It’s kind of interesting to me how some schools have super-active CC forums (i.e., Tulane for one), whereas other schools don’t have much going on at all. Does that say anything about the school? For instance, does a school with lots of discussion have more applicants? Are the schools with less discussion just more relaxed? What’s the deal with that?!
I don’t think it says much about the school, but it is reassuring to have an active CC or Facebook groups for Parents. I for one would not have been comfortable with my oldest attending Bama if it weren’t for the active groups giving advice and making me feel comfortable.
S2 wants to go to Pitt. It is very difficult to interact with other Pitt families and discover what off campus life is like.
It means that there aren’t CC families interested in those schools, nothing more. There are “pet” schools here that come up again and again, but small schools, niche schools and schools in certain state get little notice. That doesn’t mean they’re not worth exploring. We did all of our research outside of CC because the schools D was interested in get little to no mention here. But we found plenty of local people who, once they heard of her plans, had experiences they could share.
My S attends a school that does not have a very active CC group. I like to think that means there aren’t a lot of complaints or complications to discuss! 
I remember for a while there was one parent poster on the American University forum who was unhappy with her daughter’s experience and kept things lively for a while since there were many who thought her expectations were unreasonable.
Generally if you aren’t listed in the “Top University” or “Top College” you’ll just be less busy because people just don’t want to be bothered with the extra clicks.
It can kind of tell you how selective the school is. This is mostly a college admissions website, and there’s less to talk about if a school isn’t selective.
And sometimes I click on C and somehow get B, even though they aren’t anywhere near each other. 
An older version of CC had the ability to mark forums to be notified when something posted. That made the forums more active. I think traffic has dropped off a lot on the school specific forums since then. FallenChemist also kept the Tulane forum active.
FallenChemist was “America’s GC” for all things Tulane. That man was the best.
I have to disagree, @halcyonheather My son attends an Ivy, yet there is not a lot of action on its CC pages!
I think it is a matter of luck which colleges have people who come onto CC and answer questions about the school.
I attend a school which isn’t super active on CC, but it is active from time to time. I have a Q&A thread on there, though that hasn’t been active in months.
I don’t think the activity shows anything more than how “popular” the school is among people who frequent CC, which is already a self-selected group. The popularity of schools seems fairly in line with what many of us must see at our local high schools, as far as frequency of applications.
It can be frustrating, though. My D is applying to schools that are pretty much unheard of at her HS. She’s grown accustomed to the puzzled looks! But it would be nice to be able to get more info and feedback on these schools from this site.
I think it’s mostly a measure of the recognizability of the brand name among college-bound HS students.
You must be looking at an orphaned site. Of the several hundred colleges and universities listed in the CC alphabetic index, 8 of them get listed individually by name before you even reach the bottom of the menu. How can they not be active on a constant basis?
In general, a combination of school ranking and undergraduate enrollment will explain a significant percentage of the activity.
@circuitrider I’m not saying it isn’t active at all, but its parent thread especially can sometimes go weeks without any commentary!
CC full of great information but seems like some school biases develop but all good. I am always suprised that some schools don’t even make the list - e.g. University of Utah! State flagship, 32k students.
Again, it really goes to which school has parents that stay on and support the thread. Some Ivy League Schools are active and others are not. In almost all cases, it’s the involvement from the family or alums that keep the thread going.
Also says something about the size of the school. Top LAC forums are less busy than top (or even not top) U forums, far fewer students are applying to them.
Tulane and Bama both have (well, had. damn.) very active CC posters keeping them lively.
I have a friend who is a Tulane alum, and he and his friends seem to be VERY passionate about their alma matter (much more so than the rest of us).