<p>My dad is teetering over letting me attend UChicago. He is not completely sold. For years, my dad has been very adamant that I go into engineering. After years of lengthy lectures about the marketability of an engineering degree, the constant American need for home-grown engineers and scientists, and how its the “safest” bet to be successful, I finally got through to him that engineering is just not for me. Fast forward to now: my dad understands the level of academic prestige involved at UChicago, and is fully aware of the reputation of the economics department in academic circles (I plan on majoring in economics, but not just because of the department’s renown); yet he is still trying to push me away from Chicago. </p>
<p>So help me launch an offensive. Give me articles that expound how great UC is, how beneficial a UC economics degree can be, and how the University of Chicago presents an amazing opportunity. Give me all your articles! WSJ, Newsweek, NYT, anything; send me ammunition, my brothers and sisters!</p>
<p>Make it very plain to him that you have absolutely no intention of going into engineering! My dad had the same ambition for me, but I’ve managed to explain to him that my true love is math or computer science. He maintains I ought to go to a school with engineering, but that’s because I should work with engineers if I’m in CS. I think he still hopes I’ll reconsider, but he has gotten to the point that he’d certainly pay for UChicago if I choose it, and he won’t push me towards engineering. If you’ve found something that you’d do without getting paid that you can actually get paid for, you’re in good shape. There may be a demand for engineers, but only for ones who actually care about their work. </p>
<p>Is he in engineering or another science, or did he want to be one but didn’t have the opportunity? I think my dad’s desire to see me in engineering stems from his own love of it, and his hope that I could find it as satisfying. I don’t hate engineering, but seeing me work on a CS project or a math challenge has convinced my dad that I have found a passion, even if it isn’t his.</p>
<p>If your dad actually reads that article, he will see that all of the people in it attended the university that accepted them that they felt was right for them. Nothing in the article suggests that it’s a good strategy to mortify yourself by walking away from a college that’s welcoming you and that you would choose to attend.</p>
<p>@celesul: He was an electrical engineer at the start, but his work hasnt been anything related to that in 15 yrs+. He himself hated it. But he pushes engineering on me simply because of the immediate career benefits. Students who graduate with engineering degrees usually have an easier job search, and can make a relatively high starting salary. </p>
<p>@JHS: I assure you, he read the article fully. I think the point my dad was trying to make-- a valid one-- was that people can be incredibly successful regardless of whether they attend their original first choice school. He is certainly not 100% against Chicago (as I indicated before), but he is still not completely sold. And as the article asserts, some of the most successful entrepreneurs and journalists got to where they are today despite not attending their first choice school. My dad kind of twisted the rejection part out of it to make it more relevant. Again, he’s a crafty one!</p>
<p>Do you need to attend the University of Chicago in order to be successful? Of course not! It’s not even worth talking about that. No one’s success depends on attending a particular institution, be it Chicago, Harvard, or West Point. A particular institution may make your path easier (or harder), but it doesn’t control where you are going or whether you get there.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it’s really, really hard to succeed doing something you don’t like and don’t want to do. That has nothing to do with Chicago vs. anywhere else. If the problem is your father wants you to study engineering and you don’t like that, your father is asking for a train wreck. If he wants to waste tuition money or scholarship opportunities, that’s the perfect way to do it.</p>