Considering the vast cosmos of threads and postings here in our forum, is there any aspect of the college process that remains UN-parsed to death? Any fresh areas that need to be explored?
Dave, if I recall correctly, I thought you were going to start a subforum targeting athletes.
Didn’t they already set up an athletes forum? I think it’s under College Admissions.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/</a>
Actually some of these postings do need updating considering the current economic situation. What was good advise even last year doesn’t necessarily hold today. What would be more useful is a better way to catalog similar postings together. Some of the older threads are almost impossible to find and that is why they are “reborn” as new threads. (even if you look for other postings by someone, the dates only go back so far) For example, the “B+ student parent thread” is hidden to those who have just come on recently, so I would not be out of line for a new parent to post a question already answered there. Also the “Brag about your lesser known school” thread - another useful one for these times. Both of these threads SHOULD be stickies. It is not so much that a stone has been left unturned, rather that the stone is often so buried it is hard to dig up. Fresh ideas are not always only new ones but good ones someone hears for the first time.
Another topic that has been buried: Soozievt’s series of posts from about five years ago that discuss synthesizing the various parts of the applications, for instance, using the essay to reinforce the activities list. The topic has since been covered in the explosion of college application books however the way she explained it was especially good. The posts appeared several times in different versions and the repetition was helpful. This is circa 2003-2005.
Also, I think we’re entering a zone in which college tour travel will decrease, especially when one’s child has an eye for schools across the country. I’d like to see more about this and ways to maximize resources to learn about the schools without actually visiting.
One area that hasn’t been addressed is early college – kids who leave high school to apply to, and sometimes even enroll in, college full-time. (I’m not talking about dual enrollment, but full-time college matriculation before high school graduation.)
My son is young for his grade, so I’ve been thinking for several years that a gap year after high school graduation might be a good idea for him. Yeah, what do I know? I’m only his mother! Turns out my HS sophomore wants to go to college next year. He has good reasons which I support, but this changes everything, from the way I save for college (and the available timeframe for recovery of college funds already accumulated), to possible merit aid, talking with GCs for their support and getting recommendations from teachers, which schools to look at for him, to all the concerns that arise when sending off a 15- or 16-year-old to play with the big kids, or not, depending on where the kid goes.
This would be a topic that probably has a small audience, but it’s an area that isn’t addressed here.
To me, cc is like looking at a favorite movie: Each time you watch it, you discover something new. When I first started lurking more than 18 months ago, I had a completely different set of questions than I do now. For that reason, you’ll never get things too streamlined as everyone comes to this board from a different place. When I first came, I wondered about PSAT; now I’ve got it down but others have questions I had a year ago. I’m currently curious about how GPA and rank matter, but in a few months I’ll need to start seriously looking at financial aid info.
In this economy, I wonder whether there should be more attention to community colleges, state schools, etc.
owlice…actually the topic of entering college early has been the topic of many threads on CC in the past. My youngest child did this in fact. Try a search of some threads. I have commented on this topic many times on CC given my personal experience with it. My D entered college at age 16 and is about to graduate now that she is 20.
speckledegg has a point (that relates to what I just wrote) in that almost every topic has been discussed on CC over the years but many get buried. Having been on CC myself for about seven years, I feel like I have seen it all and many topics naturally get resurrected as new families join CC and have the same questions all over again. In fact, I find myself reluctant to reply to the same topics I have replied to in the past, unfortunately (sorry!). Not sure the solution unless CC has some sticky area for good threads on topics that come up year after year.
Speckled…I don’t recall those posts of mine and you are right that posts that are that old do not come up on searches. I don’t recall suggesting that the essays should reinforce the activity list per se, but I likely talked about how the entire application should have a message about the student and that the message should come across in each piece of the application…I refer to these as “marketing points” about the student.
I wish y’all would find that ^^^ post! 
There is still an overwhelming belief by aspiring filmmakers that A) their filmschool education will qualify them for an actual job in the professional film industry and B) they will “get” a job based on the degree…
…Hi! I’m relatively new around here and have only begun to scratch the surface of what the archives hold.
But there does seem to be one constant in regard to the question of filmschool that I see in many forums, here and elsewhere, and in the emails I receive.
All too often, here and elsewhere, someone will ask the question, “What is the best filmschool?” That question assumes that everyone wants to do the same thing for a living and that there is one school out there that can fulfill everyone’s needs. Then, I often see a slew of school suggestions without concern as to what the soon-to-be-student really needs for him/her. What one person needs out of a filmschool is not necessarily going to be applicable to what someone else needs. This also doesn’t take into account factors like finances, geography, a person’s situation (overhead, debt, spouse, kids, age, previous experience, etc.).
My overall concern is that, like my own experience many years ago, aspiring “filmmakers” still aren’t being given the true picture of what it takes to create an actual viable sustainable career in the professional industry. Most filmschools won’t or don’t tell these kids because filmschools are a big source of income and reality isn’t as glamorous as talking about classic movies and movie stars. There are countless books and workshops out there that claim to tell kids how to “make a movie and be successful!” but they fail to explain the oft-times harsh realities of the business. The art aspects of filmmaking are indeed important, but without a grounding in the business and financial necessities involved, all of that art/process education is all just theory that will never have a chance to be practiced.
So, for anyone aspiring to create a career in the film industry, I always urge them to first figure out PRECISELY what job it is they want to do for a living. Saying “I want to make movies” isn’t good enough. There are hundreds and hundreds of different jobs that have to be done to get a movie made and released.
The second step for the aspiring “filmmaker” is to investigate what having that job truly entails and what it is truly like to have. It might sound glamorous and exciting, but you can only know what it really takes by finding others who actually do it and observe them and ask questions. In fact, this should be the process for anyone who wants to do anything. ALL High School students should be required to “shadow” a professional BEFORE a university and major is chosen.
Then the aspiring filmmaker should learn what it truly takes to get there. It is highly possible that filmschool is NOT the right choice and not necessary at all. There are valuable things that can be learned by a higher education, but very few jobs in the film industry require a film degree. Cast and crew typically are never asked “where did you go to school?” or “may I see your film degree?” A film degree just doesn’t matter. Ever. BUT, if a “filmmaker” wishes to be a Producer or an Executive of some sort, a Business and/or Legal degree very well could be a much better choice. Knowing the process of film production is indeed important, but getting that film degree is usually not necessary for anyone who actually makes a living doing this.
So, what I’d prefer to see is less emphasis on throwing random names of Universities in answers to questions and more concern toward what young people are really interested in doing and what it takes to get there. Going to a University is valuable for so many reasons, but it’s more than an expense…it’s an investment into a future. Those going to college are the consumers who are buying a product and it’s important that they know what it is they are buying. Who would pay thousands of dollars for a product without knowing if it will deliver what it promises? And what most film students THINK they are buying is a ticket into the world of the professional film industry. But it just isn’t the case.
College Confidential is an excellent forum for aspiring students to learn the ins and outs of higher education, but simply answering the question of “where should I go?” isn’t always as simple as it seems.
Brian Dzyak
Cameraman, IATSE Local 600/Society of Operating Cameramen
Author, What I Really Want to Do: On Set in Hollywood
bjdyzak makes valid points, and the same arguments he professes below can be applied to most of the performance and visible arts disciplines.
The specific Music Major, Music Theater, and the newly added Dance, Visual, and Theater/Acting forums go a long way in providing major and discipline specific advice, which for the most part is beyond the scope of those with vast generic college admissions experience and expertise.
Music, Dance, Studio and Visual Arts encompass a broad spectrum of specific majors and disciplines, and because an institution has a “school” or department does not mean it’s necessarily the best or only option.
Personally, I’d like to see a bit more moderator involvement in moving some of these threads from the Search and Selection and College Admissions boards to the discipline specific forum. This comment MAY violate TOS, as it addresses moderator action, (albeit general rather than specific mod action), but personally, I feel it needs to be said.
There are many knowledgeable and helpful folks here, but I’ve seen a number of performance/arts posts that often direct the originator on wild goose chases.
Just my $.02
violadad…if you are willing, you can use the “report post” function to let the mods know that a thread should be moved to the appropriate forum. CC is so vast that the moderators don’t read and peruse all threads and fora and so rely on members to report stuff like this. If you report a thread about performing arts majors in other fora, the mods will move it as you have the right idea that there are more knowledgeable folks about these specialized programs and admissions processes on the arts forums than on the general college selection and admissions fora.
soozie, I’ve posted within these types of threads linking or suggesting the poster to the appropriate forum. I’m more than willing to continue to do so.
I’ve envisioned the “report problem post” button as more of an alert button to advise the mods of spam, offensive, or clearly inappropriate behavior/violations of TOS, but thank you for that suggestion.
Perhaps that is what stimulates the redirection of the ubiquitous “chances” threads. 
Thankfully, they seem to be redirected almost automatically.
I think CC should go international. It shouldn’t only target American colleges. I’d love to see a new section for Canadian and European schools
violadad, I understand that most members think of the “report post” function as something to use to report posts that violate the Terms of Service. But you can also use that function to alert the moderators of anything on CC…such as moving a thread to the appropriate forum. It is just a method of getting a message to the team of moderators and I believe they get such suggestions and alerts on a frequent basis since the mods can’t read everything on CC. I bet they would appreciate such alerts of arts related threads that are not going to get “good advice” on the general college forums but could get more informative responses on the arts fora.
soozie, if that’s the widely accepted practice, I will utilize it.
I could really see a “start here” board that addresses the questions that are asked over and over.
What about a forum on the community college and technical college experience?
some HS grads don’t exactly enroll directly into a 4-year university
As for hmom5’s suggestion, I agree with a FAQ board for commonly-asked questions.
<— agrees with hmom. While there is a search function, it limits your ability to search multiple times in a row and too, some people just don’t like to search. Perhaps it’s lazy, and perhaps (as many of us have experienced) panic and fear.
A start here “read” sounds like a great idea. Of course, as has been stated, everyone comes from a different starting point! So this will make it tough. So… you could also break into subgroups some things, especially admissions and parents. Parent of juniors have very different questions than parents of seniors or transfer students. And parents of underclassmen also are different. At least this way there’d be some filing system of sorty instead of so much under one heading.
(of course perhaps I am saying this because I have spent the last two days trying to organize my office that has been overrun with college application stuff and a slew of stuff from the holiday’s. I have been so fearful that I would accidently throw something away in all the clutter that my ADD has reared it’s ugly head because of it!
Time to get back to work, but just wanted to say that everyone loves a filing system.