but I’m just worried that takes up another precious space on my list!</p>
<p>@intparent I’ve seen you in many forums before! Your posts have been very useful to me so far, thank you. My parents are actually both academics, but they’re also stuck with a very stereotypically “asian parent” mindset. I’m grateful they’re even considering Wellesley, but with the rest… alas, their idea of prestige differs greatly with how the world thinks about prestige. If they could, I’m sure they would strongly encourage me to apply to 5 HYPSM / Ivy schools and maybe one backup “just in case”.</p>
<p>@prezbucky My parents don’t actually care about things like class size, climate, cultural backdrop, campus community etc. They think these traits are irrelevant and are similar enough at all different universities that I would be able to find a fulfilling education anywhere. Thus, they think the only/most important thing in a college is prestige (I’ve worked over this argument with them several times so I think their minds are solidly confirmed). I’m not sure, therefore, if creating my own list of rankings will matter because since I will not be able to visit universities before I apply (double trouble!) I can’t find a way to convince my parents that things like location and class sizes really DO matter to me.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone and I cannot tell you how immensely relieved I am to wake up to all this support! I really think the CC community - especially parents or alumni who have gone through the process already but are sticking here for the kids - have helped many many people in fits of indecision. Thank you all so much!</p>
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If people in other countries think college prestige is important (and we don’t), who are we to tell them that they’re wrong. In their countries an ivy degree might mean tens of thousands of dollars each year and/or easier admission to grad and professional schools. Internationals repeatedly tell us prestige is important to them, and we keep insisting that they’re wrong just because it’s not very important here. </p>
I don’t actually know many of the top 20 schools parents listed (hence, this query) - I have briefly researched Rice though. My first impression of Rice is that it’s a lovely, small research university, and I agree it seems to fit quite a lot of things on my list - My problems are that it’s in the middle of Houston without any other colleges in close proximity (which is where “small school” may actually become a problem, if I don’t get to CHOOSE to interact with many other college kids my age), and while it seems great for pre-med (Rice-Bayer, with hospitals nearby etc.) I’m not sure about its other programs. I will do more research! I probably have to be reassured a little before I will consider. I’m trying not to merely throw away my college choices, and Rice “feels” safer than applying for, say, Princeton. Do you know how Rice’s humanities / social sciences / less pre-med departments are?</p>