<p>I wish I could “like” the post above :)</p>
<p>I loved your story Midlifedad!! Just awesome.</p>
<p>A friend of mine’s husband went to Harvard, she went to Williams. He says she had a much fuller collegiate experience than he did. She is much closer to so many more classmates, they go to her reunions, her friend’s weddings (and now their friends’ children’s weddings) etc. He does exceptionally well for himself, but when it comes to undergrad, he says he might have had a good education, but she walked away with an education AND life long connections that he has found himself taking advantage of at times, and gratefully so!</p>
<p>GOOD GRIEF!! !!!
Williams is considered by many, if not most knowledgeable people to be THE HARVARD of Liberal Arts Colleges!
Your parents SHOULD be enormously PROUD that you were accepted there.
It is they who should be ashamed for making you feel badly about this honor! .
Congratulations!!</p>
<p>Wow, the moment I saw you got accepted by Williams (referred to by some as one of the “little Ivies”), I had to wonder why on earth your parents are being so down on you.</p>
<p>My twin brother is off to Middlebury (another so-called “little Ivy”) in the fall and my parents are delighted.</p>
<p>Perhaps your parents don’t realize how highly regarded Williams is, in which case, make it clear to them.</p>
<p>Congratulations BTW.</p>
<p>Dear throwthisaway:</p>
<p>Over 20 years ago, many people, including my first-generation immigrant Asian parents, thought I was crazy to turn down an admissions offer and a graduate assistantship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. My parents would have preferred to have me stay in North Carolina instead of moving to the University of Maryland for graduate school UNC ranked higher for my field of study than Maryland does, but oh, I am so glad I moved. I learned so much about life outside the classroom, met my future husband and found a well paying job here in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that your parents was poorly advised about the lottery-like odds of getting into Harvard. But you are the one who is attending college. You are the one who can make the best of any situation.</p>
<p>Getting into Williams is no easy feat, especially for a child of first generation immigrant parents. Go to Williams and enjoy your years there! Make the most of the opportunities you find at Williams to advance your love of learning and into your chosen profession.</p>
<p>Williams College is an outstanding college. Congratulations on your acceptance there. In addition to having terrific academic programs, and a beautiful location, they have outstanding facilities as well. </p>
<p>You are going to have a wonderful college experience there.</p>
<p>In same situation, going to USC. Im happy, and my moms still crying and angry that its not fair. But im happy i got where i am.</p>
<p>you will LOVE USC!
congratulations!
and tell your mom to dry her tears and that recent USC grads got into HARVARD Medical School, Princeton, MIT and CalTech graduate programs, just to name a few…</p>
<p>OP are you serious? I hope it isn’t a ■■■■■ post.</p>
<p>But if it’s real, for all the complaining I do about my Asian parents, now that I think about it, they’re actually quite laid back. (And not just in comparison to OP’s parents)</p>
<p>What? Your parents are embarassed because you were admitted to the #1 liberal arts college in the country?</p>
<p>Proud parent of a Williams student. So is her friend’s Dad, a Harvard alum who often regrets his choice of Harvard over Williams. Show them the Forbes ranking [America’s</a> Top Colleges - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/]America’s”>Forbes America’s Top Colleges List 2022) which has Williams #1 over all schools (including the Ivys) for the past 2 years.</p>
<p>It never helps to have a golden kid who gets into Harvard who lives next door, LOL! </p>
<p>Enjoy your time at Williams…your parents want you to be successful, which is something that all of us parents want for our kids. They just don’t know enough about the many different avenues to success.</p>
<p>Leisure time is nice, but I’ve known many young men who have gone off to college and spent most of their freshman year playing video games late into the night, every night. You won’t have a parent to tell you to get off the computer and go to bed. Just saying…be careful and disciplined.</p>
<p>It’s too bad that your parents are upset, you have a lot to be proud of. Keep that in mind until the whole thing blows over. You did get accepted into a great school and that is something to be happy and excited about. It will blow over eventually.</p>
<p>It makes me wonder if they were pushing you all along, or did they leave it up to you and only get upset after the results were not what they were after? Everyone needs their down time. If you were a slacker then you would not have gotten into the school that you did. I don’t think you should feel bad about playing some video games and enjoying your free time.</p>
<p>You will be busy enough very soon when you are away at school. It might be tough but you have to try your best to pay no mind to what your parents are saying about the whole thing. You can’t do anything about it now so why get worked up about it all. Have faith that they will relax eventually. It might be a good idea to tell your folks all the good things that people are saying about Williams, give them another perspective.</p>
<p>Dear OP, congratulations on getting into a school you like. I sympothesize with your situaition at home, but I think some of the comments on this thread, like “an environment where you are not valued as a human being”, are a bit overboard. CC is not an accurate reflection of the real world. Parents here tend to be more protective, and kids here tend to be more calculating, than in the real world. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for a kid to go through what you are going through in one form or another (not just about college admission). It’s not that big of a deal. Generation gap, culture gap, etc., all contribute to it. Some posters focused on your parents’ failure to stand in awe of the high-ranking Williams. In some way, their attitude is exactly like your parents’. I mean, what if you <em>only</em> got into state schools? Should that somehow justify your parents disappointment? Of course not, as long as you had done your best.</p>
<p>The truth is, Harvard and Williams are just two of many good schools. Neither is a life-defining <em>achievement</em>. You don’t know what you will do when you get there yet. Besides, the way you approached it, by “working your butt off on ECs and leadership, volunteering, tutoring, and so forth”, didn’t sound quite right to me. I’m sure you did those things out of your passion, and not to impress anyone.</p>
<p>Harvard seemed to be <em>your</em> goal as well. In that case, maybe your parents were more upset about your not giving up more gaming and TV to reach your goal, than about the end result. Many parents, blue collar or not, tend to have a different take on discipline and work ethics than we do. Maybe they worry (perhaps incorrectly) that you might fail at Williams if you keep misplacing your priorities. Cut them some slacks?</p>
<p>My parents thought like that until they realized how much pressure they were putting on all of my siblings. After my older sister started developing some mental health issues, they started encouraging state schools. Nonetheless she ended up at Columbia.</p>
<p>You may want to consider other options if you have them. Williams is intense and you seem to want a little more down time than you may be able to find there. I’m a Williams parent and a big fan of the place but it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>Tell your parents to read this blog.</p>
<p>You did a great job of getting into Williams and should be proud!</p>
<p>Do well at Williams and try to go to an Ivy for grad school if it is that important.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are a fine kid with great qualification! Enjoy Williams. I’m sorry your parents aren’t as savvy to the college “lottery” as the parents here… if they were they’d be proud and understanding.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your admissions to Williams! It is a truly special place to go to college. It was my first choice more than 30 years ago, and after looking at many colleges with my two sons, would again be my first choice today. Have a wonderful 4 years - I guarantee you that your parents will be extremely proud of you 4 years from now at graduation in Williamstown.</p>
<p>My perspective is that either your parents are morons or you are a phony, possibly both.</p>