<p>UT-Austin has an excellent honors engineering program that you could apply to - check out the website here: Honors</a> | Freshmen | Be a Longhorn</p>
<p>UT-Austin > Texas A&M in engineering, though if you're not from Texas, it's really hard to get into UT-Austin. The social life, sports scene, and school spirit at UT are a LOT better as well, if you don't mind the huge 40k some undergrads. :)</p>
<p>The question is thus, since we have YOUR list: what schools are your parents insisting that you apply to? </p>
<p>Your flagship publics are very diverse geographically, and other than D-1 athletics and perhaps some interest on your part to be in a different part of the country than Boston, I am not sure I see the logic of your choices as a group. On the other hand, college admissions is very quirky and often a "you know what" shoot, and thus a random selection may be just as valid as a highly detailed and personalized selection.</p>
<p>Sometimes parents have ideas about where to go to college for their kids that aren't necessarily about "prestige" and USNWR rankings. But more about where they think you will do better academically, and perhaps socially. </p>
<p>Very likely they are thinking in highly pragmatic terms, as in: "will my son find a job when he graduates from xyz college?" So if you have statistics or reliable anecdotal commentary to substantiate your claims, that might help convince them that their "investment" in your education at a particular school(s) would be profitable. A parent's worst fear, often, is having a kid graduate from college and move back home unemployed and directionless. </p>
<p>None of the schools on your list strikes me as outrageously selective (though its a lot harder to get into flagships out of state than you might imagine, because of the sheer volume of applications they get from instate.) I have stated before on other threads that it is ESSENTIAL that you have several match and safety schools on your list because of the quirkiness of college admissions. </p>
<p>My D got hosed by her "dream school" 2 years ago. It was high match, but not a reach. She had the scores, AP's, EC's etc. Another student last year applied with LOWER stats and got in. And I heard anecdotally that the other student is not doing well and is very unhappy. My D ended up at a school that was about 4th or 5th on her list (a low match, almost safety.....she was in the 75th percentile or better) and she is doing extremely well and is very, very happy. </p>
<p>Finally, freshman year of college is fraught with some bizarre tales of animal house behavior in the dorms, a LOT of dorm drama involving relationships and roommates, homesickness, a huge amount of adjustment going on to an entirely different social scene, different food, plus the shock that "this ain't high school anymore" and professors can be brutal to the unsuspecting. That being said, its paramount that you pick a college where you can BALANCE your life socially, academically, athletically, financially etc to allow you to transition, grow and thrive. This same "rule" applies to every student whether its Princeton (I know someone there now), Dartmouth (ditto), Georgetown, BC, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas A & M, Northeastern, NYU, UW, Santa Clara, USF, San Diego State or wherever. </p>
<p>And YOU have to look in the mirror and be REAL HONEST about where you think you fit and where you think you will thrive. Some people adjust really quickly and can thrive in any environment or social setting. But a lot of kids really struggle with some of that, particularly when they go across country to a new culture.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Sorry but your parents are right. Show them the USWNR rankings for your profession.</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean...my parents worship the USWNR rankings, and we had similar arguments over my schools. I was planning on applying to about five schools in secret because I simply couldn't listen to my parents and apply to only the ivies (we're Chinese, btw).</p>
<p>I did, however, manage to persuade my parents to look more favorably upon some schools by mentioning some famous alumni and/or admirable students that we all knew and loved. I used to be all like, "Oh hey, remember that girl from the band concert last year? The one who played that amazing trumpet solo that you loved? Yeah, she was actually the captain of the girl's varsity soccer team too. You should have seen her grades...straight A's! And yeah, she's a freshman this year at <em>insert the school that you're aiming for</em>"</p>
<p>It was a pretty good way of having my parents look at the schools beyond their USWNR rankings. Despite their reservations, they started realize the opportunities that the schools and their students offered, and they somewhat learned to open their eyes a bit. Try to work out a top choice school that both you and your parents love...you don't want any bitter feelings on the day you receive your letter!</p>
<p>U Michigan at Ann Arbor has a great honors/independent study. Good choice for you: gets you away from home, #1 State U besides Cal/Berkeley, Big Ten atmosphere. Go!</p>
<p>Well I dunno why my parents hate public schools, they keep bringing up schools like Lehigh, RPI that I don't wanna go to. Their excuse for Michigan is that I won't find a job after college since they think Michigan = GM = hell-hole and their excuse for Virginia Tech is obviously the shooting incident</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses so far!</p>
<p>Quite simply...</p>
<p>You're parents are not the ones going to college. It is you.</p>
<p>They'll get over it. Show them that you can succeed through making your own decisions. You are going to become a member of society.</p>
<p>From a fellow Asian brotha who had the same issue,
Dom</p>
<p>check out aggieland - my brother is in the electrical engineering program there and it is highly ranked. the honors program is nice as well, and the dorms are very large (important to me as a girl, since i am considering it as well)</p>
<p>pierre0913 -</p>
<p>Many, many, many immigrant parents (and not just the Chinese ones) think that the US system will work like the system in their home country. That is, in order to get a good job you must go to X university. Which is not so. This is the US and the streets while not exactly paved with gold are indeed paved with multiple opportunities to re-invent yourself and to make a good life. You may need to remind your parents that if they didn't believe that the US is a land of opportunity where many of the rules are different than they were "back home", then they wouldn't have come here in the first place.</p>
<p>Another problem many immigrant parents face is that they have only heard of say 5 or 10universities (the same ones EVERYONE on the planet has heard of) in the US, and so if you suggest a different one, it automatically falls into the category of "Must not be any good, I've never heard of it." To be honest, plenty of gringo parents fall into this error also because they judge any out-of-state/private/public/further-than-two-hours-away/fill-in-favorite-reason-here institution as "Must not be any good because we've never heard of it."</p>
<p>Engineering is, to a very great extent, engineering no matter where you study it. Your home-state public U can give you a very fine professional preparation in that field so long as you are willing to do the work. And, to repeat what I wrote earlier, money does matter. Unless your parents are made of money, you need to think long and hard about the final cost of your education. How much debt are you willing to take on? How beholden do you want to be to your parents for their sacrifices for your education? Do you have any siblings whose choices may be adversely affected by your choice of a very expensive school? Very often (not always, but very, very often) your home-state public U will work out to be the least expensive option.</p>
<p>One of the other posters wrote about the social environment at the school. It is possible that your parents want you at a smaller, private school so that you will be more likely to study and less likely to party and get into trouble. They may have paid a lot attention to the frightening-to-parents newspaper articles about sex/drugs/rock-and-roll at fill-in-name-here-U. Since they've had the rearing of you for the past 17 years or so, they should have some general idea of how you are likely to behave. They may not completely trust your judgment. You are, after all, their kid. They are, after all, your parents. Sometimes parents just have a sense that one kind of environment or another would not be the best for their child. If this is what is going on in their heads, you will have to work with them on believing that you are ready for a big U environment - temptations and all.</p>
<p>What about UVA?</p>
<p>I completely agree with all the reasons happymomof1 listed. My parents are also immigrants, but Sierra Leonean not Chinese. All my cousins and some of friends with immigrant parents have voiced the same complaints. </p>
<p>All my parents know are Ivy League schools. Even though I'm applying to "good" liberal-arts schools, because they're not household names (at least not in my household) they're not good enough. My dad honestly thinks that all I have to do is apply and I'll get into any Ivy and that I'm just being dumb by not applying to all of them. At first, I was stunned in silence, but now I just laugh my head off whenever he brings that point up.</p>
<p>But stand your ground. Maybe apply to one or two of the schools they want you to apply to and just send whatever you can out. I agreed to Brown and Columbia from my parents list.</p>
<p>OP: your parents are right in one respect--it will be difficult for you get a job if you go to the University of Michigan and stay in the state following graduation. However, from what I understand, the University of Michigan has the largest alumni network in the world, and they are not concentrated merely in my home state; they are all over the place, very successful, and they will quite likely be very helpful when it's time for you to get a job after graduation. Just because someone attends the U of M does not mean that they must live in the state forever... and, in fact, many, if not most, don't.</p>
<p>Best of luck convincing them! :)</p>
<p>For engineering, Va. Tech is VERY strong. And rigorous. Its a fine school. The "incident" involved one very sad Korean young man who was very sick. It was a situation that could have occurred anywhere and had really NOTHING to do with Va. Tech as a school or its location. I would suggest that Va. Tech has implemented such stringent checks and balances now that it might even be a safer place to go to college. If you don't mind going there and the obvious discussions about the "incident" while you are there, then its a great place to attend school. And you obviously wont be the only asian there. Lehigh is a fine engineering school but its also a huge frat school and a bit of a party school. And a lot more expensive than Va. Tech.</p>
<p>Point out to them that many public institutions are just as good as private ones, maybe not the vary top, but University of Virginia, William and Mary, all the University of California Schools, and the University of Michigan are all private D1 schools that are ranked higher than a plethora of private institutions.</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK CONVINCING THEM!!!
Oh, and tell them how much you'll save going to public, unless you're out of state, but even so you'll still probably pay less.</p>
<p>alright sounds like we've made a compromise: Georgia Tech</p>
<p>although I don't really want to go there, since I might want to do a minor in a liberal arts field like psychology or political science, we're starting to get somewhere.</p>
<p>Okay...GaTech is a great school with some really good stuff. But its in Atlanta and its sort of nerdy. I have two neighbors who went there. Its an awesome engineering school, but you may find it lacking in some other areas you are looking for. And then you have to get admitted..and its competitive as heck. I would send in an application to NCState and Va. Tech to cover your bases. </p>
<p>Va Tech by the way has a stunningly GORGEOUS campus. And its in an awesome setting in the Shenandoah Mtns and Valley. Plus some SERIOUSLY good sports going on there. </p>
<p>Personally, I prefer Va. Tech for reasons unrelated to the strength of the engineering program. I know an engineering student at Va. Tech right now and he is plenty challenged, believe me.</p>
<p>All this USNWR stuff is so bogus its ridiculous. That is my view.</p>
<p>Actually, Ga Tech has a surprisingly high acceptance rate -- it is a huge 'weed-out' school though. Be prepared to work a lot.</p>
<p>Your parents should understand that it is your future and you are the one that has to go to the damn school. I can undersand if you wanted to go to schools that are way out of your reach, but picking a university based soley upon rankings is a bad choice. Who cares how high the place is ranked if its going to make you miserable for 4 yrs.</p>
<p>University of Washington is an excellent school, especially for engineering, and has a wonderful honors program. I think it is a better school (and certainly at at least as good) as RPI or Lehigh or Georgia Tech and it is ranked very close even by US News.</p>
<p>You might also point out to them that USNWR does a separate ranking for just engineering schools--and for particular undergraduate engineering majors. On those lists, the top-ranked schools tend to be MIT, Purdue, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, Caltech, University of Illinois at Champaign, and Franklin Olin. Maybe that will help them start thinking about some of the huge publics as possibilities (since there are four listed above, which includes Georgia Tech and Purdue--two of your favorites).</p>
<p>Also of note: the top-ranked schools for majoring in mathematics right now are Princeton and UCLA (another public).</p>