^Yes, the OP’s attitude is the best argument against giving children the rights of adults.
@MaineLonghorn I don’t know everything. And neither do you or anyone here. I never claimed to know everything.
@2plustrio Yes you have been my age but I haven’t been yours. But more importantly, you’ve never been me and I’ve never been you. We don’t have each other’s experiences and upbringing.
I never came here with the intention of having a rude tone. Go back and look at the past threads, it was other posters whose tone was rude. I was attacked right off the bat. Like I said, people on here seem to have a problem with me finishing high school at 15.
I think OP is scared. His whole life he’s been able to manipulate his learning himself and thought test scores alone would allow him to reach his goals. Now he’s gaining some real life wisdom and realizing many colleges take a more holistic approach to admissions. He’s perhaps realizing he’s not all that special and in fact he’s up against other teens who have in fact done so much more than he has in regards to community involvement, research, internships, etc. He very well might not get into the caliber of school he’s dreamed of.
I truly hope you get into a college that gives you all that you feel you need. I truly hope your parents are lovingly trying to guide you to make the best decisions as well.
I think you’re received some solid advice so perhaps us more mature adults can move on and leave you be. Best of luck, truly.
I just need to add that when you are older and experience agism, the stakes are much, much higher. The majority of teens do have a safety net of being in their parents home and being economically supported. Being in your 50s+ and being fired from your job when you are putting kids through college, have a mortgage, are closer to retirement etc… is not just a crisis for you, but for all the people who count on you. It’s very difficult for older people to be hired and workplace agism is still unfortunately very real. This is the perspective that many parents on this board have.
I’m not saying that to diminish your passion for the rights of young people, but when you say “Ageism affects young people a lot more than older people” that simply is not true. As noted by another poster, you will be 18 in a few years. Agism in the workplace can last 15 years or more and have devastating, long lasting impacts that don’t get erased after a certain age. If anything, it gets even worse.
IMO, we all do better as a society trying to improve everyone’s situation, not by diminishing the experiences of others (yours included). This thread would read a lot differently if it didn’t devolve into “my rights are being more infringed upon than yours”. And don’t get me started on unequal pay and treatment of women in the workforce. There is plenty of inequity to go around.
Circling back to the original question, if anything OP, I think the responses here show that this isn’t playing well to adults. Being that adults are the ones reading your college application, I will reiterate my advice to just add a sentence about this in your EC section, without all the rhetoric, and definitely avoid writing about it in your essay.
Peace and good luck on your college journey. I’m sure you will do just fine.
PS. Your tenacity and passion are wonderful attributes.
From above:
so so true. my heart is breaking right now for a kid going through privileges of adulthood WITH all the responsibilities.
We know a 21 yr old college kid. Only support from (blue-collar) parents: cell phone bill. He works 25 hrs a week and takes out full student loans. Shops goodwill, goes to the school food bank. Pays his own rent in a down-and-out place; begs for rides cuz he can’t afford to fix his car.
AND HE LOST HIS JOB two weeks ago with COVID. No work plans for summer. No way to pay for his apartment. No room at parents place for him to live. No jobs right now for him to find. I’ve been hiring him at my home to do physical work around my house and he is so thankful.
He’s just one millions right now in this situation. Luckily he doesn’t have a family to support. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Whole industries are being shut down.
My 21 yr old D has confided in me how thankful she is that we support her after seeing what her friend above is going through, and she knows she can count on us. Her internship too was cancelled this summer at this point; she’s trying to figure out what to do this summer that will strengthen her skill set for upcoming jobs once she graduates college.
I know you want to be older and you feel discriminated against and not taken seriously; but there’s a whole other side to this that I’m glad you are not facing. It’s real life scary.
@bgbg4us I feel very sorry for the situation that your friend is in. The economic damage is worse than the actual Virus and unfortunately he suffered. Trump is sending him $1200 though so that will help.
That’s just life though, many people struggle to get by.
I however do have to funds to prevent a situation like that even if my parents didn’t financially support me. I have been saving for college since I was 10. I could afford to go to a less expensive college without my parents.
@Homeschooler14 wrote:
Hey, if you have 100K+ saved from that $7.25/hour job you clearly don’t need our advice. More power to 'ya.
Scientists are not looking for reasons to validate the oppression of young people. That is not the purpose of brain research, and to think otherwise sounds a bit self centered and naive.
Studying the brain development of young people gives us information about learning, the importance of early intervention, mental health issues, the age at which individuals best recover from various injuries, medication safety, why adolescents engage in risky behavior, etc. The list goes on and on.
I have been working for over 30 years. The evidence based treatments that I use on a daily basis are a direct result of studies stemming from brain development research.
Fighting for what you believe in is great. Using opinions as factual information, sounding immature and offensive…is not.
College opens our minds and allows us to engage in healthy debate. It’s not necessary or even desirable to agree with everything…pushback, when properly demonstrated, is necessary for ideas to emerge. A know-it-all attitude won’t be viewed positively, and won’t help you in your applications.
nope - no economic stimulus for anyone that age who can be claimed by parents on taxes in that age range (18-23).
you’re a smart kid. Here’s what I’d be doing if you were my kid. I’d be encouraging you to study for the PSAT test take exclusively one time during the junior year of HS. Score well, and you get great opportunities to have some full-rides at colleges. Then, all of your savings can go to work for you in the stock market and hopefully multiply; while you have other schools paying for your college.
@Sue22 Please… you cant make 100k on a 7.25 job.
I worked a job that paid $9 for a little while and now I’m working for my dad’s company.
My dad won’t let me pay for college myself. He told me that it Is his job as a wealthy father to pay, and I appreciate that. I don’t plan to touch my money until I’m much older. I’ll be quite wealthy when I go to touch it later in my life. 8% over 50 years will be a lot of money. (As long as a socialist doesn’t get elected!!) I’ll be thanking my teenage self for it.
Even if that young person is not a dependent and gets $1,200, it won’t last long.
I have one young adult child who is a lot like the OP - you just can’t argue with them. So I don’t. I will step out of this thread now.
A few thoughts:
- Your lifestyle does not match the cause you are fighting for. Your dad won’t let you pay for college...yet you are not arguing that point. Additionally, you are working for your dad’s company. You can’t fight the “bad” such as wanting to obtain a driver’s license at the age of 11.....yet at the same time keep the “good,” which in this case is benefiting from the support of your wealthy parents. You are sending mixed messages. In other words, you can’t pick and choose where you should be independent.
- Fighting for the rights of children is wonderful, but that’s not what you are doing.
- What are you doing, exactly? To me...it seems as though you want it all. You want to benefit from your parents huge financial support (many don’t have this BTW), and you want to change the laws and regulations so that you can drink at the age of 16, drive at 11, etc. To me, that sounds kind of spoiled and entitled.
- I will not get political, but if your goal is to help young people gain independence, there are plenty of ways to accomplish this.
Be careful how you present this in your college apps. As I stated earlier…authenticity is important, but maturity and good communication skills are equally as important.
@twogirls I can still financially benefit from my parents if I am a YR activist. There are 30 year old adults that financially benefit from their parents, that isn’t a matter of Youth Rights. Living off your parents is certainly better than living off the government using MY MONEY!!
How am I not fighting for the rights of children?
Let’s get back to OP’s college app and search.
As many have said you certainly can include your activism as an EC on your apps. You are correct when you say you need to sell yourself to the AOs…in order to do that, you should consider altering the way you present yourself, at least based upon what you have written on your threads.
As momofsenior correctly pointed out…the adults on these threads are not reacting well to your writing, presentation, and apparent unwillingness to be thoughtful and adopt a growth mindset…that does not bode well for the content of your college apps.
Your college apps are going to need to cover a glaring issue…you completed high school this year? Last semester? A year ago? What have you been doing since graduation, and what will you be doing until Fall of 2021 when you enter college? AOs are going to want to know how you spend your time, at least those at schools that aren’t auto-admit based on stats.
For non-auto-admit schools, admission will come down to how you present yourself in your apps. AOs will want to know what type of person you are and how you will fit in on campus, how you will interact with others, how their community will be better because you are part of it.
How will you present yourself? As a curious engaged student who knows they have a lot to learn? As an activist who is dogmatic, or one who is thoughtful when exposed to people with other beliefs, religions, etc.? As one who tries to impose their beliefs on others, and struggles to forge positive, productive relationships with those who don’t adopt the same beliefs or causes? AOs have to believe you can grow and learn, especially if that learning is at odds with what you think you know now.
Bottom line, AOs are the ones that determine whether you will fit in…not you.
Lastly, if you want to work in IB, you need to go to a school that places students in IB. Ole Miss (mentioned up thread) in general, does not.
Your ignorant comments about socialism show that you are merely here to argue a political stance. I’m flagging this because I sense you have an agenda.
I think you need to apply broadly so you don’t get shut out. Your application has so, so many red flags: nonrigorous course load, refusal to stretch, limited ECs, privilege and wealth used solely for self-benefit, inability to understand the views of others, holes in your academics, stubborn reliance on personal opinion as fact, work experience gained only through business of wealthy parents… And that doesn’t even touch on the ability or interest to try to understand what colleges want so you can show them how you fit.
You’re getting a lot of leeway on your threads because you’re a child. But the reality of college admissions is different. You’ll get zero slack. If you can’t show that your mind is open to new ideas, that you can get along well with others, and that you can handle having your beliefs challenged, you won’t be admitted. Unfortunately for you, colleges keep applications on file. So if you apply this fall and are rejected, if you apply again those colleges will have your previous application on file. So apply wisely and broadly.
1 Like
@Lindagaf Wow… another triggered socialist wanting to live off our hard earned money.
@austinmshauri I am a child? How so? I am not a pre-pubescent human.
We seem to have different views on children’s rights. I will stop there.
Yes, there are 30 year olds who benefit financially from their parents. This statement comes directly from a 15 year old who is looking through the lens of privilege. Again, you want it all.
I will stop for now.