Reluctant and unsupportive parents

<p>I may only be going into my junior year but in my family, education is number one priority. My whole intermediate family and much of my extended family are UMich alumni or currently attending it right now. Although I will bleed maize and blue until the day I die, I really have no interest in attending it. I have always wanted to go out of state and my parents will support me financially but that doesn't stop their somewhat obvious disapproval. I am interested in schools like Bama, UGA, FSU, etc. I am just as smart as the Umich students in my family so it's not that part that frustrates me. My parents aren't forbidding me to go to any of those schools but the constant teasing makes me feel like I'm basically disappointing my family. My parents think any school in the south that isn't UF, will not be academically rigorous and is not at all to the level that U of M is. Any advice on how to convince these Michigan snobs that you don't need to go to a highly selective school to get a good education?</p>

<p>Personally, between all those schools, I’d go for UMich. At the end of the day you’ll get to go to school wherever you want but if accepted, I’d give UMich serious consideration. And if not UMich then something at its caliber elsewhere. What about University of Miami or Tulane? </p>

<p>Highly selective schools don’t guarantee a good education but most of the time they do offer a better one.</p>

<p>I love football, big schools, and beautiful weather. Also I want to have a career in media law but my dream is to have my own PR firm specializing in entertainment and sports events, I would even be an agent if it were easier to succeed in. So a college like U of M that is much more suited for students interested in more, should I say, intellectually-demanding fields like bio or chem, isn’t necessary for someone like me. At least this is how I view it, which may be entirely incorrect.</p>