<p>Does anyone else feel that some schools have plants or moles to refute any negative questions or information? Several of these school threads seem to have PR reps -- ppl who are armed with statistics to "sell" that school over others. And if a somewhat negative question or concern comes up, or if ppl are selecting among schools, they are armed with arguments to make their school more appealing/prestigious. I understand school pride, but this goes way beyond and there's a tone of sales promotion to it. ALL schools have pros and cons, but not for these folks... Are these alums or paid reps? Most of them are admittedly not students or no longer students. I don't mind if campus reps provide insight, but I just think they should identify themselves as such. Can't figure it out.</p>
<p>yes, me. i am a mole</p>
<p>i believe there is…seriously</p>
<p>I would say most are just interested alums and receive nothing from the schools. However schools do monitor this site.</p>
<p>^ yea, they’re probably alumni, not paid or hired by the school, but who have strong feelings and think their school is the best.</p>
<p>I believe CC also pays ppl to post as well. This should be answered officially by CC. Sure there are moles, if you ran a school, wouldn’t you occasionally want to know what ppl were saying about your school and dispel it if it were not true?</p>
<p>I think it’s fine, and actually quite helpful for college reps and/or alums to offer input. I’m just all for full disclosure though. Obviously, the facts and figures and opinions become skewed to their schools’ favor, and it would be nice to know that the info is coming from a school rep as opposed to an independent source. Some posts just seem more like “sell” than opinion. Maybe just over-zealous alums. Or, in this economy, maybe there are ppl who are paid to endorse one school over another. Again, don’t mind that, but I just like disclosure. As my mother always told me when it comes to the source of information: “Take it from whom it comes.” Are these endorsements or honest reflections by another student, potential student or RECENT alum who may really know the current environment?</p>
<p>I think those are more over-eager alums and parents, the parents make me think of those posts that are like
“My ‘D’ goes to X school, and all though I’ve never actually attended X school or spent more than five hours there, I’m paying for it and my D goes there, so I know it’s the best school ever.”</p>
<p>Some people are just earnestly very enthusiastic about their college, I guess.</p>
<p>^ I agree. I doubt that CC would actually have people being paid on here to endorse schools…</p>
<p>I don’t feel that cc would have any interest/need to pay ppl to support one school over another. Maybe some of the schools put out people who will present their information and their selling points/rankings. It’s great to have the schools represented and to have access to this info when comparing. I especially like Admissions Dan from Johns Hopkins because he identifies himself as such and answers questions, etc. What I’m not sure about are posters who do NOT identify themselves from a school yet have at their disposal endless facts, figures, links, lists… things the average parent, alumnus or student would not have. And they respond to any comparison about any field of study. Prospective students are asking for advice and others’ experiences to help them choose between schools. It’s great to have this info (some accurate, some so-so or one-sided) but it does help to know if it’s coming from the schools themselves (in some way). Just wondering.</p>
<p>I am not saying CC pays ppl to support one school over another, I believe they pay ppl to become informed on a topic and to report objective facts in certain specialty areas. Like, research all the Vet schools and dispel any mis information. Redirect the comments back to facts. It keeps the site viable with reliable info. (There is nothing wrong with that, either, it helps us, but I believe it should be disclosed.) Add to that the overzealous parents who will defend their kid’s school to the end, as Platsburgh loser suggests.</p>