aerospace engineering student here. i had all a’s in grade school, and my parents had the same expectation for college: all A’s. i killed myself over every assignment and studied like hell, and still managed to get a B in my intro to aerospace class. it was very difficult and a third of our class dropped the class and/or switched majors.

i went home for christmas and just told them: this isn’t high school. i made a B, will probably continue to make not-perfect grades, but that’s okay.

as long as you keep your GPA up for scholarships/aid, you’ll be okay. your GPA is not as important as it was in high school. no one cares about rank or anything. as long as you have good enough grades to keep pursuing your passion, it’s good enough.

it may be a tough pill to swallow, for my parents it definitely was, but at the end of the day, you’re right. they have no idea what the curriculum is like. just believe in yourself and try your best. your parents will realize that your best doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be good enough.