Reply to Can being the no. 1 student from TJ graduating class serve as a hook to top 10 universities?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Can being the no. 1 student from TJ graduating class serve as a hook to top 10 universities? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why do you automatically assume there is pushing going on by parents? There may be some pushing by some parents but not always. Sometimes it's peer pressures and sometimes it's the kids themselves being driven and ambitious. I have a child in high school and I have to stop my child from pushing himself too far. I have to tell him to take a break, go to sleep early and so on but he feels like selective colleges want too much these days, high GPA, high SAT scores, many APs, leadership positions, volunteer hours, club activities etc.

You are quick to blame the parents but think about the role of the colleges. The population increased substantially in the last 30 years but the number of seats at the top 10-15 universities are about the same. It appears to the high school kids that the whole admission process is unfair due to preferences for legacies, athletes and URMs. The whole process is not transparent and appears to be subjective and terms like "well-roundness" and "passion"  are thrown around not to mention passing the "smell sense". That is why the high school kids are stressed out.[/quote]

And where does this attitude that they need to get into the top top schools or else they'll flounder coming from? Did they come up with it on their own? [/quote]

Today's high schoolers have experienced the financial crisis of 2008 and its lingering effects on the economy. They see that many college grads are having tough time finding meaningful employment and living with their parents. The unemployment problem persists and many have stopped looking for jobs. Many high school students feel that they have it worse than their parents and that their generation is a generation that may actually do worse than their parents' generation. Many kids feel graduating from the top 10 to top 20 colleges will give them competitive advantage in the job market. Then, there is the pressure to pay back the student loans as well if the parents were not able to pay all of the college expenses. If they are going to incur $50,000 -$100,000 in student loans, why not try to get the biggest bang for the buck and be able to pay back the loans?  At the same time, competition for the top 20 colleges are tougher than a generation ago and there are more kids taking AP classes, winning awards etc.  All this adds to the stress of high school kids who are ambitious. I guess it doesn't matter if the parents are wealthy but not all of the kids are lucky enough to have trust funds waiting for them.   [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics