soozievt

sakky,
About the video games. My kids never played them, but not because we didn't let them but because they were overly busy with extracurriculars that interested them more. They didn't have time to hang out. While I am not against video games, I don't consider this an EC in the sense that that term is usually used. I don't think colleges consider video games as ECs either. I think of video games as something someone does in their free time. I don't think too many kids get into elite colleges whose only EC is video games. Most have interests they pursue but those interests may not be "useful" or may not tie into a field of study or career. I highly valued my kids' EC pursuits. It was a HUGE part of their development and has been a HUGE part of the college experiences as well. Academics are not the only thing that matters to me or to them.

[quote]Most students will switch majors if the alternative is to flunk out entirely.[quote]

Many many people switch majors for lots of reasons. I am all for switching majors. Many 18 year olds have no idea what they want to study until they have tried something or many things out. That is what college is for. You mention flunking out....well if you are flunking out, one must examine why. You either are not working hard enough or maybe the field doesn't interest you enough to pursue it....time to make some sort of change. Change majors, change colleges, don't go to college, take a year off, etc. What I was saying before is that my children would not change majors just because another major was easier just so they could graduate. I would not even want to spend money (let alone have them spend time on) studying something deeply that they had NO interest in. By the way, my kids are interested in MORE than one thing. But they would never major in something they are not passionate about.

I have one kid in a liberal arts degree program. She is the epitome of "well rounded" as you can get. Even one of her college app essays focused on being well rounded and having a myriad of interests. She doesn't like only one top and hates everything else. She'd be the first to tell you that she likes many things. Even her major and intended graduate field of study is a very interdisciplinary field and that is one thing she likes about it. She highly valued a liberal arts education and in fact, in her field, she could have done a professional degree program as an undergraduate but didn't want to commit to or be limited to focus primarily on one thing for undergrad school. My other kid is in a highly focused program that is a specialized professional degree program for undergrads. She has known her passion from a very very young age. However, she is also interested in the liberal arts subjects she takes. But she has a deep seated passion in her field of study and I can't imagine her majoring in anything else. This field required a commitment to the major at the time of application. Her field of study is her life. But she is interested in other things.

I care about my kids having a bright future full of happiness and opportunities that they may seek. I don't care what field they go into and I don't care how much money they earn. Both have chosen professions that are not high paying and I support them through and through.

We encouraged always doing your best in school (they did....they happen to be internally motivated and so never were pushed). We also supported their pursuits of whatever EC passions they had. I don't care if their EC passions or skills are "useful." Actually, one passion of one of my kids is ski racing. She is not going to be a ski racer for her career. I can tell you that she drew parallels (no pun intended) to her life in ski racing to her graduate field/pursuit on her statement of purpose to get into grad schools (she got into many top ones in her field). I think there is a lot to be gained by immersion in many EC pursuits, even if the actual activity is not one that is in itself useful later on.


Um....SOME parents feel that way....I see it on CC with lots of folks. But I do not agree that MOST feel that way. We definitely do not!!!! I wanted my kids to go to whatever college they wanted and am grateful they got into their favored schools and are happy there. I'd be happy if they had gone to lower ranked schools where they were a good fit and where they were happy. My kids have never read the rankings in US News and are unaware of where their schools are ranked. I am not even sure where their schools are ranked (I'd have to look it up as I don't pay much attention to US News rankings) but I just know that they have chosen good schools that are great fits for them. By the way, when my older D was picking where to attend college four years ago, she had to narrow it down to a few to revisit that April from among all her acceptances. She knocked out one Ivy she got into and was selected as one of 100 scholars at and chose two lower ranked schools she preferred over that Ivy to possibly attend and revisit. She went with best fit. For grad school.....my D has chosen MIT but had she chosen Syracuse, I'd have been just fine about it. Syracuse offered her lots of money and MIT did not. Some might say we are nuts to let her go to MIT but MIT is a better fit for what she wants. She cares (and we do too) about how the school fits what she wants. She went to visit all six grad schools she got into and didn't just say, "I got into MIT....I gotta go there.....it is ranked second in my field"....rather, she wanted to figure out which program was the best fit. Sorry, not all kids and not all parents feel as you described. Some do. I see some on CC. I run into some in my line of work as a college counselor. Also, my kids grew up in a rural area and went to an unknown public school and nobody here is caught up in the "gotta go to prestigious top school frenzy." For me, I want my kids to get into schools they like and I want them to be real happy once they get there. That's it. I am so thankful that this has happened for them.