<p>Dcmom,
I think we have a chorus,
.but maybe we only have a peanut gallery. Ill have to check with Curmudgeon. Im not sure if we sing, but Im sure lip-synching will be allowed. (Doddsmom will tell you I cant carry a tune in a bucket.) It might just be a Greek Chorus that doesnt sing. Ill stop now because I think this is OT.</p>
<p>ctymomteacher, I wish my Dad could understand this.</p>
<p>Maybe it's just me, but I always felt that one's greatest achievement in life is in attaining happiness in whatever one does. The rest is just icing on the cake. If kids have to stress 24/7 about college admissions, they are not happy. They can't be. If my dd, age 13, wants to spend her life digging ditches, but she's happy doing it, I'd be proud to tell others about it. That's the greatest achievement.</p>
<p>Just my hymble opinion.</p>
<p>One more point......I'm new to these boards, and have spent the last several nights reading both the parents forum and musical theater forum (as that is the path my dd wants to take), and I've been having trouble sleeping worrying about everything I've read. It's ridiculous. These boards are great, but extremely obsessive and stress-inducing.</p>
<p>Megsmom, I'll admit to "obsessive" but my stress level continues to go down overall (although it does seem to spike at times). Once I better understood the process and specifically that many schools would meet D's criteria, I felt better. Once D made a very respectable ACT score the stress dropped again (well qualified for admission to her match schools with probable in some cases formula driven merit aid and in the upper-middle to upper range at her reaches). When D decided that maybe the hardest school to get into wasn't necessarily where a budding pre-med should be , another layer of stress peeled off. </p>
<p>Now most of this is just gravy. Seeing what other alternatives out there may be affordable and pleasing to D has become a hobby. My remaining stress comes when I forget and let the allure of the top schools suck me in again, and it happens from time to time but like several others on this board and on this thread , I champion the schools that meet the criteria D and her career path demand , are within D's reach, and that my pocketbook can stand.</p>
<p>In general, the board helps to alleviate my anxiety because it helps me to gain information to make better decisions/advise more knowledgably. But as Curmudgeon said: "My remaining stress comes when I forget and let the allure of the top schools suck me in again." That happens to me also but my daughter, perhaps like his, keeps reminding me that if she possibly did get in to that tough reach school, she might not be happy there. CC has many very qualified students and parents who post. I often have to remind myself that the dream schools for them could be nightmares for my anxiety-prone child (assuming that she could get in...) There are many measures of success and many points in life when one could take that measurement. Just like my waistline, the measurement is not static.</p>
<p>"If my dd, age 13, wants to spend her life digging ditches, but she's happy doing it, I'd be proud to tell others about it. That's the greatest achievement."</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have an older child who is interested in musical theater and a junior. Whether or not she'll be happy in something other than musical theater is rather doubtful; therefore, my stress levels continue to grow.</p>