Sending our child to this school was the biggest mistake we ever made. I don’t know how they have stayed in business. While they do have a few good teachers, there is too much wrong with this place to put in one post. They are simply not what they portray themselves to be and are not honest with the students or the parents.
To be honest, I’ve never heard of the school, so I have no horse in this race.
But what is anyone supposed to take from your post, other than the fact that you’re unhappy? How can they use it to evaluate the school and determine whether your unhappiness is something they would also experience, or whether your unhappiness is unique to your situation, or even hyperbole?
There are countless places, such as Yelp or Hotels.com, for instance, where people go to hear others’ reviews of anything from a movie or cheeseburger to a car dealer or cruise line. There might even be a scorecard with a thumbs up/down or a five star rating system. Perhaps you’ve seen these. This is where they come to hear whether people who selected a college are glad they made that decision and would recommend it, or regret it and wouldn’t. For the most part, folks appreciate someone taking the time to share their opinion and might even have a bit of compassion if it wasn’t a good experience.
Your reply, however, was not that kind of response at all. You say you have no horse in this race, but there is no race. You say you’ve never heard of the school yet are writing at 2:50 A.M. for the sole purpose of throwing shade on the message and messenger. If you truly have no interest or knowledge of the school, you are more than welcome to ignore the post and move on. But instead, with nothing to base it on, you suggest the possibility that my post is hyperbole? It isn’t, but I could say it’s just as likely that you work at Simon’s Rock.
You can take whatever you like from it.
I’m sorry you had a bad experience at Simon’s Rock. Do you believe they intentionally lied to you or was there a misunderstanding? What was the disagreement about?
I’m with @bjkmom - For this post to be useful, people need more information on what the poster experienced.
@straydog : You are obviously very new here. Take note of the above comments please. Attacking a respected member of this forum because of the timing of their post (insomnia? time difference? computer clock incorrect?) does not increase the odds that I will take you seriously. If there is a problem at this school that you think others should know about, you need to give as many facts as you are comfortable with revealing.
Yes. There are countless places where people go to read random reviews with no factual support. This is not one of them.
Simons Rock almost always is mentioned when people are looking for options for very advanced high school students. And everyone always says "but it’s definitely not for everyone. You need to visit and see for yourself. " it sounds like you did that and it didn’t work. You could be helpful to lots of folks by telling us what worked and what didn’t and who would be well served by this school and who would not.
Um, my response was at 5:50 am, Eastern time. I get up early, hit the computer, and get ready for work. As soon as I finish this response I’m gong upstairs to put on the kettle and have breakfast before getting my kids up.
Oh, and check some of my 5923 posts… I’m a high school math teacher from NY.
And “even hyperbole” was the third possibility, after “whether your unhappiness is something they would also experience, or whether your unhappiness is unique to your situation…”
My response was meant to show that you gave no details. You say you hated the school. OK, great-- -why? Is there anything in your experience that might realistically imply that someone else could have the same negative experience? Or was the situation uniquely yours?
If your post was a vent, fine. Vent away.
But if it was meant as a warning, then you’ll need to provide details. Otherwise, no one else can learn from your experiences.
OK, the sun is up, I have what’s left of my tea, and my girls are getting ready for school.
some more thoughts:
- "No horse in this race" is an expression. It means that I have nothing to gain or lose by the outcome of a discussion.
- And this is really my point: It's obvious that you've very disappointed in Simon's Rock. And I'm sorry to hear that; I hate to see any kid so disillusioned about school or anything else at such a young age.
Even if, for whatever reason, your post was meant as a vent and you don’t want to share the details: Have you – or your child-- found a way of moving forward? Are you looking to transfer or have you found a way to sort out whatever it is that has gone wrong?
Since my family is no longer associated with Simon’s Rock, there was absolutely nothing for me to gain by posting anything. I was doing a favor to anyone considering the school who might be gathering feedback from someone whose child had attended. Whatever I chose to write was more information than not posting, and one of the first questions my kids and I asked anyone who had attended a college we were considering was always, “If you had it to do over again, would you have come here?” The sole purpose of my post was to answer that question.
The responses have been surprising. I was immediately told all the ways I failed to live up to various people’s standards, all the things I didn’t say, all the things I “needed” to do. I don’t need to do anything, and I certainly don’t need a bunch of people telling me what I need to do. It was suggested that my post might be hyperbole (it wasn’t) and that maybe I needed to vent (I don’t). I was told that I am “obviously very new here” and was referred to other comments, as if I am applying to join some little club. As far as I’m concerned, if I start a conversation, and my kid went there and yours didn’t, then you’re the one who’s new here. I was then falsely accused of “attacking a respected member of this forum because of the timing of their post” when my only point was that just a few hours after my post, this “respected member’s” only feedback was to fault me for not doing enough. She later needs to brag about her thousands of posts, as if such a meaningless statistic is a source of great pride or some kind of qualification which entitles her to some high position of seniority or authority I should bow to, as well as pointing out that she is a high school teacher. I also happen to teach, at a college, and wouldn’t be so quick to point out that I had never heard of a college just a few hundred miles away. She recommends that I go back and research her nearly 6,000 posts. Yes, let me get right on that.
My original intent was to provide, in subsequent posts, the years of examples I thought would be helpful to prospective parents. But after seeing the abundance of self-aggrandizing pettiness, the last thing I have any interest in is joining some little hen party where people who live on this message board require that others read their thousands of posts first in order to “learn the rules.” Good Lord.
Fire away. Sorry I won’t be back to see it.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Closing thread since OP is not providing any concrete examples.