I’m a junior in the East Bay area of California. My parents are somewhat crazy ^^
OK... they aren't quite nazis.
My grades haven’t been the BEST but still aren’t awful. And I’m super confused about where to go in life, what colleges, and Berkeley admission rates.
In any case, my last 4 years in about one blog post:
8th grade, decent grades, blah blah blah. 9th grade, doing OK, ended up getting a 3.8 first semester. HOLY SHIT SCOLIOSIS!
(And no, I didn’t break my neck or something…) Uber scoliosis surgery, C6-T9 if you know what that means. If not Google vertebrae levels and find out. If you are too lazy to do that look at
While in uber neck brace worked to D+ on iccup, epic failed at grades. Was out of school for multiple months Et al. became administrator on Wikipedia. Learned C++. Lost all my friends :/ (Yeah, sob story) Essentially it sort of set me up for what was to come which was…
Sophomore year
IN comes parents (yamato canon charged) pissed off because I didn’t get a 4.0 Pissed off at the best English teacher at my school for no good reason. Moving onto a tangent he now has lung cancer, and when I told them, they said that he deserves it…
I go into sophomore year and guess what. Get the new euro teacher, and everyone is cheating, and my parents are like “don’t cheat, it’s not ethically right” IN any case, he just kept on ramping up test difficulty to compensate for so many people cheating, and I got fucked. Got a 5 on the ap exam, and a B. Sort of like Usain bolt (thanks for the spelling correction) getting a B in PE. Have few good friends, everyone knows me, but nobody that well. Fail in trig, get a fail grade. Just get depressed. Go to counselor
Counselor was the opposite of above when dealing with me, but not with them…
We went in. He said, judging by your behavior you have a similar thing to PTSD, basically that I’m scared of my parents and depressed because of it. My parents get pissed, and we never go back. I have a feeling that when I left the room the counselor did something like that poster… Summer was quite awesome, got a lot done (including SCII practice :DD) (did SAT and although I didn’t like it I absolutely rape at it, and it’s something they can’t criticize) Also built a new computer. They yelled at me because I told them it wouldn’t take long and it took 3 hours. My parents actually become somewhat more reasonable because of SAT scores. I avoid arguments. I “go to bed” early (really staying up late reading, how stupid…) Then the flak starts coming in. I only have a 4.5… so bad. I get it up to a 4.65. I’m feeling much better, getting self confidence. Then, the long trek downhill. Starting after I started saying look mom, I’ve got this under control, you say I’m really irresponsible, but I think I can handle some more “privileges” (like a doorknob) things went downhill. She started saying how cocky I was, and how my grades would go down if I continued to be arrogant. She screamed at me, her fat flapping around her neck, while yelling ad nauseum with non sequiter. (You had rotting food in your backpack last year, you suck at life!) She started yelling randomly. Saying I wasn’t working enough. I lost self confidence I got TF2. I just started going screw this; nobody cares about me at home. Other people at school think I’m Ivy League material, which I’m not, and my parents think I should go to community college, yet push me to go to an ivy. I played a lot. A LOT. Didn’t study. Just said FML, screw this. I tried to play starcraft, I sucked. I did MUN and won awards, and was only criticized by my parents. This was the second lowest point this year. And then the college counselor from heaven came. Like a bat out of hell, she said, HELL YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT IVIES, lay off parents, you’re making things worse. Get your act together son, you have a lot of potential. You can do this! I was extremely motivated coming out of this, but this just led to the second pit of depression. Following the calc grade crash of 2010, my parents surmised that this lady had made my self confidence too high. (Ignoring the fact that the calc test was BEFORE the lady…) and started to lay into me with personal attacks. 1. I have no friends 2. I lie to everyone 3. My friends know #2, but won’t tell me 4. My teachers barely tolerate me 5. I’ll be sad when my peers get accepted to colleges and I don’t 6. I act like I’m 5 (Yes, it actually was a Tuesday) This lead to the “no motivational period” My priorities involved 1. Forgetting about my parents 2. Yeah, that’s it Solution: team fortress 2. 100 hours, in two weeks. Fail grades. Fail And then the subject of the last blog…
However, I’m just feeling depressed now .I may have screwed myself over. Mreow. I just want to know how screwed I am.
I think my cum GPA in high school will be about 4.3, maybe 4.2, if I do well for the rest of the semester WORK WORK WORK. I’ll get a 2300+ SAT, and have won 3 gavels for MUN, and do academic decathlon. I live in the east bay, and probably want to do either some sort of computer science/programming work, or business, or a flat econ major Although I don’t’ expect a great answer, I’d like your input on where I can/can’t go in California. Also, do you guys have any recommendations on schools farther away? I figured I’d stay in California, but at this rate…
SPECIAL EXTRA!
Was just talking to my mom about rice. She insulted white rice. Thought you ought to know. She said I'd have to buy my own white rice, cause she's going to always make brown. Heck, short grain white rice is $6, I think I'll make the extreme sacrifice.
Secret rant blog is a brag blog. Man, when it comes down to it a 4.3 gpa is very good and many people would take a 2300 SAT. You can get into a lot of schools with those kinds of numbers. Really, you'll probably look back in a few years when you are in college, say "Man high school sucks", and be very happy with where you will be then, though I can't provide college recommendations.
That being said, white rice isn't as not bad for you as brown rice is.
On November 18 2010 10:15 Comeh wrote: Secret rant blog is a brag blog. Man, when it comes down to it a 4.3 gpa is very good and many people would take a 2300 SAT. You can get into a lot of schools with those kinds of numbers. Really, you'll probably look back in a few years when you are in college, say "Man high school sucks", and be very happy with where you will be then, though I can't provide college recommendations.
That being said, white rice isn't as not bad for you as brown rice is.
Lol, friend predicted people would call it a brag blog, but lots of my friends are outdoing me :/
Also, I understand brown rice is better for you, but she got very err, emotional about rice selection.
Read all of it - pretty great blog, can relate to a lot of it minus the pressure from home which in my case is seldom outspoken but always implied.
Just keep it up yo, if you get into an Ivy, that's great! Don't think too much about where you want to go (well, somewhere more than a driving distance away from your parents is probably a healthy idea) - just strive to have your options open until you do. If you start working towards a goal you might feel content once you realize it's doable and slack off - has happened to me many times.
Lastly - why did you have to include the white male bit? This would have KILLED the 'asian blog finders' win streaks - hell, you even have a paragraph in there about rice oO
On November 18 2010 10:18 Thrill wrote: Read all of it - pretty great blog, can relate to a lot of it minus the pressure from home which in my case is seldom outspoken but always implied.
Just keep it up yo, if you get into an Ivy, that's great! Don't think too much about where you want to go (well, somewhere more than a driving distance away from your parents is probably a healthy idea) - just strive to have your options open until you do. If you start working towards a goal you might feel content once you realize it's doable and slack off - has happened to me many times.
Lastly - why did you have to include the white male bit? This would have KILLED the 'asian blog finders' win streaks - hell, you even have a paragraph in there about rice oO
On November 18 2010 10:25 Luckbox wrote: Your grades/work ethic at school are your decision and they affect you. Don't let random douchiness from parents/friends get you down, fuck em.
You'll make more friends once you leave school and get into work - who you are now isn't who you'll be tomorrow, or the day after, or the week after.
PS: TF2 is the suck.
TF2 is the win, when you have time. As is Starcraft 2, when you ahve time.
Your parents sound like douches. Go to college, then when parents get empty nest syndrome super hard you can mail them white rice with a note saying "fuck you".
You're never really "screwed" because of doing poorly/being unmotivated in school. Back in Elementary school, you had to get "good grades" to get into a better JHS. Once you get in, your elementary school grades doesn't matter at all. The same shit repeats for JHS-> HS, after you get into HS, all your grades in JHS is useless.
and the same shit repeats for HS->College, and College->job. Your HS grades stop mattering as soon as you complete your first semester/year at college. If you want to transfer, they evaluate you mostly based on your college grades and ignore your HS ones.
And once you get your first job and start working for a bit, I'd say your working experience is more important than what your grade was for undergrad (unless if you were a 4.0 ivy league wizard)
just make it to college man, and then live your life how you want
oh and don't major in econ, it's 50% handwaving; you'll find you have the aptitude to do something more technical. i would recommend looking into applied math
if your parents are making you depressed....... bro thats bad parents are supposed to be supportive and honestly if they aren't maybe its time to leave them behind
Just don't become one of those kids who goes to college and says, "OMFG NO PARENTS, ILL SHOW THEM NOW," and then parties until dropping out. Had a couple of my high school friends try that - they regretted their decision.
I think you should know how stupid your parents are. My dad is sort of like your parents except he's not as mean and doesn't yell as much. My dad doesn't know SHIT about how school works and shit like that cause he's so blindly nationalist towards Taiwan and always talks shit about how straight A's are so easy and I'm so dumb etc. Just don't let it get to you. Just keep doing what you do, don't let them bring you down, you know they're dumb as fuck anyway and don't know shit about how the academic system works. And when they attack you with those personal blows, just talk back. You gotta stand up for yourself man, and with your grades you have a high chance of getting into UCLA, but considering what you want to major in, maybe even try Caltech?
Education-wise, there is no one event that will drastically alter the trajectory of your life. It won't be the SAT, it won't be the day you receive admission/rejection letters (though it can easily seem like it), it won't be the GRE, it certainly won't be that one midterm in AP history. Your success is much more correlated to your work ethic (or at least, ability to work without distractions when the situation requires) and the ability to develop connections, at least as far as undergrad goes.
Which is why, in my opinion, going to a school (w/ good research but not incredibly name recognition) close to home with a scholarship can be a better choice than going to a school w/ high name prestige.
You still work your ass off--by no regards is this an easy way out--getting good recommendations and whatnot, but at least you're not terribly in debt when you're done with your degree. I guess I was lucky to have Asian parents that didn't care too much about ~school prestige~ while engaging in the offline equivalent of e-peen contests w/ other parents.
TL;DR having a good work ethic and ability to develop good relationships with people that have power means a hell of a lot more than the school you get into, and don't get tricked into thinking the latter is a good gauge for the former.
Thanks bbq &Omg, insightful. I don't have the BEST work ethic, and so my thought is set a goal to get to UCLA or Berkeley level, and if I do better, good, worse, then I tried.
Dude if you rape your tests and write a bombass personal statement your chances of getting in an Ivy are pretty solid, not to mention UC's. I was waaay more of a slacker than you, barely breaking 4.2 or so? can't remember but I had a ton of 5's and 4's under my belt and a 1580 on my SAT (back when it was out of 1600). Got into all the UC's I applied to and went to an Ivy. If you have the stats to back it up the UC's will take you in no question, there's so many people I know who went to Berkeley that really didn't deserve it and UCLA lol. You sound like you're fucking set so fuck your asian parents, apply the fuck away from home, you got the numbers to do it.
With regards to bbq ftw, he's right. I dunno how your financial status is but if you can't get a scholarship to a private school it might be more worth it to just roll with the UC's. I know kids who went to Yale and wasted their money and kids who went to Riverside who are getting their PhD's right now, it all depends on the person. But at the same time, the big names can sometimes be a help getting your foot in the door and the Ivies are definitely no slouches when it comes to research. You can blog about choosing schools later though.
Edit: And don't worry about other kids in your class "doing better", you probably go to a school filled with asian kids right? They're probably getting into UC's ezpz so you should be okay, if you were at my high school which was 70% hispanic you'd probably be in the top 2% of students.
man this is the guy that has white parents worse than asian parents? (you jewish or some "minority" race?) i saw that blog a few days ago
im pretty sure you're set to easily getting into LA or Cal (i go to LA, had 4.2 weighted but my extracurriculars were good) UC uses a "holistic" approach to accepting students so if you can give reasons for so and so and then back it up with a good stat its no prob getting in, not many people know C++ and admin and such at that time, and if you have a good total package theyll definitely accept you.
yea like the guy above me said financial status may be tight with going to private, unless you can get the money its gonna be expensive
another thing is that CC-> transfer is totally out of the question for some people, which i dont understand, except in your case i wouldnt even try it since youll have to live with those crazy ass parents
oh yea... last thing
brown rice is good for you, it has fiber n shit and more nutrients white rice is kinda like the equivilent of eating white bread as compared to wheat grain, same thing applies to whole grain rice and whole grain wheat bread
Yeah. I'm a white guy which helps getting in too. Just work work work, don't get too excited. Ivies aside, I could probably afford it. The rice thing was just funny cause she went on a long ass rant about it. But in any case, I have a lot of friends at berkeley, so it would be nice to go there, but then I'm within driving distance T.T. LA is cool, and I know a few people there, and it's barely in driving distance, but at this point it's actually harder to get into so...
Part 1: Just uninstall everything. Steam, SC2, ANYTHING thats a video game. You are going to have no life for the rest of your senior year, just work your ASS off at getting the best possible grades you can. Avoid your parents at all costs: hopefully as a result of you busting your ass, your grades shouldn't be anything they can complain about. This may sound like it will suck, and it will, but it's for a good cause - getting into a good college will give you 4 of the best years of your life, so one semester of no life is a small price to pay.
Part 2: You're going to do college apps. I'd recommend only applying for colleges more than 8 hours away from your parents, if not out of state entirely. I used to live in SF (bay area represent!), decided I couldn't take being home anymore, applied to all colleges on the East Coast. I'm now in my second year, and couldn't be happier. I didn't have the toxic home environment you do (sorry about that ) but I just wanted to live away from my parents for a while. I get the feeling the further away you are, the happier you will be.
Part 3: Go find that awesome college counselor and have her help you with the apps. She knows what colleges are looking for in the essays, extracurriculars, etc. Possible topic for your personal growth essay could be about dealing with your scoliosis. Try to write an essay that's a bit more out-of-the-box (i.e. not about that volunteer work you did and how it SO DEEPLY AFFECTED YOU), because that will make it more memorable to whomever reads your application. Basically, you want as much help as you can, because it will make it all the more badass.
Part 4: Apply to Oberlin College, we could always use more SC2 players
---
But seriously, it sounds like you're already headed in the right direction, and your mentality is amazingly good despite all the crap you've had to go through. I wish you the best of luck with your college apps - we've all been there! You're less than a year away from getting out of your parental situation - hang tough and you'll make it!
Yeah. I uninstalled steam (woot) and haven't uninstalled SC2. If I start playing too much I'll cut the cord on that too, but so far I can say I'll play one game and stop. Much harder with tf2. By the way, I"m a junior
I think I might write about scoliosis, seeing as it is a differentiator. I had some interesting experiences in my brace which changed my opinion about people.
On November 18 2010 14:26 BrownBear wrote: Here's what I recommend.
Part 1: Just uninstall everything. Steam, SC2, ANYTHING thats a video game. You are going to have no life for the rest of your senior year, just work your ASS off at getting the best possible grades you can. Avoid your parents at all costs: hopefully as a result of you busting your ass, your grades shouldn't be anything they can complain about. This may sound like it will suck, and it will, but it's for a good cause - getting into a good college will give you 4 of the best years of your life, so one semester of no life is a small price to pay.
Part 2: You're going to do college apps. I'd recommend only applying for colleges more than 8 hours away from your parents, if not out of state entirely. I used to live in SF (bay area represent!), decided I couldn't take being home anymore, applied to all colleges on the East Coast. I'm now in my second year, and couldn't be happier. I didn't have the toxic home environment you do (sorry about that ) but I just wanted to live away from my parents for a while. I get the feeling the further away you are, the happier you will be.
Part 3: Go find that awesome college counselor and have her help you with the apps. She knows what colleges are looking for in the essays, extracurriculars, etc. Possible topic for your personal growth essay could be about dealing with your scoliosis. Try to write an essay that's a bit more out-of-the-box (i.e. not about that volunteer work you did and how it SO DEEPLY AFFECTED YOU), because that will make it more memorable to whomever reads your application. Basically, you want as much help as you can, because it will make it all the more badass.
Part 4: Apply to Oberlin College, we could always use more SC2 players
---
But seriously, it sounds like you're already headed in the right direction, and your mentality is amazingly good despite all the crap you've had to go through. I wish you the best of luck with your college apps - we've all been there! You're less than a year away from getting out of your parental situation - hang tough and you'll make it!
imo HS isnt even hard enough to cut out games. you dont really need to get your gear in until college (and that really depends on your major)
Heh, I managed my way through undergrad w/ an EVE addiction, so you don't have to cut out all games.
I think another key thing w/ college is not wasting your summers. Took classes the summer in between freshman-sophomore years and then did research the two summers after that.
But this is treading dangerously into thread derail so I'll stop now.
On November 18 2010 16:27 bbq ftw wrote: Heh, I managed my way through undergrad w/ an EVE addiction, so you don't have to cut out all games.
I think another key thing w/ college is not wasting your summers. Took classes the summer in between freshman-sophomore years and then did research the two summers after that.
But this is treading dangerously into thread derail so I'll stop now.
Naw, still useful. I just got lectured again... this time on the water bill...
Your parents sound irrational. I can't help you with your current situation, but for future success, strive to NOT be like them.
Also, I don't see any bragging here. This is the U.S. education system we're talking about. 4.0+ is a hand out if you want it.
Do go to college.
Don't go to a private college unless its on someone else's dime/completely paid for without loans. Big names may (and I stress, may) help get your foot in the door, but performance is what keeps you there. Where you go to college doesn't affect the latter.
Don't skip class [even if you show up and sleep through half of it, just don't skip it].
Secret to success my father taught me, though probably not originally his >< [only works if you do it, obviously]:
Think about all the things you don't want to do, and all the things other people don't want to do. Start to do them one by one, and you will succeed in spite of yourself.
I found that as long as I'm working on at least one thing in that manner, I never come up short on success.
Bonus: If you can, have your parents watch Day[9] daily #100 -AND- read that article posted by EternalFishY, "My mom watched Day9daily 100 and LOVED it." I understand if you can't actually get that to happen though ><
Your parents suck? I understand that. They sound pretty nasty, but I've only got your word on that.
You're depressed with a 4.3 GPA and maybe only 2300 on the SAT? Go fuck yourself. There are lots of people who couldn't do that well regardless of how hard they try. You purposely bomb school and can pull that off?
Stop whining. Man up. Get into a good college. Move away from home.
okay, that was pretty harsh. But still dude, man up. Every young person thinks their life sucks. Do you live in a ghetto somewhere with no dad and a druggy mom? Doubt it. Your life is pretty damn good and in a few years I bet you won't think your parents are the evil almost-Nazis you think they are now.
On November 19 2010 07:18 tofucake wrote: There are lots of people who couldn't do that well regardless of how hard they try.
I disagree.
Your well thought out and thoroughly sourced counter-argument has swayed me. I fully renounce my entire argument.
Wait. No I don't. I saw it in college, I saw it in High School, I hear about it from my family (teachers)...there are some people who just have an easier time learning. Personally, I suffered from some crazy anxiety attacks during tests, which caused my grades to be pretty bad despite knowing the material inside and out.
On November 19 2010 07:18 tofucake wrote: Your parents suck? I understand that. They sound pretty nasty, but I've only got your word on that.
You're depressed with a 4.3 GPA and maybe only 2300 on the SAT? Go fuck yourself. There are lots of people who couldn't do that well regardless of how hard they try. You purposely bomb school and can pull that off?
Stop whining. Man up. Get into a good college. Move away from home.
okay, that was pretty harsh. But still dude, man up. Every young person thinks their life sucks. Do you live in a ghetto somewhere with no dad and a druggy mom? Doubt it. Your life is pretty damn good and in a few years I bet you won't think your parents are the evil almost-Nazis you think they are now.
Image was for lols more than anything. My life is annoying, but not bad, but rantsh elpe make my life better Btw, lots ofp eople couldn't do as well as me, but I feel like I ought to do as well as possible.
I have 34 Superscore ACT with 3.519 GPA. That's not stopping me from applying to MIT
Even with good extra curricular activities and recommendations, my chances are slim. And yet, I'm going for it because I want to. Yet you're complaining with 4.3 GPA with 2300 SAT?
I really don't want to sound like a dick, but I hope people like you never reach the top schools (this statement includes personal bias against one person in my school who achieved this status with cheating, but walked it off). Not because you're not qualified in terms of grades, but people like you are completely arrogant and ignorant.
Suck it up and take it like a man. What your parents say doesn't matter. You should know who you are, and shouldn't be influenced by anyone else.
One of the out-of-school counselors told me to not try out for MIT saying that it was waste of time with my horrible GPA. Do I have a horrible GPA? In terms of applying to top schools, yes. Is that going to stop me? No, because I really want to attend MIT.
Never think that your grades are shit. You are who you are, and you have to make the best out of it. If you learn how to deal with the situation and change your mindset, then you're set for life.
On November 19 2010 11:14 FragKrag wrote: Come to UCSB!
:D
Certainly an option, very likely i'd get in. Compsci is good there too, although no business program, and I don't particularly care for santa barbara
But fraggles is tantalizing.
BTW supernova, applying to MIT with those scores is... well, a long shot if I"ve ever seen one. Denying the truth doesn't get anyone anywhere, and although I recognize you're mad at me, I have a lot of potential, and am screwing a lot of it up.
On November 19 2010 11:50 Froadac wrote: Denying the truth doesn't get anyone anywhere
Here's a better question.
You have 0.000000000000001% of succeeding, and you really want to succeed.
Do you take the chance, if you're not going to regret it later? Or just don't try at all?
You're denying the truth yourself by listening 100% to what your parents say. I'm denying the truth because I'm not backing down without a fight.
And last time I've checked, 0 < 0.000000000000001
Sure, parents raised you up. Blah blah blah. But this is the stage where you have to make your own decision. Are you going to stop because people tell you that you don't have the potential?
Maybe it is the truth. For both of us. No one knows the answer until everything's over.
Are you going to back down and be scared just because your parents told you that you suck?
P.S. Maybe I'm denying the truth because I'm scared of failing. But that doesn't matter now; if I fail, then I fail. I'll just try to transfer out or go to graduate school in MIT. No outside force is going to stop me from making this decision.
supernovamaniac has a very good point if you exercise what he says in common sense. If there is a school that you really want to go to even if you have a 'low' GPA/SAT (which you obviously don't), there is no reason you shouldn't apply if you are given the chance.
Don't just go applying to every Ivy League (this is obvious), but if you actually want to go to MIT, why the fuck not?
I hate to recycle shitty rhetoric, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.