<p>All through high school freshman and sophomore years, I've been dreaming of ivy leagues, john hopkin, berkeley, etc. I would nonstop plan to take like 13 AP throughout my high school year. ETC.</p>
<p>Now, junior year just started, and I'm kinda whatever. Like I'm so conflicted now. My parents brought me so many SAT 2 prep books and AP prep books and all I want to do is enjoy my time. Like not be stressed out for PSAT, SAT, AP, etc. All I want to do is go into some state school where I'm going to get a lot of scholarships (rather than get into HUGE debts from a private school) and maybe get my master's at some top tier school. I don't know. I'm so conflicted right now. I don't know if I should waste like 300 dollars to tests that might not even affect my college plans.</p>
<p>I’m a senior and have just recently shifted my college list too. I now only have 1 reach. I only have Brown, Pace (NYC campus), CUNYs, Adelphi, and UMass Dartmouth. I think I’d be happy at any of them. It matters more where you go to grad school than where you go for undergrad. </p>
<p>I used to only want to go to Ivies like you did. I didn’t even want to look at any others. Contrary to what CCers think, just because you dont end up at an Ivy, doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.</p>
<p>I’m experiencing this right now, but it’s for a reason lol. My parents as well as my teachers said that it doesn’t really matter what school you go to, it’s about what you get out of the school and how much effort you put in. I’m taking it slow, I’m only taking 2 AP courses now and trying to enjoy myself a little. Personally, I don’t mind going to a state school at this point, as long as I get into college~</p>
<p>Same here! It’s just that, like I had this crazy realization on how it’s like my LAST two years of just being a kid. And I’m going to miss all of my family so much, so I’m just trying to spend as much time with everyone. My school also f’ed up my schedule, giving me only 2 APs. </p>
<p>And it’s so weird. Like I’m looking at my room and it’s filled with prep book. I don’t even think I had a good freshman sophomore year because I’m always test-stressed, etc. I feel like all that was a wasted time now.</p>
<p>I can’t blame you. This week I realized that i’d be spending my year running around like a chicken with my head cut off for 16+ hours/day/5 days a week and that i’d just be miserable. I stopped lying to myself about how I was going to do X thing fabulously and major in Y because I had something to prove. Dropped my hardest class, changed my career plan, and now I feel like I can breathe again, now that I have time to actually hang out with my friends and stuff.</p>
<p>That being said, I hear most of my classmates whining about how hard all of their classes are and how they have no time to do anything and it makes me roll my eyes. This one girl in my Anatomy class (that i’m no longer in) was practically bragging to her friend about how rudely she responded to and snapped at her parents about how she wanted to “do whatever she wanted” because she had homework to do. Sigh.</p>
<p>Wow! Normal teens!! Sorry, it’s just the site is filled with, “I’m taking ten AP’s and I am in like four extracurriculars and president of them all. Plus I only have 300 hours of volunteering.” You have to admit, a majority of teenagers don’t do that except on this site. I would just be happy with a college that gets me scholarships, and has a variety of classes that are well taught in the subjects that I’m interested in.</p>
<p>My freshman year I was convinced I wanted to go to an ivy (specifically Harvard)/freaked out when I got one high B in an honors class. Then I stated touring schools the summer after my sophomore year and realized I hate large schools. So now I am still looking at competitive schools, but they are all LACs so at the very least they have a more holistic approach to admissions. I will admit I am still one of those people who freaks out about little things that most people think are absurd (for example I am mad/trying to improve my class rank because I am in the top 13 percent of my class and am aiming to be in the top 10 percent).</p>
<p>Yeah, I had such an awful guilt-trip over dropping Anatomy that I cried every time I thought about it. I felt like I was letting some collective invisible entity (of peers, teachers, and parents) down, especially because everyone was praising me for taking such a hard class, but funnily enough as soon as I left the guidance office, everyone was applauding me for making the “smart choice” and dropping it, because “it was the the only thing to do.” Uh. Where were you guys in February when you all let me pick such a hard course load?</p>
<p>I don’t know, even though I like to think i’m relatively down-to-earth, it’s so easy to let the pressure get to you. I remember that for most of my secondary school life I felt like nobody cared about how I did, so I went from not caring to working my butt off to working hard to show the one person I really love (besides my parents) how capable I am. Now that I look back on that, man, I tried so hard to get their attention. Then I realized that I had accomplished that just by being me (and that I could never do anything to make that aforementioned person hate me or be disappointed in me), so I kept working hard, but for everyone and myself. I’m a crowd-pleaser, i’m not ashamed to admit it. Making other people happy makes me happy.</p>
<p>But man, so glad i’m not taking Anatomy anymore. Now i’m not crying over it anymore. I’m just a little bummed that now I only have 3 years of science (no way on this green earth i’m taking another real class in my previous Anatomy slot), but whatever. I’m probably not going to be a STEM major. I don’t even like science or math.</p>
<p>Unless you are really rich, in which case you would not go into debt, top-tier Ivy League schools are far more generous with financial aid and scholarships to their average matriculant than most state schools are to their “Trustee Scholars” and honors students.</p>
<p>This I believe, but what is the strictly average student to do?</p>
<p>I’m talking about the kids who just aren’t good enough to get that half-scholarship to an INS/OOS public U, the ones who can’t really afford to pay for school without loans who’ll get a piddly amount of aid from a private school, and none from a public one. They’ve probably never considered an Ivy because they don’t have the stats.</p>
<p>I personally think my GPA is mediocre compared to everything else i’ve done, so it sticks me in the ‘decidedly average’ bin.</p>
<p>And as of like 3 days ago I thought I knew what I was going to major in, what I was going to do in my life, and had a decent way to maybe pay for school, and then it all got flushed down the drain with a month and a half before college apps are due.</p>
<p>On your second point: why did it all get flushed down the drain?</p>
<p>On your original question: community college honors transfer program, 20+ hour/week job throughout college, summer paid internships or full-time unskilled jobs, careful budgeting, taking loans only when absolutely necessary and at lowest possible interest, selecting a major with easy-to-sell job skills (e.g., a hard science, math, computer science, engineering).</p>
<p>I enjoy pushing myself to get into a good school by doing all of these hard classes and studying nonstop, just because I know I’ve gone through a lot and want to have something better in my future.</p>
<p>By the same token, I just feel burnt out. I feel like I’m constantly moving forward, absolutely nonstop, with no time to just take a breather and enjoy life. It’s a really hard line to walk, and I’ve always skewed more towards work than play. So I definitely get your feelings.</p>
<p>I do believe ivy leagues are more generous than state schools in some regard… but really, the cost of living for most ivy leagues are 10-15% more expensive than say my neighborhood state school.</p>
I would just be happy with a college that gets me scholarships, and has a variety of classes that are well taught in the subjects that I’m interested in.</p>