<p>I'm a good student.
However, I'm not some amazing applicant at all. I REALLY don't have a shot at HYPSM. AND I have no desire to go there. But my parents are forcing me to apply and it's annoying.
Anyone else in this situation, or has been? What to do?</p>
<p>Just copy paste your other essays to harvards application… and do everything else to qualify for admission. That way you can legitimately say you tried to be admitted without have to do a lot of work…</p>
<p>Worst that could happen is that you get into Harvard. Best that could happen is that you don’t get into a school you didn’t want to apply to anyway. Or vice versa, whatever.</p>
<p>Why are you complaining? How does this hurt you at all besides that you have to spend maybe 2 seconds adding Harvard to your common app list?</p>
<p>Harvard has an optional essay. 'Nuff said.</p>
<p>Spell the name of the college wrong. Repeatedly refer to it as “Yale” or “that one school that’s almost as good as Dartmouth”. Include half a sentence for any essays that are required. Put down your GPA as a “-”. Make up a list of extracurriculars that include mainly court-ordered community service (incomplete). Doctor up a fake-looking transcript from a student with a name completely different from yours and mail it using an address of an Iraqi jail as the sending address.</p>
<p>If, after all that, you get in anyway, then you really really should go to Harvard.</p>
<p>Try just in case. You never know.</p>
<p>If you get into Harvard, are you prepared to tell your parents that you do not wan to go there? If so you have a problem, because there is no guarantee that you will be rejected. So now is the time to talk to them about this.</p>
<p>or you could just have your essay be “My parents are making me apply. Please do not accept me.”</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who got in without the optional essay. But still, just apply. The LEAST likely Harvard applicant at our school got in…then again, she was a URM.</p>
<p>It will likely not be any extra work for you to apply to Harvard. There is an optional essay…but you will probably write an extra essay in the course of your other applications.</p>
<p>I didn’t write an optional essay and I still got in. But there are ways to have a optional essay that could negatively affect your chances of admission. Gardna had great suggestions.</p>
<p>do something for your parents, I suspect they’ve done a lot for you</p>
<p>I’m not sure what your stats are but there’s always a chance.</p>
<p>This year, my friend with a 2000 SAT, 3.8 UW GPA got in. He had alright stats but not super amazing. He was rejected from Brown and Penn as well.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure Harvard will honor all such requests.</p>
<p>Feel bad for you for having to deal with parents like that. However, as many have already said, there isn’t too much work involved adding Harvard to your common app list and considering you never wanted to apply anyway, if you are rejected, it shouldn’t really affect you.</p>
<p>Wow, you are blowing an opportunity here. Start by providing some leadership to having a great relationship with your parents. Say something like “Dad, you pick one school. Mom you pick one and I’ll pick three. I will do my level best to apply to all five schools. You pay the fees for all five. Then we will agree that it is totally stupid to argue/discuss these five paths until April 1, 2011 – because only then will we know where I am accepted.”</p>
<p>This is a win-win deal. You have listened and are respectful. They also are supporting you as you explore your own paths in your own ways. If you get to next April and HY are available, then you can have the delightful option of considering them. </p>
<p>Actually, you can do the H/Y applications first. That calms their fears and gives you practice for the other three schools. </p>
<p>Your parents love you and want the best for you. Accept that and embrace them. At the same time, educate them. Let them see how hard it is to be accepted into those schools and make it clear that you are mature enough to 1) give it your best shot (no whining) and 2) make back up plans (that better suit you). </p>
<p>Don’t worry or whine about more schools until you get these five applications done. If you want to add more after that, then you will know what it takes to do applications. You’ll be a pro at it! </p>
<p>Listen carefully. Now is also a good time to ask your parents about paying for college. Ask them to help you build some spreadsheets so you can compare the costs of Yale to the costs of Your Choice college. Again, no arguing. You won’t know scholarship details until next April 1. But you can reasonably ask what they advise if Yale is full price and Your Choice A is a half price and Your Choice B is a full ride. </p>
<p>You can also say “Mom, Dad, I know you love me. I am afraid that you don’t understand how brutal and expensive some of these schools can be. I am feeling a lot of pressure that if I don’t succeed in a brutal and expensive situation that you will feel I am a failure.”</p>
<p>Note: These are “I” statements – what you are feeling. Make this comment in a quiet way and then be silent. Let them speak. And then go walk the dog.</p>
<p>My parents really wanted me to apply as well, but I explained to them exactly what I wanted from a college experience that Harvard didn’t offer, and then explained why kids applying to 10+ schools can’t afford to waste their valuable time bs-ing essays for schools they have no interest in. Your parents may be receptive if you have a solid game plan to give them.</p>
<p>so…my parents have no interest in me applying to the ivies. I forced myself to apply. When I told my parents that I wanted to apply to HYPS they said “ok…cool.” So yeah, no need to complain. I’m an international AND I’m poor =(. For the past year and half I have done everything myself, finding every opportunity, doing research on colleges, taking the hardest courses (people thought I was crazy for doing it), stressing about the SAT…and I don’t complain. I’m happy to work toward the goal even though it is a super reach for me. SO YOU ARE LUCKY!</p>
<p>Just do it. Use another essay and change it a bit to fit. </p>
<p>Your parents will shut up, you won’t get in, and you can move on with your life.</p>