<p>How should one go about convincing a parent to let them go to a college that the parent thinks is too hard for them? They would rather let their kid go to a private school that they perceive as being “easier”.</p>
<p>P.S. for some reference the former college is Macaulay at BC and the latter college is Pace U’s Honor program.</p>
<p>I’m going into this with the belief that the colleges know best if my kid can handle the work or not. They are the experts on their schools and they would not have put you in an honors program without confidence you could do the work.</p>
<p>Have your parents said why the believe the work will be too hard? Is there anything else that might be causing them to favor the one program over the other?</p>
<p>The parent is an alumnus of the school and said that the teachers are stingy with grades and their tests are harsh. They assume that private school professors are nicer since the kids pay more tuition.</p>
<p>Mr Grim, Is the BC you are referring to Baruch? Isnt there a huge financial difference between BC and Pace? This is wierd. I agree, I have trouble belieivng any school would let you in the Honors program if you did not have a high liklihood of success. Have you discussed this with your HS GC? Does you HS have any alumni that are currently at BC you could speak to? I dont beleive your parent’s experience a zillion years ago is necessarily accurate.</p>
<p>BC is actually Brooklyn College. Brooklyn College actually is in the name of my high school so there are plenty of people from my high school at BC. Pace would cost me 15k a year and BC would charge zero. My HS GC is all for BC</p>
<p>This is wierd, there are many many posts here from parents desperately trying to get their kid to agree to public U. Ok, going back, have you spoken to former alumns of your HS as to how they view grading? Maybe you get one or two to talk to parents? I think the cohort of Macauly kids will be a great group to be in.</p>
<p>Pace would cost YOU 15k a year – meaning you’d have to borrow that? Or would your parents pay it?</p>
<p>Some parents who have had a bad experience with a school are very reluctant about letting their children repeat it. I kind of feel that way about a couple of excellent colleges. They were not even a consideration for my kids because I felt that the way things work there, the type of kids there, the way classes are taught are a bit too impersonal and require more motivation than my kids have. This might be the situation with your parents as well. </p>
<p>However, I don’t think that Pace is such that you will so much more nurtured that you would be that far ahead going there over Brooklyn College. Get some specific info about not only the colleges but how the courses you are eyeing will be taught. I know that with my son, a critical difference was class size and the fact that he would get professors and no grad students teaching him at the LACs, vs some pretty big sections at some of his other choices. Also where he is going to school, the profs tend to get very involved in the class projects and work closely with the kids. Those things are what can make a difference for some kids. My older son has taken a couple of courses where you basically do everything via pager because there are so many kids in the class, and the grad students are constantly being changed around so there is very little continuity or experience in the recitations. Also the profs rarely interact with the kids at that level. Even for him, who only had a few courses in this category, it made things more difficult for him. Yet there are some kids who prefer the anonymity that such a system provides.</p>
<p>My parents would be able to pay off 15k a year without loans.</p>
<p>Thanks for you ideas.</p>
<p>Sometimes the best way to convince parents of something is to present them with a written proposal detailing your position. It take the emotion out of the argument and shows that you are willing to invest time thinking about the situation and coming up with solid reasons they can feel comfortable supporting your decision.</p>
<p>I really think it’s worth it to take another look at schools like Brooklyn College. I mean it’s affordable, it’s a nice campus with a library that’s really decent. Places like Pace are okay, but I really feel that should u pick Brooklyn you get not only BC but the resources of all of CUNy at your disposal. Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>Have your parents visited both schools recently? – maybe meet up to talk with a professor at each?</p>