@kassh4 My parents are the same way. They’re supportive and all, but they’re not very invested in my education. They’d be just as happy if I decided to go to trade school. I almost wish they would put more pressure on me. Maybe I’d be more motivated and productive.
@hoppybird6 From what I know, the ACT science section mainly tests on how well you can interpret graphs quickly. It doesn’t really test on science material like cellular functions and chemical equations but being familiar with these topics would help interpret graphs more easily. I suggest looking up practice ACT tests online and completing the science sections, and for the questions you get wrong, you should look at them to see what to improve on.
My parents are really supportive and willing to let me study anywhere, even in other countries. I come from a background where there are not many college graduates and higher education was basically non-existent, so my parents instilled the value of education in me at a young age. I guess that just made me more aware of the opportunities I have and what I can accomplish compared to the thousands who don’t even have a school to go to. Like the other day, I got a brochure full of private universities with tuition over $40K, and besides the fact that tuition is high and those schools don’t give financial aid, my parents encouraged me to look over and even apply if I liked any of them.
my parents are weirdly supportive but not at the same time?
like they support my education, slaving away to pay for my private school tuition, and they want me to apply to the best schools regardless of tuition. my only issue is that they think that the only degrees worth pursuing are hard science/vocational degrees. I told them the other day that I wanted to study neuroscience and my dad shot me down and told me that was a useless degree and that I should do biology. They think it’ll prepare me more for med school, but I think they’ll come around to understanding my point of view. I hate pre-professionalism and studying just for an occupation/college/etc. I just want to learn and explore, and my undergrad years seem to be the best place to do that
Hm my mom is supportive and generally doesn’t care about my school stuff. As long as I’m getting A’s and doing well, she doesn’t interfere. However, since college is coming up, she has been trying to get more involved (making me study for the SAT more, wanting me to do this and this, etc.), but it’s been really annoying and not actually beneficial, so whenever she does try to get involved with my school and college stuff, I try to stop it. 
I like doing my school and college stuff myself. I am trying to better my work ethic though, since it is atrocious at the moment.
Yeah i like to know that they want me to succeed and stuff but I would hate for them to be obsessed with my grades and stuff cuz if i do bad on one test i would never hear the end of it and it would bet really annoying.
However, my dad helps me whenever I have questions. He helps look over my list of colleges and schedules, etc. because he’s familiar with that stuff because he went through the college process with my two older siblings.
@Hamlon My mom checks my grades often and threatens to take away my extra curriculars if I have missing work or have a B or above. She also doesn’t want me to take any AP classes next year and won’t discuss college with me (I have been thinking about and taking a little about college since sophomore year).
@acomfysofa Do you have any idea on when school will resume? I feel like there should be some sort of law that would forbid a total shutdown of schools for the sake of the students, but I don’t know anything about the Canadian legal or education system.
My parents are very different when it comes to school. As long as I’m not getting into trouble, my dad doesn’t really care about what I do. Its nice that I don’t have to worry about his opinion, but I do wish that he would show interest occasioanlly. He never asks about school, the only time he approaches me first its always because of something my mom said.
My mom is the polar opposite. There are times I’m worried about her reaction to a bad grade more than the grade itself. I know it comes from a place of caring, but I wish she never discovered PowerSchool. I’m looking forward to my college grades belonging to me alone.
My parents are fine as long as I have an A. Neither went to college (my mom nearly failed 9th grade) and my brother was belbow average with his grades and went to work after he graduated. My parents are confused about this entire college process, so I’m mostly going through it by myself. My parents don’t check my grades and don’t put much pressure on me because they don’t understand what’s going on. I’m sort of happy about that though because I like being in control of the entire process. I mean, it is affecting me, not them.
So, I’I kind of conflicted as to whether or not I should apply for the Questbrige Prep Scholars program as none of my stats fall into the average. Since the application is pretty long, are the benefits of the program so important that I should try even if I’m sure I’d get rejected? In other words: is it worth it?
Do you guys think I should list some of the conferences as part of my activities resume?
@ivakk
If your parents make over 65K, maybe you shouldn’t apply unless you have extenuating circumstances.
But personally, I’d say apply anyway. You’d never know if you don’t try.
@ak2018 Would the conferences add something unique to your resume?
Also, has anyone here done research with a college? I just emailed a professor and he basically said yes, but I have no idea what I would do/what to say next.
@LisaM I have! Do you have an idea of what you want to research? If so, pitch him your idea, ask for input, and inquire about how to begin. That’s what I did when I started working on my research project at a university. I also did that (except for the last part) when I emailed professors at another university when inquiring about the instruments they have available there at their observatory.
@LisaM OMG. Which university does he work at? My dad’s been trying to get me to research at GMU this year, but it’s really competitive. I might try and see if I could get a spot somewhere else.
@ivakk Every college prep scholar will now have the opportunity to participate in one of three national college admissions conferences at Pomona, Yale, and Emory. I hope I get CP scholar because I really want to visit Pomona!
@frazzledazzle Thanks for the advice! I found a professor who worked in the field I was interested, and I looked at his bio and found out that I loved his research! I will email him with ideas/a more specific idea of what I am interested in
@ak2018 I literally just emailed a professor at GMU and he answered the next day and said yes. It was a complete shot in the dark and it worked.
The scheduling process starts in two weeks, after our February break!!! I hope that everything will fit in my schedule…
Also, my parents are SOOOO not like the parents on CC. They’re invested in my grades and have access to SchoolTool and everything, but they aren’t helicopter parents or anything. In fact, they are shocked at my good grades with all of the extracurriculars I do! They’re basically letting me run free with college applications and stuff because at this point I know way more than either of them do, especially because my sister only applied to one college.
My mom is super dead set on having me go to college around here, so when I tell her that I’m looking at colleges in Boston and PA, she gets in a tizzy and talks about how she can’t come to take care of me when I’m super sick if I’m too far away from home. Little does she know that I don’t want that at all (not that I don’t recognize that she’s trying to be caring and stuff)!!! The point of college is to get more independence so that I’m more prepared for the real world. If my mom comes running to my aid every time I get sick, I’m never going to learn how to take care of myself!!!
@LeopardFire The government here is debating on passing a bill that will make it illegal for teachers to strike. They’ll still have unions though. If that bill passes, the news here is saying Tuesday? If not, I’m not sure.
To me, I’d rather have the government and the union work it out. Some teachers are saying they will stop doing Extracurriculars if this bill passes, and I was ready to join some before the work-to-rule strike happened a couple months ago.
Looks like I found another summer program to sign up for: The Boys State at Radford University. Male participants attend Radford University in Virginia for a week and learn more about government and politics. It’s not that prestigious, but seems very interesting.
Edit: So I just checked out the program and it seems really cool. Essentially, it’s a government simulation where participants are divided up into “cities”. There are 1,000 participants. They get to do a lot of great activities, including sports and schools of instruction.