The paper represents a continuing effort at correcting misleading myths about the aspirations and expectations of disadvantaged rural youth. Useless or harmful policies and programs may result from the following erroneous assumptions: (1) that rural youth have low level aspirations for attainment; (2) that disadvantaged youth have low level achievement aspirations; (3) that aspirations and expectations become more realistic with time; (4) that aspirations importantly influence actual status attainment. Early evidence on the dynamics of aspirations and expectations is limited to a very narrow age range, and almost nothing exists to demonstrate how these phenomena change through early adulthood and later in life. The important conclusion that can be reached from existing research on status projections of rural youth is that they are projecting, for the most part, a middle-class life style. Most disadvantaged rural youth desire and expect a college education, white-collar jobs, and high prestige. ED 029 748 and ED 034 632 provide comprehensive suggestions for improving counseling and vocational opportunities for rural youth. (EJ)