<p>Look, I don’t think you can talk your parents out of this contract,but you may be able to negotiate lower GPAs for the payments. Frankly, I think a 3.5 GPA in the freshmen year is too high for this “parental scholarship,” especially when most schools only require a 3.25 or even a bit lower to keep the scholarship. I would come back to them with a 3.25 for the freshmen year and a 3.4 thereafter for full payment. This seems a lot more reasonable.</p>
<p>Remember, getting good grades in college is a LOT harder than getting top grades in high school. I can’t speak for Swarthmore,but a 3.5+ at many schools usually puts you in the top 20-25% of the students.</p>