<p>Is it the idea that a parent would post on an internet forum at all, whatever the subject, that is seen to be strange? If so, I don't see why.</p>
<p>I've been on different boards for years. I monitored a lot of the posts on CC last year when my dd (a common net abbreviation -- parents are allowed to use them too!) was undergoing the college application process. She didn't have the time to spend here, much less the inclination to read about all these kids with stats better than hers. Now she is in college and doesn't have the time or inclination to hang out here. She knows I have been and has no problem with it.</p>
<p>It is only recently that I began posting on CC. I do so when I think there is a question I can answer or opinions have been solicited. If the OP would say he/she only wants to hear from students, I would respect that. </p>
<p>For instance, several times on different threads I've found kids really worried that their test scores and/or recommendations aren't going to make it to the colleges by the deadline. I think it has been useful to tell them that colleges let you know if an application is incomplete and allow you to correct that. Last year, two colleges didn't get test scores and one didn't get one recommendation (or the places lost those things). It wasn't a problem -- my daughter arranged for duplicates.</p>
<p>It is hard not to seem like you are bragging if you mention that your kids are at X & Y colleges. Both mine are at prestigious schools. (There, it sounds like bragging already ...) But when I mention the fact in a post, it is to provide information to an OP who wants to know about how to get into those schools. For instance, someone wonders if it is possible to get into an Ivy taking the ACT, not the SAT. I say my daughter did. Is this still meaningless bragging or living my life through my daughter, or does it benefit the discussion? I think the latter. </p>
<p>Maybe she could post information like that, but she is more interested in her college experience now and her future, not how she did her college search and how she applied. My son is even less interested in sharing his experiences because he is now concerned with getting into grad school. What time they spend on the net is with other things.</p>
<p>I agree the "prestige" thing can get a bit thick. I know someone last year who just wanted her daughter to get into an Ivy, any Ivy. It didn't matter that she could study what she wanted at any number of non-Ivies. I don't see it myself (anymore than I want to drive a luxury car or live in a big house, just because I could). My daughter wanted the school she's at because it is the only one in the Western Hemisphere that has a major in the field she has wanted to be in since 3rd grade. </p>
<p>My son had more leeway, looking at lists of top-ranked engineering programs. It came down to a choice between two, one a private school with a "name" and the other a state school. He picked the former because he liked the town and the students he met better, he preferred the size, and the ECs he was interested in were more represented. (The food was also worlds better, which made a big impression on him!) I would have been perfectly happy (and had a lot more money in my bank account right now) if he had decided to go to the state school.</p>
<p>Do parents really have no impact on a child's success and therefore no reason to mention it or be involved in the process at all? Let's see. My son wanted to accelerate in math because he was bored. I tutored him then found him other classes and resources, I fought the school system to let him skip the classes that went over what he already knew, and found a private school when he was unhappy in high school. Then I nagged his new school to let him do correspondence work -- discovered by my research -- after he made it through Calculus BC (they were perfectly willing to let him sit there for three years not doing math at all).</p>
<p>As for my daughter, I homeschooled her from 7th grade because public school wasn't working in her case and she was miserable. I found the resources and helped her understand them, corrected her work, etc. I kept the records, from which I was able to come up the the long description of the home study program that was sent to prospective colleges.</p>
<p>The work and native talent was all my kids, of course. But I certainly helped them.</p>
<p>I don't know that you can look at the "my son scored this, is it enough for that" posts and assume that the students aren't themselves involved or thinking the same thing. Undoubtedly, there are pushy parents about on CC. Others are just trying to help their children accomplish whatever the latter have chosen. Reading about some of these kids, I would wonder if they had the time to post anything on CC or monitor different threads. I mean, when do they sleep?</p>
<p>Anyway, I don't know that you can necessarily tell the two sets of parents apart without some indication in the post that the student doesn't care about the answer. Further, there could well be any number of families where it is the kid that wants to go to expensive, elite college X and the parents that hope for something more within their budgets.</p>
<p>As for "my kid got into X!" posts, I don't think they all mean that the parent is claiming credit. Parents are happy when their children do well and are happy. It is the nature of the beast to want to do at least a little bragging, too, I must admit :) I am so very proud of my two. It seems to me that an anonymous place like CC gives parents a safe outlet to express these sentiments. In real life, it can be hard to mention these things. Did I volunteer to that women who was desperate for an Ivy for her dd (daughter may have wanted it too, I don't really know) that mine did? No way. And it was really tricky last year when my niece was rejected by two of the same schools that accepted my daughter.</p>
<p>There is quite a bit of news of college acceptances on homeschooling boards. I don't think it is perceived as bragging. People talk to each other for years sometimes sharing information or experiences and feel happy for each others' successes. They also appreciate knowing that, yes, it can be done -- this child is at Princeton, that got a 4 year scholarship, this other has to chose between the Naval and Air Force academies. I imagine that there is the same sort of cameraderie on CC.</p>