Very Confused...

StanfordWOW
Sun, 14 Dec 2014 07:59:55 +0000

Ok, I am asian, and I am fairly qualified when it comes to stats (2330 SAT 3.9+ GPA UW). For as long as I can remember, my parents have been comparing me to their friends’ children- other asian kids who have made it into various Ivies and other top schools.

Just recently, they suddenly told me that they don’t want me applying to Ivies (!!!). They even told me to not apply to schools like Northwestern or Pomona, etc…

They say it’s a money issue even though our family takes in 200k+ a year and have two houses worth $1M+, so I am thinking: have they given up on me?

All of high school, I feel like I’ve been running from invisible monster that will eat me up if I don’t get into a good college, and now it’s like my parents have told me that the monster doesn’t exist, but I still feel like it’s there.

They say they aren’t willing to pay for these schools. What should I do? I’ve told my self countless times that it doesn’t really matter what college I go to, but I feel these really bad things-- like I have to outperform my older sister who graduated from UCB (she got in quite casually). I feel like I need to apply to reach schools with big names so that I feel that I’ve taken advantage of all the hard work I’ve put in these 4 years :(. I know that’s not what college is about, but I just feel like have to do it.

My parents are still allowing me to apply to Duke, Stanford (home state), WUSTL, and Rice because they offer merit scholarships, but it just feels wrong not applying to Penn and Brown (the two Ivies that I planned to apply to besides Harvard EA).