Ok just a little bit about me, I am a junior in high school and have been a pretty good student my whole life. My SAT score is around 1500 and my weighted GPA is around a 5.1. I’ve been doing all-star cheerleading for a while now. It is something I am very passionate about and I would definitely want to cheer in college. Though, I am raised by strict Asian parents where education is everything. My parents expect me to go to ivy league schools and look down upon any lesser options I bring up. Can anyone offer a good match for me? I understand that I must get a good education, but would like to join a good, competitive cheerleading squad as well. It just seems hopeless at this point to find a middle ground while still pleasing my parents. Thank you!
Congrats on your success in high school! Maybe UNC, Wake Forest or Duke?
I think the first thing you need to work on is this expectation. Getting an offer to the top schools needs to be viewed more as a bonus. It can’t be an expectation for anyone.
What is your unweighted GPA?
I agree that managing expectations is important. Once the decisions for the Ivies start coming out, take a look at (and share with your parents), the decisions received. There will be kids with perfect GPAs, perfect test scores, and amazing activities rejected from all the Ivies and other top schools. I think most people are naive when it comes to admissions to those schools.
OP: Which schools are the lesser options that you “bring up” ?
This info. will help shape comments in response to your post.
For example: Are you suggesting Alabama & other publics or do your parents view schools such as Duke, Northwestern & Vanderbilt as unsuitable ?
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I brought up schools like UNC, Georgia Tech, and Duke.
@Eeyore123 True. I guess to like clear it up more, my parents want me to strive for ivies and set those as my goals instead of “compromising” somewhere else not as “good” for cheerleading.
“I brought up schools like UNC, Georgia Tech, and Duke.”
These are not “lesser” options and would be reaches for almost all applicants.
I think your bigger problem is going to be setting up reasonable expectations for your parents and looking at match and safety schools everyone will be excited about.
@PrdMomto1 My unweighted GPA last year was a 4.02
Thank you for everyone’s help and comments! Also sorry if this thread is super messy, it’s my first time using this platform.
I agree with the others about Ivies being a long shot for anyone. Show your parents the data so they know it’s essentially a lottery even for high stats, accomplished students like yourself.
They need to know that UNC, GT, and Duke are also reaches. You need to also add some match and safety schools.
Keep signaling to them now you don’t want an Ivy, but, honestly, I don’t recommend going to the mat fighting about something that has a slim chance of being an option. Apply to two or three Ivies, and If per chance you get into one, then you sit down and have the hard conversation about what you want vs. what they want for you.
The most urgent need to create a good solid list of reaches, matches, and safeties – and making sure you can afford to attend.
Good luck!
I was going to suggest GT!
Have you and your parents visited? I’d also show them some info on outcomes for grads of GT.
Maybe apply to the ivies with an understanding that GT is your solid back up.
Cheerleading is also another wildcard. What level team are you on? Are you the top person on the team? Does your team send people to higher level programs? Has any college program shown interest in you at competitions?
I know ivy league schools offer a lot. But cheerleading powerhouse isn’t one that comes to mind.
Duke would. And it ranks higher or as high as most of the Ivy League outside of hyp. in many rankings. Business school it’s second only to Wharton.
I like your list better than your parents list. Lol.
Keep up the good work.
It is very hard for Asian immigrant (I assume yours are immigrants) parents to understand that in the US it isn’t necessary to graduate from a place with an Ivy-level reputation in order to have a good life. So you have a bit of an uphill task ahead of you. Start by reminding them that there are many more applicants for those places than there are spaces in the freshman classes. What other places are acceptable in your parents eyes? What constitutes minimum requirements for acceptability? You will need safeties where your admission is guaranteed (U of Alabama would work for that) as well as good solid matches. Even with your grades and test scores, the Ivy-level places aren’t guaranteed.
While you are at it, help your parents run the Net Price Calculators at each of the college/university websites. They need to know how the finances can work out.
What do you want to study?
All you’ve mentioned is stats and loving cheerleading. It takes a lot more to get into a tippy top- and you haven’t mentioned what else you’ve done.
Also, for TTs, it’s not the SAT total, but the two components. An 800/700 isn’t going to cut it. So, what’s “around 1500” actually mean? And what else do you offer them, that they want to see?
Your chances of being accepted to an Ivy League school are slim, but they are slim for most.
UNC (reach or match depending on where you live), GT, and Duke are reach schools. And if you decide to add UVA or Michigan to your list…those schools are also reaches unless you live in Virginia or Michigan. Vanderbilt would be a reach as well. Of course you should apply if you like these schools, but keep your expectations in check.
I see schools such as Wake Forest, Lehigh, and Lafayette as more of a match (acceptance is not guaranteed to these schools). I think you can add the U of Maryland and UConn (probably honors) to this list. JMU (honors) and Pitt would be two more good schools to add.
Congrats on your accomplishments. If you craft an appropriate list you will have many wonderful schools to choose from. The biggest obstacle here, unfortunately, will be changing your parents mindset about what it means to receive an outstanding education. You have your work cut out for you.
Best wishes!
Have you engaged your parents in any substantive discussions yet? They do need to understand that even students with outstanding scores are likely to be rejected at the Ivies and places like Georgia Tech, UNC and Duke. There are simply too many applicants who bring amazing credentials to the table As far as cheerleading goes, I think your suggestions of GT, UNC and Duke are great, but these schools are reaches. Everybody needs matches and safeties too, regardless of what your parents’ expectations might be. With regard to the poster who suggested Georgia Tech as a back-up to the Ivies, think again, because admission there as an out-of-stater is equally unlikely. UVA has a great cheerleading squad and is slightly easier to get into, but here again, I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch. Plenty of top kids get rejected from UVA too. Long story short: I would apply to Ivies with good cheer squads (not sure which ones these are), Georgia Tech, UNC, Duke, Vandy and UVA – all as reaches. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get a hit. I would also look into some more reasonable cheer-worthy schools in the match and safety categories. I think the schools with top sports teams are a good place to start looking. Cheer is not my niche so I’m not too knowledgeable about it, but from what I’ve heard, you could consider Boston College, which is quite reputable for academics too. U Maryland comes to mind also. Good luck on both counts (college admissions and reasoning with your parents).