<p>So how is it hard to fake? Just say “yeah okay, okay, you guys win, I’ll try to get in the ivies”.</p>
<p>And then never talk to them about colleges again</p>
<p>UNTIL when you get the rejection letters, tell them you’re sorry you tried your best blah blah blah, and go where ever you want</p>
<p>oh, i’m still following this! i was just away for 4th of july weekend, and internetless. apologies!!!</p>
<p>but um, thanks for the info on lower ives, i’ll look and see if any are interesting, but i’m not really looking for the “smaller school, liberal arts” kind of deal. sarah lawrence turned my sister into an elitist b. haha, not tryna have that happen!</p>
<p>and my parents went to normal, decent colleges, not great but not bad- boston u and rutgers, but they’re obsessed with money, that’s the problem. all parents are different, and not saying its a bad thing but my parents aren’t the “lets eat dinner together and go on family vacations and spend time in the same room watching tv!” kind, they’re the “here’s a 20, go call your friends and get out the house i’m sick of yooou!” kind. so they’re convinced that you have to go to an ivy league school to make lots of money because according to them, you can’t be happy without loads and loads and loads of cash! it’s as if they want to fix the mistakes they made in their lives by treating me like a puppet and making me live the life that they wanted to, but the thing is, we’re different people! i don’t want to be a surgeon and i don’t want to go into the financial business. i want to make art and save the earth, haha, like i do a crap ton of volunteer work because I LIKE HELPING PEOPLE and they don’t get that at all! they think it’s just to look good on a college application.</p>
<p>but my parents gave me three choices- lawyer, engineer, or doctor.
and for colleges, my choices are between any of the eight ivies.
and it’s sad. because that’s not at all the kind of life that i could live and be happy!</p>
<p>free spirits don’t fare well wearing business suits in cambridge or conneticuit.</p>
<p>and i am a girl, by the way, haha.</p>
<p>you see, my younger brother is… not so smart, and being the second youngest, it’s fallen upon me to be the perfecty lawyery one! i can’t blame them for feeling like out of six kids, they’ve struck out five times…(which sounds so mean, apologies…) but kids are not puppets. my oldest sister was validvictorian and got a full ride to UVA and got accepted to harvard, but she turned it down. and then she got foreclosed on and blah blah blah financial crisis. i think my parents think that if my sister had gone to harvard that everything in her life would be perfect, but shoot, nothing is perfect.</p>
<p>have your parents browse the CC “what are my chances” forum for a day.</p>
<p>Hey, if your sister can avoid the ivies, why not ask her for advice? She even got in harvard… your decisions aren’t even out yet so it’s a lot easier for you…</p>
<p>oh, my bad on u penn.
faking is just difficult though, because as soon as i say “oh yeah, i wanna do harvard and princeton”, not even two seconds later my mom would have me packing my bags and booking plane tickets for a visit. not only would that be a waste of my time and their money, but just sitting though information sessions and going on tours and being around all those genius kids is just straight up intimidating! i had to visit stanford last summer, and it was one of the worst trips ever. i mean the place is beautiful, but the people? the vibe? no thanks.</p>
<p>and even if worst comes to worst and i do get into an ivy and have to go there, god knows that i won’t suceed, given my track record…</p>
<p>i’ve watched videos on the-u.com, and it sounds so… ditzy, i suppouse, and i knwoy uo go to college for an education rather than a party, but you go there for an experience as well, and i’m just a very, very very social person. going to a school that gets a F, D, or even C in how social and lively the campus is, well, that’d be impossible for me. i’d pull my hair out.</p>
<p>i just don’t have that go-for-the gold, competative, dedicated studious nature that ivy league-ers do.</p>
<p>well my sister did and my parents are STILL ****ed at her for it, and that was nine years ago. and they probably only let her not go because she was planning on being a lawyer and stuff, but now she’s stuck with a useless BA in philosiphy.</p>
<p>Perhaps you can meet witn your counselor & explain the situation & then ask to set up a meeting with your parents, you & him/her. The counselor can point to great alums who are doing great things who had similar stats to you & went to schools like those you want to attend & did not get into ivies.</p>
<p>You can also be like some kids I know & do a substandard job in your college apps so you further reduce your chances of getting into any ivy (but do a great job in the other apps). I consider this a waste of money, but perhaps it’s a passive-aggressive way of doing things.</p>
<p>i’ve asked my mom if she’d be willing to talk to my counselor, but she thinks that my counselor’s an idiot, so she was absolutely unwilling. / =
good suggestion though!</p>
<p>&i’ve been thinking about that, i have no qualms when it comes to wasting my parents money, so i might do that. and butcher the interview as well. hah.</p>
<p>Could you suggest to your parents that they save the ivy $$ for grad school & let you go where you want as an undergrad. Point out that things are expensive now & the economy is pretty rocky. That might be a compromise and apease them–maybe. Yale is reputed to have an amazing art program, especially at the master’s level (cousin’s S got his grad degree there–maybe you can get a double-degree- MA art + law degree–stranger things have happened).</p>
<p>that’s what i want to push for. like, promise that i’ll do good enough to get into an ivy for grad school, pull the “thats what obama did!” move, considering my parents love him, haha. i just totally forgot about that until like, right now though. thanks!</p>
<p>lol… actually Ivy League schools have some of the best financial aid policies in the world. I’m paying only 1250 dollars for fall semester. </p>
<p>Why not consider an Ivy League school? It’ll save you money for grad school, the graduation rate is better, smaller classes, world renowned faculty, etc… </p>
<p>Just retake the SAT and apply to a few of them. It’ll get your parents off your back, and if you don’t get in, then that’s that. If you do get in, it opens up a whole new venue of opportunities.</p>
<p>torinoway, I think you should try to accommodate your parents. There is an Ivy League for virtually every personally type. You obviously don’t have to apply to all Ivies, but applying to 2 or 3 Ivies is perfectly ok. Of course, the Ivy League are very hard to get into and there is a good chance you won’t get into an Ivy, but you never know.</p>
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<p>torinoway: You know, it’s not as if your only choice is between becoming (a) a financially successful professional or (b) a starving artist.</p>
<p>Have you thought about a field like architecture? Architects can make pretty decent money. Some of the Ivies (and other top colleges) have good architecture programs. This field requires broad training in art history and design, and also some foundation in physics and math.</p>
<p>That’s just one example. We have an old friend, a professor at Howard University, with two wonderful, successful kids. One went to UPenn and has started a career in finance in New York City. The other had more artistic interests and went to a less well-known school. But he built on his creative interests by learning about computer animation. He became very successful at that, supports a family, and has a respectable job as a University professor. </p>
<p>We have another old friend who never went to college at all, but went off to Europe as a young man to study violin-making. His instruments now sell for $25K a pop.</p>
<p>Brown would be a long shot for you, but if you went there, you could take classes at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, a top art school that offers programs not only in painting and sculpture but also architecture and furniture-making). Cornell has one of the very best architecture schools in America. UPenn also teaches architecture. </p>
<p>Tulane is somewhat less selective than the Ivies, but still pretty prestigious. It has an excellent school of architecture where they’ve apparently done good work helping with Rita-Katrina reconstruction. They teach artistic glass-blowing too (maybe don’t mention that one to your Mom and Dad, but I think it sounds cool).</p>
<p>Just some ideas. Your parents want a good life for you. There are ways to achieve that and be true to yourself at the same time.</p>
<p>I think there is a very slim chance, none at all really, for you to get into top 20 schools. That being said, you could decrease your chance even further by writing some very political incorrect essays. A student at my kids school, with top stats, parents pushed hard for him to go to an Ivy. He really didn’t want to go. When the result came out, he was rejected by all of those top schools, but accepted to the ones he wanted. One of those adcoms actually called his GC to let her know the reason he was not accepted was because of his essays. She never told the parents.</p>
<p>Since you are African American, you should also take a long hard look at the HBCUs. You might like Howard or Spelman. I think that your parents would be very hard pressed to say “Oh no you absolutely CAN’T go to an HBCU!” Find them all at [List</a> of HBCUs – White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities](<a href=“White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities | U.S. Department of Education”>White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities | U.S. Department of Education) Likewise, take another long hard look at the women’s colleges: not all of them are as beastly intellectual as Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, or Barnard, and even at those schools people do know how to have fun. For a full list, see [The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://www.womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://www.womenscolleges.org/)</p>
<p>If you truly are the artsy type, you are not going to be happy if you can’t keep up with your art. Try to find a way to keep this in your life, even if it isn’t your college major.</p>
<p>One more cool major that may be worth looking at: [Entertainment</a> Engineering and Design | Home](<a href=“http://www.eed.egr.unlv.edu/]Entertainment”>http://www.eed.egr.unlv.edu/)
I think this program is unique in the country. Your parents would get an engineer, you’d get to do artsy stuff, and you’d be able to explore Nevada.</p>
<p>You should consider yourself lucky that your parents aren’t the type who say they won’t pay for any school that’s non-Ivy regardless of where you get in. You should consider yourself more lucky that your parents are willing to pay for college at all. I know this doesn’t make you feel great now, but there are countless threads on CC about students in those situations. I would just apply to the ivies and see if you get in. You may find out that you like one of them! Also, (no offense intended) but you’ve already done a pretty good job of making sure you won’t get in to most of the ivies as it stands.</p>
<p>I dont get it. So, someone is an African-American, that means they are limited as to what school they can go to? HELLO? America? You have a Black President and we are living in the 23rd century. Arn’t you guyz over this rasicm thing yet? I still cannot believe that someone suggested to another person that because of the colour of their skin, they should go to a certain University. Shame on you!</p>
<p>TELL them, don’t suggest, that you only want to apply to X and Y Ivy league schools, because you don’t like all of the other ones. Apply to them and then all of the schools you WANT to go to as “backups.” Then, you go to one of those schools that you like. It’s YOUR life, not your parents’. Jobs recruit at any and all schools, not just Ivy league schools. Ivy league schools give you nominal prestige, but if you have the determination and drive you can make the most out of any college experience and become more qualified than any Ivy-league grad.</p>
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<p>I like your sense of humor. I don’t know why some parents have blinders about this kind of thing. My Mom was the same way about Stanford, she was convinced I’d get into Stanford. I knew I wouldn’t but she made me apply anyway. I didn’t get in, I didn’t care, I didn’t want to go there. She was actually surprised at my rejection letter.</p>
<p>At this point I think you need to figure out where you want to go. I live in Seattle and I would strongly encourage you to visit the UW if you think you want to go there. Lots of people like it, I’m just not one of them.</p>
<p>You’re just going to have to convince your parents that you need a few safety schools just in case. That’s where you’ll end up so you should try to figure out which ones they should be.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, as Morsmordre said, even as an URM your chances of getting in to any Ivy are very slim with your current stats. Of course, Ivies love people who do volunteering, so maybe that would improve your chances. Better quit. (Just kidding. 
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<p>You need to find at least 2 or 3 realistic schools that you would actually like to attend, and then just go ahead and apply to the Ivies your parents insist on as well as the schools you like.</p>