please help! :( :( :(

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Sorry this is long, but it's pretty important and I'd really appreciate help from you guys! If it's too long, just skip down to the end where I'll have the main jist of it.</p>

<p>My parents live in their own little world when it comes to college and think they know everything about it. They're trying to control this entire experience for me and are jeopardizing everything for me right now. I keep citing information from this website to prove them wrong but they never believe me, so I thought I'd make a post that you guys could respond to that I could show my parents.</p>

<p>They believe that just because I have good grades and pretty good ECs that I will get in almost anywhere. They prevented me from doing ECs I actually had time and genuinely really wanted to do because they thought I had enough.</p>

<p>I am going to have 6 APs in my schedule next year, a fact which has become a huge source of contention in my household. My parents like to think I can't handle things, despite taking the hardest course load possible so far and having a 3.99 UW GPA. They even went so far as to threaten to call the school and not let them give me the schedule I want next year. They said having just a few APs is enough for the top schools (Ivies, etc.).</p>

<p>They have barely taken me to see any schools and won't bring me this summer to the one school on my list that only interviews in the summer (William&Mary) because they think interviews are completely unnecessary.</p>

<p>I want to apply to about 15 schools, including many Ivys and top tiers, along with a few matches and safeties. They only want me to apply to about 8 schools, and insist I'll get into most of them. I told them there are kids who get into one or no schools at all at this level, and they don't believe me, despite there being threads here on CC proving it.</p>

<p>I got a 720 on Math II SAT2 and obviously want to retake it (I want to major in business and Wharton is my top choice). A 720 is like 67th percentile or something. My mom keeps telling me I'm crazy (she is literally 100% serious) and threatening to call a therapist because I think I should retake that score. She believes that, as she says, "anything above 700 is amazing and if you retake it there's no point and you're obsessed and crazy." The same thing happened when I got my 2330 SAT with a 740 CR and wanted to retake it because I'd been consistently getting 800s on CR practice and knew I could do it. She wouldn't let me.</p>

<p>And my mom keeps citing examples of people (one boy we know in particular) with really good stats who didn't get into top schools and saying "See? Even if you 'obsess' and try to get these super high scores you can still be rejected!" as a way of telling me to chill and stop working so hard towards it. But what she doesn't seem to get is that having great scores doesn't ensure you will get accepted, but having not so great scores does almost ensure that you won't get in. She applied and was accepted to schools like Northwestern, Haverford, WUSTL, and 6 year med programs back when she went through this, so she thinks she's qualified to advise me on college admissions nowadays, even though it's super selective now.</p>

<p>This college process has become a serious nightmare to me, and what should be an exciting and maybe slightly nerve-wracking time in my life has become an absolute terror and is causing me so much undue stress because of my parents. They think that because I actually care about certain college related things I am crazy (literally. no joke). Whenever I bring up something related to college it becomes a fight in my house and I hate it.</p>

<p>**PLEASE SAY A BIT ABOUT HOW THEIR PERCEPTIONS ARE UNTRUE. I plan to show this thread to my parents as proof so they can no longer say I'm making up what people tell me online. Please and thank you!!!</p>

<p>MAIN POINT (for people who skipped everything until now): It would be great if you guys could post things to disprove any or all of the following sentiments/opinions my parents hold:**</p>

<ol>
<li>Having good stats means you will get into a lot of good schools.</li>
<li>Having a "good number" of general ECs is fine. After like 5 or so random school ECs, you're fine and don't need any more.</li>
<li>6 APs in senior year is too many; you only need a few APs to get into the top schools.</li>
<li>You don't need to visit/interview anywhere really. It makes no difference at all, good or bad.</li>
<li>You don't need to apply to maybe 8 or so schools, even if they are mostly really hard to get into.</li>
<li>Everyone has gotten into some schools. There exists no one who had great stats who applied to mostly incredible schools and ended up with one or maybe one acceptances.</li>
<li>A 720 Math II SAT2 is incredible, even for Ivies. Retaking it would literally make you crazy and obsessed.</li>
<li>A lot of kids with good stats don't get into some of the top schools, so there's no point in trying extremely hard to retake tests and get perfect grades, because even kids with perfect scores don't always get in. (for this one, basically I keep telling them that good stats don't guarantee an acceptance but not great stats basically guarantee a rejection).</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>P.S. my parents are like anti-helicopter parents, encouraging me not to do stuff and * not* getting involved unless they want to somehow limit me. I actually wish they were helicopter parents at times like this.</p>

3

<p>Born2Dance94:</p>

<p>I feel for you… my parents were the same way when i was younger. But thankfully… whether it was my consistent arguing or maybe the real world hitting them, they relented. Now I can do whatever I want (obviously within reason), and I absolutely love the freedom. </p>

<p>I’m not telling you this because I want to brag, but because I want you to know that I have been on both sides of the fence and I can relate exactly to what you are saying. Hopefully that will give some credibility to what I am saying. Now to the parents:</p>

<p>Number one, kudos to you if you are actually taking the time to read this comment. However the fact that your son/daughter had to seek the potential help of random strangers in order to convince you to let them do things… or to at least use as a tool for explaining themselves is quite sad. I once had parents like you, who whether it be through false arrogance or pride or whatever… thought that what I did was good enough and almost forced me to hold back what I was capable of. Honestly, in my opinion, that is the worst possible thing that you can do for your child, without even the consideration of college applications. How can you expect your child to grow up and meet their potential (which in this case seems to be quite tremendous) if you bottleneck them and settle for the sub-par. if you are not encouraging your child to do new things yourself then you should at LEAST be supportive enough to go along with what they want to do!</p>

<p>The times have changed since you went to college. There are now more accomplished applicants than ever. Not simply people who have “general Extra-curricular’s”, but students who actually have pushed themselves to accomplish great things. This kind of accomplishment and dedication to something is ONLY the product of an under-taken venture into something your child GENUINELY ENJOYS. </p>

<p>As for standardized testing… Less than 50% (MUCH LESS in some cases) of students who have absolutely perfect scores on the ACT and SAT are accepted into a certain ivy or top-tier universities. While you or other students may consider a 720 to be good, or hell even great, it is irrelevant if your kid thinks they can do better. You, as a responsible parent, should push your child to do their absolute best, as i touched on before. I think you should definitely say good job, and be content with that score, but to claim your child is “crazy and obsessed” for trying to get better… thats honestly and completely ridiculous on your part. </p>

<p>Overall, I was saddened by your child’s post. It showed great initiative and problem-solving, however obviously you have failed to recognize this. That is your mistake, one that you must rectify. If you honestly believe that someone with “decent”, or “general” grades and EC’s will make it into the top-tier universities then you have fallen away from the times. You should be encouraging your student to do their absolute best and pursue whatever makes them happy, because that is not only what will bring home the acceptance letters from the top-tier universities, but it will also create an all around good person.</p>

<p>I hope this helps you to see reason!</p>

4

<ol>
<li><p>Having good stats DOES NOT mean you will get into all the good schools- This is because a good school already expects most of its applicants to have these stats, so you are just fulfilling the standard. What really gets you into good school is showing passion or drive towards something in a way that distinguishes you from you peers</p></li>
<li><p>General ECs and just a magic number are NOT fine- You need to show commitment, passion, and leadership through your ECs, not just show up for credit. You need ECs that stand out and can make you noticeable in the admissions process. There is no special number that does this because it could be 4 ECs to much more beyond that.</p></li>
<li><p>You need MANY MORE than a “few” APs to get into top schools- Top schools want to see you take the hardest courses possible for you, so if that means taking 6 APs, thats what they will expect to see. AP courses show a drive to do work that is both hard and long, much more so over any other “honors” courses. By taking APs and doing well, you are showing top schools your ability and hard work.</p></li>
<li><p>An interview can affect you FOR BETTER OR WORSE- An interview shows the college what type of person you are and your interviewer can assess how well you are suited for their school. On a resume that is on the fence, an interview can make or break you. A well done interview can land you into that top school and poorly given one can have the opposite effect. Not going for interviews can cause you to lose out on further solidifying your chances with a school. </p></li>
<li><p>You should apply to an appropriate amount of schools- I would say anywhere from 10-15 is about right. You need to have three categories: The top schools or any other reach schools, match schools that are probable acceptances, and fall backs which are guaranteed. Failure to do so and applying to only top schools could leave you with no acceptances in hand and nowhere to go in the fall. By having back ups, you are still in good shape even if you dont get into the most prestigious schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Good stats dont equal acceptances- I have friends who applied to college and only for Ivies and other reach schools and had no acceptances. I’m talking about 4.0 unweighted gpa, 2300+ SATs, etc. Why? Because they did nothing to safeguard themselves from the worst possible situation: getting no acceptances.</p></li>
<li><p>720 is not incredible for a top school including IVIES- Let me tell you, 720 is quite mediocre for a top school. My friend who went to UPenn got 800s on Chem, Physics, Bio, AND Math II, so 720 doesnt cut it. You are not crazy for retaking it, because it shows the desire to do better. I know kids who got scores like yours the first time and then 800s the second time around.</p></li>
<li><p>You should ALWAYS strive for the best- Yes, kids with great stats do not always get into top schools. Does this mean you should give up? Absolutely not. There is no formula, so two kids with identical stats could apply to the same schools and get different results, because the admissions process is not formulaic. It is something that takes into account everything about you, so your effort is also considered. Top schools students have the mentality that being good enough or smart enough ISN’T enough. This is what drives them to do phenomenal things and what gets them in in the first place. If you dont have the attitude to always striving for the best and working hard, then you dont have a chance of getting in.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>As a final note, what colleges did you parents go to to have authority on the subject? Based on their attitude they definitely didn’t go to a top school, in my honest opinion. Parents should be supportive of a child and their ambitions, not guide them with their own perception of how things get done in this world. If I were you, I would sit them down in front of your computer and show them some of the things other people have done to get into those schools and then have them reconsider their actions. As for you, I wish you luck with your crazy parents, for currently, they seem to be the BIGGEST obstacle for your chances of success at top schools like the Ivies.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

5

<ol>
<li><p>Not per se. Numbers are only one part of the package, but are still very important, whether they be grades or test scores. &lt;/p></li>
<li><p>It’s not about breadth, it’s about depth and showing where your passions lie. Do things you love, not things you think colleges will love. For some, that may be 10 clubs, for others it may even be just one club that they dedicate a lot of free time to. Some in tough situations may have their only EC be caring for siblings because their parents work multiple jobs. Even top colleges see merit in this.</p></li>
<li><p>If you handle a very rigorous course already, 6 AP’s won’t make a difference. Not every AP class will have a deadly workload or be devastatingly difficult, unless you elect to take classes which you know you will hate/be bad at just to take AP’s (Physics in my case). Take classes which you know you will enjoy and benefit from. I’m taking six next year, but they all interest me and I’ve made sure that they are not all heavy-workload classes, so I can enjoy my senior year while challenging myself.</p></li>
<li><p>You should take any advantage you can to visit a school. A website can only tell you so much and can give you the wrong impression. Visiting a campus gives you the feel of the school, and will tell you whether the school may be right for you or not. Otherwise, judgment is based solely on superficial factors such as prestige, hearsay, anecdotes, etc. In fact, up until recently, I would not even consider Williams because their website had the most horrendous purple layout I’ve seen in my life. It’s different now and I suddenly took a liking to the school. Does that sound like something that should determine where you attend? VISIT. (btw, I am applying for a williams visitation program!)</p></li>
<li><p>If a lot of your schools are reaches, you will want to pad with safeties and reaches. Always have two safeties to ‘play it safe.,’ but make sure you’d be willing to attend them. There was a user here who applied to 29 colleges after being rejected from Stanford EA, and got into all 29. This may be a bit extreme and an unusually lucky case, but sometimes it’s better to be safe or sorry. I am applying to at least 8 schools as well because I have many reaches. If I am outright rejected from SCEA (Harvard), I will of course apply to more than just seven RD because I have no idea if any of my reaches will take me, and no one wants to be sitting in a corner in april, crying because he only applied to ivy league schools and was rejected from each one.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t understand this statement, but there is no precise “archetype” of the typical student for any given school. Some students apply to ivies as a shot in the dark and make it in. Some are double legacy minority athletes with 2400’s who have been planning all their life to attend an ivy, and end up rejected. Admissions is holistic, unpredictable, and sometimes subjective. Just try your absolute best, push yourself, be passionate (and make sure this reflects in your applications) and trust that you will end up at a school which is right for you, whether you envisioned attending there or not.</p></li>
<li><p>For ivy’s, 700+ is average-ish, 750+ is good, 770+ is very good, 800’s are, well, the best way to help your case! haha. Either way, not everything should be measured by ivy standards, but by YOUR standards. If you are ■■■■■■■■ at math like me, 720 may be better than an 800 in your eyes. If you are a math person, you should of course retake. Retake tests if you know you have the potential to do better and are not personally satisfied with your achievement for intrinsic reasons, not extrinsic. I retook a 750 in Latin because it’s my passion, not solely because I wanted a perfect score to flaunt around. Retaking a 720 is not obsessive, unless you’ve already retaken it before.</p></li>
<li><p>See number 1. Grades are PART of the package. You should not solely obsess on them, you’ll end up a weird creep whom people avoid. (trust me, that was me in middle school.) Good grades won’t hurt, but they won’t also be the thing that seals the deal in ivy admissions because many will have 4.0’s. However bad grades won’t help your case at all, especially with good test scores. You may come across as a slacker. Long story short, grades get you considered, but they will never be the deal-sealer in admissions.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>How about you and your parents come back from your opposite extremes and compromise. Maybe you can stop obsessing about ivies 24/7 and focus on your passions. If you try your best, you will naturally excel, whether it be for intrinsic reasons or extrinsic. Focusing on the intrinsic reasons will set you up for success as a human being in the future, as opposed to the robot which most people on this site will become. Your parents, however, should not be so lenient. College admissions is tougher nowadays, so both you AND your parents should realize that more hard work may be expected from you than from a student a few decades ago. Moreover, while your parents should realize that they may be out of touch with college admissions, YOU should also realize that you aren’t an admissions officer. Stay in touch with who you are as PERSON. Realize that your parents may be lenient BECAUSE they see you stressing out all the time. That’s no way to live life. Good luck in all your endeavors in the future!</p>

6

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<p>No. Generally speaking a significant degree of subjectivity, and thus randomness exists in the decisions process. Given current admissions rates it’s not uncommon to be rejected from large numbers of top schools, so spreading out applications widely is nearly always a good strategy (anecdotally, a friend of mine that graduated just a few weeks ago was rejected from every ivy but Harvard). For this one, you should ask your parents to peruse the decision threads on CC for top schools. For a particularly extreme example see Silverturtle’s decisions - a 4.0 / val / 2400 / minority applicant who was rejected from every ivy but Brown.</p>

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<p>Schools couldn’t care less about how many ECs you have - the issue is quality. Most students that are admitted have significant accomplishment in their primary ECs, and meaningful participation in others. </p>

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<p>You don’t need any APs to get in to a top school - but it does help. Refer your parents to this (peer reviewed) paper: <a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Frog%20Pond%20Revisited%20Espenshade%20Hale%20Chung%20Oct%202005.pdf[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Frog%20Pond%20Revisited%20Espenshade%20Hale%20Chung%20Oct%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; in which the author, a sociologist at Princeton, analyzes probabilities of admission to a basket of top schools given various characteristics. His conclusion? Controlling for everything else, each AP test taken gives the applicant an extra 3% chance of admission (additive) in a linear relationship.</p>

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<p>For visiting it depends on the school. For places at the absolute top of the pile - Harvard, Yale and the like, visiting does not make any difference. For places like Emory, U Chicago, Northwestern, and WashU however (all excellent schools btw) they DO track demonstrated interest to protect their yield. In layman’s terms they count how many times you visit, sign up for their mailing lists and otherwise show an interest in the school and provide a “bump” in admissions to those who seem to be truly committed to the school. </p>

<p>Regarding interviews, the general consensus is that you should do them unless you absolutely cannot. MIT analyzed their results dataset a few years back and found those who interviewed were 5 times more likely to be admitted then those who did not - see here: [MIT</a> Admissions: Interviews / Educational Counselors (ECs)](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/index.shtml]MIT”>http://mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/index.shtml) While other schools don’t release such data, it is reasonable to assume that their results are similar given similar selectivity.</p>

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<p>See #1 above. 8-12 schools is not at all unreasonable given the current admissions environment.</p>

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<p>Again, see #1 and the acceptance threads on various schools’ pages. Unless you are a 2400/4.0 legacy URM that won ISEF and have parents that promise a $30 million donation to whatever school you attend, you cannot guarantee acceptance anywhere.</p>

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<p>While I unfortunately do not have a solid source for this claim, I have heard that a few years back Caltech’s entire incoming class had an 800 on the SAT subject test in math. Unless you are a hard-core english person applying to a school like Yale, anything less then a perfect score on the math subject test is a negative due to the massive curve on the test (even then it’s still a negative in most cases).</p>

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<p>Refer them to the graphs on page 6 of this study: <a href=“http://mathacle.com/college/A_revealed_preference_ranking.pdf[/url]”>http://mathacle.com/college/A_revealed_preference_ranking.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Written by a pair of professors at Harvard, the primary purpose of the study was to rank colleges but as an aside they calculated admissions probabilities by SAT score band. The result? A higher score nearly always helped your chances, straight up to a perfect 2400. Regarding the second point on perfect scores, it is true that some people do get shut out of most top schools despite top scores (see silverturtle’s decisions) but it always helps to have higher stats - and the difference is nearly always nontrivial.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone! I’m letting the rents cool down for a day or two after tonight’s fight about college (that prompted me to finally make this post) but then I’ll show this to them. Thanks again for all of your help! :)</p>

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<p>Unfortunately (fortunately for them I guess, but unluckily in this situation) they went to good schools, my mom in particular. She was accepted with full scholarships to WUSTL and Northwestern, among other top schools, and some 6 year med programs, one of which she chose to go to. But because she did so well with acceptances, she thinks that I will automatically do as well.</p>

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<p>Thanks. :slight_smile: But luckily I’m not obsessed with the Ivies. I’m applying to a few of them, and sure it would definitely be nice to get in, but that’s why I have other schools on my list. I have 2 solid safeties that I basically know I will get into, 2 that are likely safeties, and like 4 or 5 matches. Also, all the APs I’m doing next year are solely for me, because I want to do them. The one main AP my parents don’t want me doing next year is AP Latin because I’m already doing AP Spanish but the school recommended me skipping ahead to AP Latin as well (I started in Intensive last year). It’s because I absolutely love languages, not for colleges to see a bunch of APs I don’t love.</p>

<p>Good luck to you too next year!</p>

8

<p>Let us know what they say!</p>

9

<p>To start, your parents have somewhat of a point. You aren’t completely right, I have read many of your posts on here and you seem very pessimistic often about chances for yourself and others. A major thing that you have to realize, is that CC makes chances at admission seem HARDER than it is in reality. Sure many great CCer kids get rejected, but besides HYPS, its very unlikely that top qualified candidates like yourself would be rejected. Of course, it’s possible, and you seem to hang on to the minority of amazing students that get rejected(they do), but the fact is the majority DONT get rejected from most schools. Also, you frequently cite naviance. THAT SITE IS SO MISLEADING. we used to have it but they took it away. The six main parts of your college app that are more or less equal (duke adcounselor told me this) are Grades you got in your classes (GPA, although not just the number because there are so many diff scales), Test Scores, Class Rigor, ECs, Essays and Reccomendations. Out of these six she said even tho they are mostly equal, the most important by a little bit is your grades and the LEAST important by a little bit is your test scores. Naviance is misleading because it doesnt take into account recs, essays, ECs, or class rigor, 2/3 of your App. Also, the GPA can be misleading too because you can have a 3.9 UW by getting all A’s and 4ish A-'s OR you could get all A’s and 2 C’s. The person with the 4 A-'s has better grades, even with the same GPA. So the only thing naviance TRUTHFULLY judges you against from kids at your school is test scores, the least important part of your app. That being said, your parents are wrong about many things. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Having good stats means you will get into a lot of good schools.
Yes, this is true. While you may not get into a lot of upper ivies, if you apply to a bunch of schools you will get into to a decent amount of good ones. Good is such a subjective word, but a school doesnt have to be Ivy to be good and I hope you know that.</p></li>
<li><p>Having a “good number” of general ECs is fine. After like 5 or so random school ECs, you’re fine and don’t need any more.
This is wrong. It makes you boring and appear to just look like your joining to put it on the resume. Honestly 1 or 2 EC’s could be great, if you are really passionate and have leadership in them. So you don’t need more than 5, just have a few you’re passionate about. </p></li>
<li><p>6 APs in senior year is too many; you only need a few APs to get into the top schools.
I mean it depends on how many your school offers, however the above statement is usually false. You need to be taking as challenging a course load as possible for top schools, so if your school has an abundance of AP’s 6 is fine. Will it make much of a difference if you only took 5 APs? No it probably wouldn’t but if you know you can handle six by all means take six.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t need to visit/interview anywhere really. It makes no difference at all, good or bad.
At some schools this is true. They don’t care about level of interest. However a few schools, WUSTL and Emory and Northwestern for example, care about level of interest, meaning your app gets boosted if you visit or interview. Interviews are never required and they don’t make a huge difference either way, but if you really like a school, you should interview to show your interest and if you are interested, the interview will likely go well and it will boost your app.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t need to apply to maybe 8 or so schools, even if they are mostly really hard to get into.
If you are applying to all hard schools this is correct. However, you shouldnt be applying to 8 schools just because of their prestige. I hate to break it to you, but prestige is pretty insignificant, especially undergrad. the majority of us will have to go to grad school and that is when prestige matters more. The schools need to actually interest you. Don’t apply to 15 schools just because 13 of them are in the top 20. Honestly, I think applying to any more than 7 or 8 schools is absurd.</p></li>
<li><p>Everyone has gotten into some schools. There exists no one who had great stats who applied to mostly incredible schools and ended up with one or maybe one acceptances.
This has happened, which is why many “smart” ppl get screwed by not applying to any safeties, but again it is a small minority of students. So while it is possible and you cant say for sure it won’t happen, it probably won’t.</p></li>
<li><p>A 720 Math II SAT2 is incredible, even for Ivies. Retaking it would literally make you crazy and obsessed.
this is incredibly wrong. Horribly wrong. A 720 Math II makes you look REALLY bad at Ivy league schools. It is a VERY weighted test, the most weighted arguably, so a 720 means you probably got around 60% of the questions correct. On most subject tests she would be kind of right, but the general rule of thumb is if its 750+ your good enough at any school, except in math 2 and maybe the languages if you’re a native speaker you should get an 800.</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of kids with good stats don’t get into some of the top schools, so there’s no point in trying extremely hard to retake tests and get perfect grades, because even kids with perfect scores don’t always get in. (for this one, basically I keep telling them that good stats don’t guarantee an acceptance but not great stats basically guarantee a rejection).
They dont make sense here, and you kind of do, but you are kind of wrong as well. You should always try your hardest to be as good as you can be (if thats perfect fine), HOWEVER, in your particular case, with a 2330, there isn’t a strong need to retake it. Your test score is already better than the vast majority of Ivy league candidates so it’s going to be your strength already and getting it higher won’t really make much of a difference. At this point you aren’t going to be rejected because of your test score, its better than most people they accept, and strengthing it anymore won’t be significant because they look at such a broad range of things. If you only took it once you could retake it i guess, but if you have taken it twice already I wouldn’t.</p>

<p>This is directed at your parents, I hope they read this: While you may think you’re helping your daughter by restricting her to a degree (I can totally understand your reasoning, I do believe that many of us on CC are too academically involved and could ease up a bit) you have to trust that if she thinks she can handle or do something, she can. It’s not really your choice what classes she takes or not, and especially not what clubs she joins. Like it or not, at this age (especially in this time period), her schooling is literally her career, the same as any job that you may have. And while yeah, for the next few years you still have control over her academic life, its ultimately her life and her decisions. You should still be one of her top advisors, but the only way I could really see it necessary that a parent meddle in high school life is if your daughter was on the other end of the academic spectrum and was not as involved or failing, which she clearly is not. Be happy she’s ambitious, many parents would kill to have that amount of work ethic and intelligence in their child and don’t hold her back. You’ve obviously done a great job raising her to be an excellent student with good character, but now its her turn to sail her own ship.</p></li>
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10

<p>Stewta’s post is the most accurate. You don’t need 6 APs in one year to get into an Ivy, nor do you need to have founded an international nonprofit before you graduate high school. These adcoms are selective because their schools are in demand and they have only so many beds to fill, but they’re not as absurdly selective as this site would have you believe. </p>

<p>My SAT I math score was somewhere around the 90th-92nd percentile and I still managed an acceptance to Wharton. I had a grand total of one business-related activity on my resume, and did not mention it but briefly in my application. Do what you love. I’m not kidding; there really is no need for more than 5 excurrics if you can write convincingly about your involvement in those 5 on your CommonApp. If you believe that admissions officers pore over applicants’ lists of excurrics with a fine-toothed comb, think again. They have literally hundreds of apps to read through and I’d be surprised if they even read past the first 5 excurrics even if the applicant has 500 listed altogether.</p>

<p>If you’re taking one of those APs just because you think it’ll help you get in (re: you’re not actually interested in the course), drop it from your schedule. Take a study hall- I did that senior year. Take an elective. </p>

<p>I know that I probably sound just as crazy to you as your parents do, but reading through your original post, OP, reminded me exactly of myself a year ago. But someone posted something like this on a thread I read; I took the advice to heart, ended up at my top-choice school, anyway, and allowed myself to really enjoy high school for the first time. I got Bs. I neglected to study for exams. And I regret nothing.</p>

<p>You only live once. You won’t take your high school transcript with you to your deathbed. What you can take are your passions, memories and love from and for the people you’ve chosen to spend your life with. Don’t waste your time killing yourself for As; spend it doing what you love with the people who care about you.</p>