| DadII, in spite of my directness towards you, I really feel for you and understand what you're going through.
The choice by your daughter to help at her school reflects the person she is. You'll never know that it is THIS type of information (which we all can assume was noticed by her recommenders at school) that will help land one of the amazing scholarships. I really think you're erroneously believing that test scores and grades are overwhelmingly important. From my vantage point, I think that you should probably be happy your daughter will present an image that is a bit different from many high academic achievers.
Here's a suggestion: encourage your daughter to spend all the time she wants on her EC and offer to help her jump the last hurdles of preparing for the scholarship. Set aside all the arguments and the things you'd like her to know about the finances. Sell her the idea that the scholarships play a role in the admission decisions, even if that is not entirely true in all cases.
Tell her you are a team and that you are her assistant and that you support her choices to the very end. If she refuses, tell her you love her.
You'll be happy in May.
PS DadII, please realize that many schools are following the lead of Harvard regarding financial aid. You may be pleasantly surprised by the new financial aid you'll receive in the Spring. |