This is a serious question. I have been accepted into my dream school, but my father wishes for me to attend another. He is waiting to see if I get accepted, and if I do, I will be forced to go. Obviously, I do not want this, so what is the solution? If I withdraw my application, do I still get a rejection letter? Or should I email them, and explain this to them. Please answer, this is very important to me.
Call them but don’t do it without talking it out with your guidence counselor. Reach out to other adults who can support you or at least make sure your reasoning is on target.
What are your dad’s reasons? Cost? It would be a pretty crappy thing to do to intentionally derail your application and put a bigger financial burden on your family.
No, elitism. He would like me to go to harvard, yale, or upenn, but I LOVE Uchicago
If you withdraw your application you will not get a rejection letter. You might get a thanks for letting us know email from the admissions office, but you won’t get a rejection. Since those are all reaches, why don’t you wait and see how things play out.
Boy those are all tough schools. You did not ED to any school? Maybe it is just time to confront the issue head on with your dad. Elitist people like Chicago too. It is known as a very intellectual school. Eliminating one means having one less possible acceptance too. Have you got into any yet?
I’ve gotten into Chicago and about five others. I have confronted him, but we end up fighting a lot. I really wish to salvage our relationship 
What’s your major? Could UChicago be considered more prestigious than those other schools for your field? Are there people in your neighborhood or family or circle of friends who might understand the prestige that UChicago carries? A well placed ‘gush’ from the right source can do wonders to change a parent’s perception.
I’m sorry you have to deal with this tough situation. Unfortunately I don’t have any advice. Best of luck though.
I’m so sorry you have to be put in this position. Maybe start emailing your admissions counselor annoying/easily answered questions every day? I really don’t know. Best of luck to you, I hope everything works out.
If you dad is mad now, think how angry he would be if he discovered that you withdrew your application behind his back. If you want to maintain a working relationship with him, this is not the way to do it. I would not pursue this course of action.
It is by no means certain that you will get into Prestige U.
In the meantime, I would do some research to present to your father about the advantages that U Chicago has. Number of Nobel Prize Winners, NSF grants secured by faculty, etc, admissions statistics, - whatever is most relevant to your major or future plans. Maybe a data-driven appeal will carry more weight than an emotional one. There might also be downsides to Prestige U that he hasn’t considered. Research those too.
I torpedoed my own app to Penn 30 years ago beverage see I was afraid my parents would make me go there as opposed to the school my boyfriend was at. I didn’t complete an essay. I still got in 
Honestly, I worder if you can call, speak to them and just ask to be denied, I HAVE to believe that especially with pushy, prestige-hungry families who wrongly see major distinctions at this level, these situations have come up.
Ha! “Beverage see” was “because.”
A good way to approach this is to show your father international university rankings. By their accounts, Chicago is a better university than Penn and a little better than Yale. For example, in Qs news, Chicago is ranked 10, Yale is ranked 15, and Penn is 18. In Times Higher education Chicago is 10, Yale is 12, Penn is 17. In Academic world ranking, Chicago is 9, Yale is 11, Penn is 17. As for Harvard, it mostly outranks these three schools, and that is just fine. This may be surprising for your father but Chicago is one of the finest universities in the States, and in the world!
Normally I wouldn’t advocate for using these rankings, but Chicago is more academically elite than Yale and Penn in many ways. Of course, the posters here are going to rip into me about how Undergraduate rankings are different from graduate school quality and faculty research quality, which is what these global rankings measure, but they’re forgetting that you get access to these professors when you’re in a university like this. I’m taking a History class with one of the world’s most eminent Chinese historians next quarter, for example, and it is a 4 person class with 2 graduate students and 2 undergrads. You don’t get those sorts of opportunities at other schools.
OP if you are trying to salvage the relationship…echoing ^ and #10. Congrats by the way!
But as previously pointed out, it ain’t over yet. Wait for all your acceptances, and put all offers of fin aid and merit on the table. Be as mature and understanding with your father as you can possibly be, and try to see his viewpoint. Then, have your talking points ready (again, ^) Maybe write something out to give to him ahead of time so he can read it without it becoming a confrontation. Good luck!
There are a lot of considerations with your circumstances. First off, Congratulations, U Chicago is an amazing school and to have that in your pocket is a great thing!
I would absolutely not do anything to tank your chance of admission at other schools. You don’t know that you would be accepted at any of them and you don’t know what the financial aid packages will be at each of them. This is of course a moot point if you are a full pay family.
I can’t relate to your fathers position so of course I don’t know what drives it. I would not have forced our daughter to go to a particular school unless it was because of financial reasons. 17 and 18 year olds think they understand the magnitude of $60,000 plus a year but they truly don’t. The financial side has not been expressed by you so I have no reason to believe that is the case.
The University of Chicago is a very prestigious school, one of the worlds best, anyone who is knowledgable about Elite education will be abundantly aware of this.
The big picture is that you are in an enviable position and your life will not be over if you “have” to go to Yale, Penn or Harvard. Better to go to one of those schools and graduate without debt than to go to U Chicago and have obligated yourself to loans. I assure you that each of these other schools would be an amazing environment and provide an incredible education for you.
Where is your Mother on all of this? Can she bring your Dad to reality? An interesting piece of this would be to understand your fathers motivation. Is he a legacy at one of these other schools? Is there an expectation in his business or social circles that their children attend certain Universities?
I would sick Mama Bear on him! Good Luck! It is all going to be fine, and congratulations again!
I think you need to wait the process out. Do not intentionally withdraw your application. That would be very dishonest and underhanded.
Have you visited UChicago as well as the schools your father favors?
Wow, hang on here. I think the answer is obvious. Why can’t @Cola16456 email each of those other colleges and simply say “by the way, you need to know that I was forced to apply to HYP. Your college is not my top choice, but I am not withdrawing my application.” Done. OP is being honest, and dad will see the rejection letters. He certainly can’t object to the cost.
FWIW – I have a young friend who picked UChicago over Harvard about six years ago. She was sorry in a multitude of ways by the time she graduated (which she did in four years with very good grades). Today she says she should have picked Harvard. You should BOTH give each others’ preferences a try. Go to accepted student visits at his first choice and your first choice. Have him go with you. One of my kids changed her mind about her preference after accepted student visits (and UChicago was her first choice going into them). You probably both have stars in your eyes that are blinding you to the realities of your preferred schools.
email each of those other colleges and simply say “by the way, you need to know that I was forced to apply to HYP. Your college is not my top choice, but I am not withdrawing my application.” Done.
Best advice of the day!!