Hi! Just created this discussion to ask for advice on what I should do now
Basically:
Chinese-American
1530 sat & 34 act
3.7 gpa unweighted - top 20% out of 125
Accepted: SUNY Binghamton
Rejected from: UVA, Emory, Barnard, Swarthmore
Waitlisted: Boston College, Northeastern
Currently waiting for the ivys + NYU but honestly have 0 expectations left
I was accepted to Bing but my parents, being the typical asian parents they are, refuse to let me go bc they believe Bing is a bad school. They are so bent on sending me to an ivy that they want to attend SUNY Cobleskill and sign up for that Cornell transfer program but I just don’t know what to do.
if you end up being rejected/waitlisted from all of your schools, and your parents won’t allow you to attend binghamton, have you—and they—considered a gap year? your parents may be very against that as well, but it is an option if you ever need it. i, myself, was in the same position last year you’re in currently, so i took a gap year, regrouped, and things turned out well this time around for me.
@bjkmom I’ll try but the problem is they can’t speak a word of English. They have to rely on my sister to translate for them and shes the one who told them to send me to Cobleskill.
@kalons I have tried talking to them about a gap year but they seem 100% against it; they think I’m just going to end up wasting a year out of school. May I ask what you did during the gap year?
Binghamton is a great school. I agree that it would be a good idea for your parents to speak to the GC.
Some of the SUNY schools, including the community colleges, have transfer agreements with Cornell (CALS?). Is this something that is of interest to YOU?
Are your parents in the US? Then have your guidance counselor call in a translator so they can talk these things through. Even if they aren’t here, your counselor can arrange a three-way call with a translator.
Are you a US citizen or green card holder? If so, then where you go to college doesn’t matter so much, because if you work hard in college you can get a good job here. If you have a different immigration status and need to return to China after graduation, things are different. You may well need to go to a brand-name university so that you can get a job there.
@PurpleTitan@twogirls tbh I never even heard of Cobleskill before this week and yes I am referring to the articulation
transfer agreement for Cobleskill’s College of Agriculture and Life sciences. I plan on majoring in biology and Cobleskill’s curriculum does seem heavily biology based but the transfer is also not guaranteed so theres a great possibility that I would have to continue my studies and graduate from Cobleskill if Cornell doesn’t accept me. Also the transfer agreement would also require me to take a certain set of courses which I’m not too happy about bc I want to be able to take a few courses outside of the biology major.
@VickiSoCal@happymomof1 I am a US citizen, my parents do live in the US, and I will try to arrange a meeting with my guidance counselor. But the reason my parents are against Bing is bc they know people who have graduated there and weren’t able to find a good job so they believe the same is going to happen to me. The whole thing is just so frustrating!
Getting a job out of. college depends far more on major, effort and GPA than where you go
That said jobs for bio majors with just a BS are pretty hard to come by.
@jen2520 I’m so sorry that you are in this position. As a parent I know that sometimes it takes us a while to open our eyes to the way the world has changed. If your parents are only interested in the prestige of an IVY name, then there is very little you can do. However, if they are truly concerned for your future welfare, I suggest doing a little research about the success of Binghamton graduates. Give them specific examples of all the people who have gone on to top law and medical schools. Show them the biographies of Binghamton students working at top corporations and in prestigious PHD programs. The more your parents see that you have a reasonable plan for your future and that Binghamton will help get you there, the more they may be able to relax. Good Luck. You have already accomplished so much. I know you have a great future ahead of you.
Attending Cobbleskill with your stats wouldn’t make sense. You wouldn’t be taught at a level appropriate for you.
If you want a good job, please don’t major in biology. There’s an oversupply of them due to most pre-meds not getting into med school. If you want to go to med school you can major in anything. You take the pre-med pre-reqs, classes for your major (plus a few more advanced science classes if your major is in humanities -you want to make sure to show you can handle the science but majoring in, say, Asian studies is 100% legit), are involved in volunteering and shadowing, etc.
Some (all?) of the NYS community colleges have honors programs… which are actually somewhat competitive to get into. They are advertised… very aggressively… as a way for strong students to get into schools such as Cornell… through articulation agreements with the schools. Our CC has articulation agreements with Cornell, the Culinary Institute of America, NYU, and a bunch of others. Some might not get into these schools right away, others may want to save some money.
Binghamton… however… is an outstanding school. As noted above, your parents need to be educated about this process. If you decide to go the CC route and transfer… it should be your decision.
I would decide what you plan to do with your biology degree. My D is a bio major with 2 minors- she was on the fence with med school. Tried shadowing during break and realized it was not for her. There were too many mundane things going on all day ( too much time… hours… that they all spent on insurance codes, kids coming in all day with a cold, etc) that she felt were not stimulating - I had to remind her… again… and again…that every job can be mundane …but that’s another topic. Every job can be boring with routine stuff that needs to get done. But she realized that doing insurance stuff… which the doctors were also involved with for extended periods of time… was not for her. She realized that the practices where she shadowed were not what she wanted to do… and that is one of the purposes of shadowing. She does have a Plan B with her bio degree… which she initiated a long time ago.
Your parents should understand that success depends on you. I know kids at Bing with internships, and kids at Cornell with none… zero. Nobody will knock on your door and hand you an opportunity. You have to take the initiative- a driven student will succeed at a strong school such as Bing. Your parents need to know this… and your GC may be able to help. I would also see if you can talk to any students at Bing… it may help if your parents see success stories.
TC3 has a good honors program and dorms, and may be a surer way to Cornell than Cobbleskill. Look at both of them up and compare the environment, dorms, campus, class offerings, etc.
But frankly, with your stats, I don’t think either would be appropriate.
Bing is a very good university and it’s become extremely competitive since the Excelsior scholarship.
In early May, colleges that miscalculated yield are placed on a list so applicants unhappy with their decisions can try and snag a spot. There are always excellent colleges on the list. If your common app is ready, contact the reference whose name will appear on the list, introduce yourself, explain why their college is of special interest to you and be ready to send that app.
It shouldn’t be Cornell or bust!
Show your parents how difficult it is to get into Ivies these days. Here are stats on Brown (which has a higher acceptance rate than some of the other Ivies): https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/facts
Sometimes seeing facts in black and white can help us parents to understand what admissions truly looks like these days. It definitely helped me. Maybe show all of these stats pages to your sister, too.
Now, what do YOU want to do? This is your life. I understand that your parents’ opinion is very important to you. But you have to live with your choices, so make sure you have taken a moment to think about what you want. Forget the whole prestige thing because the day after high school graduation you won’t have to worry about what your peers are thinking. What do you want to do in the long run? What kind of career do you want?
There are many paths to get there, and Binghamton can probably get you wherever you want to go. Do you want to go to Binghamton?
And yes, if you really want to be a doctor, major in something other than biology as @MYOS1634 suggested. Maybe Math? Music? Psychology? Anything! Just go to the pre-med meetings and make sure you take all the pre-med requisites. You also want to volunteer/intern in a medical field. Med schools expect that these days.
You are an intelligent, worthy individual. You can do this.
