<p>Certain people on these threads are out of control. I can name a few if you want, but i am sure these people know who they are. Please stop lying and posting all day every day. As a parent I am schocked that other parents are giving advice to children applying to college. What do you know about the Penn State admissions process or college admissions process in general? Think about how your kids feel that you are posting their statistics and their information on a public forum. Some of you have given unwarranted advice or have posted things that you yourself most likely know nothing about. Frankly the college applications process has been made TOO public and is no longer private between a child and a parent or guidance counselor. I understand you may be stressed and nervous but being on CC all day will not help anyone or anything. The college admissions process is cut of your control and i hope you understand this. Please find something better to do with your time. Thank you.</p>
<p>Youallcrazy - if your child is posting here, could you please let us know his/her screen name. That way, we will be sure not to provide any responses to questions posted. Thanks!</p>
<p>My child does not post on here because she has sense.</p>
<p>I’ve been watching the threads here for a while and have noticed the craziness. Although it is pretty nuts watching kids obsess over the Penn State application page, that is to be expected. Its most of these kids’ senior year of HS. They are excited to start the next chapter in their lives.</p>
<p>I agree, cwryan1. The whole process - researching schools, the whole application ordeal, and then waiting and more waiting - is an emotional roller coaster for everyone. </p>
<p>For PSU, I think this time of year (Thanksgiving-Xmas) is probably the worst because that’s when many students who applied before Nov 1 will get their decisions. The next stressful time is probably just before SHC decisions come out. Down here, the “stress” time is more mid-spring, when the students who aren’t in the top 10% or aren’t academic admits will learn their fate with UT-Austin and TX A&M.</p>
<p>Youallcrazy- I am sorry that you cannot see the benefit of a forum like this. Yes, there are people who are over the top (both students and parents), but there is a great deal of GOOD information that is passed along here. Good questions are asked, good answers are given - sometimes posted on the forum, sometimes thru private messages. My son knew I was posting on here and he was fine with it. He had no desire (or time) to do it, but he found the information obtained to be quite helpful. </p>
<p>On almost all off the individual college forums, there is someone - like cwryan1 - who is a current student. That sort of first hand knowledge is invaluable. And, as a parent of a first year student, I am incredibly grateful for his assistance.</p>
<p>The amount of information that I have learned here has been very beneficial to my daughter. Primarily, this forum has helped me to understand my daughter’s desire to attend PSU. It would not have been my first choice for her but I’ve learned alot here and now appreciate the value of the school more than I might have otherwise. Agree that parents have to keep the right perspective for themselves and their child. Part of that is to become educated about the process of admissions and helping to level set expectations. My daughter doesn’t post here - not because she lacks sense - but because she has limited time.</p>
<p>But that is what your Childs guidance or school counselor Is for. A lot of parents on here make others feel like they can’t get in or fuel the anxiety that comes with the college admissions process. I understand you come here for information, but there are more credible places to learn about what a school wants and what a child’s probability of getting into a school is. This is like ratemyteachers.com where the most passionate people go to impart their views on others. You can’t say it has been beneficial to your daughter, it’s been beneficial for you, but in no way has this website help or hurt her. Even if she had the time wouldn’t she want to fuel her anxiety by going on a website corrupted by 1moremoms or stayathomemoms or all of the other parents that think they know what is right? Just a thought? The college process should be private, If you have questions, contact a counselor or expert, not someone who thinks they know because they have been on this site.</p>
<p>Youallcrazy - if you don’t feel like this forum is valuable why are you even posting? Those who find it valuable use it, and others don’t have to. Its a free country.</p>
<p>My sons’ guidance counselors had 300 kids to guide through the college admissions process; most of those kids were applying to multiple schools; some were applying to ten or more. She did not have time to sit at length and discuss the pros and cons of different schools; she did not visit any of the schools with them, nor would she be footing the bill for their educations. Why would I hand the college application process over to her? I was grateful she was able to get the paperwork in on a timely basis. On this site I found many knowledgeable people with first hand information and experience with many of the schools my kids were interested in. I have been here long enough that I know there are many I can trust and I have even met one mother who was particularly helpful in one son’s search. </p>
<p>For my part, I am trying to “pay it forward” in appreciation of all the people who helped my family through the process. Each of my S’s was able to attend their first choice school, one private and one state, so I have seen first hand and appreciate the benefits each type of school has to offer. I’ve lived in State College for twenty years and am happy to recommend restaurants and ways to find a place to stay or where to eat on Parents’ Weekend. I know how long it takes to get to the airport and whether or not it is possible to get by without a car at school. I’m also married to a PSU faculty member and the majority of our friends work at the school, so I am pretty capable of answering some of those questions as well. </p>
<p>Students like cwryan1 should be thanked for taking the time to answer questions from a current student’s point of view. He has been in many of the dorms and has a sense of which might be a quieter place to live. Earlier today he fielded a question about getting into a class that was full. He knows pretty much everything there is to know about SHC. And if you had been around this forum for any length of time you would know that his answers are reliable.</p>
<p>If you, other parents or any students have a problem with these forums, the solution seems pretty obvious to me.</p>
<p>Youallcraxy, you should change your name to I am crazy. Times have changed, the college application process is different from when (or if) you went through it. We live in a world with technology and we want things now. CC isn’t immune to the changing world, most of the information on here is beneficial and sometimes hearing info from a peer is easier than a counselor or a parent.</p>
<p><<but that=“” is=“” what=“” your=“” childs=“” guidance=“” or=“” school=“” counselor=“” for=“”>></but></p>
<p>Really? The college counselor at my son’s school is responsible for 600 students, has never set foot on the PSU campus, and knew nothing about the specific program my son was interested in. Now - what good could she possible have been? She also didn’t give any high hopes of him being accepted into the honors college. She was wrong.</p>
<p>You want the college process to be private? Great - then why are you here? Many others, myself and my son included, feel that this forum is beneficial. There is no “rule” that you have to visit this site. Maybe you are the one that needs to find something better to do with your time.</p>
<p>And I wouldn’t go around complaining about 1moremom! 
Trust me - she KNOWS what she’s talking about!</p>
<p>Aw, shucks.</p>
<p>I want to add, I don’t think there are many parents responding to chances threads and I rarely do unless there is something specific I can add, for example, correcting someone who posts that you have a better chance if you are an in state student or legacy. I do think that the “decisions threads” are valuable for applicants because they can look for other students with similar stats and see whether or not they were accepted. It seems unlikely to me that posters would misrepresent themselves, or at least not enough to skew the general information.</p>
<p>The Bubble Chart that was posted was especially helpful, as it made my son confident about his chances for acceptance. No guarantees, of course, but at least he knew his stats were in the right ballpark.</p>
<p>Hmm - the whole college application process is crazy. I am in totaly agreement on that point…</p>
<p>However, if it were not for these forums, my D would have not been prepared to apply to her targeted programs. She would have missed all the deadlines because her high school starts the college process too late. Her GC is a lovely woman and does her best however she supports hundreds of kids and doesn’t have a clue about the good, the bad, and the ugly of my daughter’s intended major. </p>
<p>My D’s hard deadline for most schools was Nov 1…everything had to be in which means she would have had to submit transcript requests and ref letters by Oct 1 and her portfolio would have to be in the mail by the third week in Oct. Her high school/guidance counselor kicked off the process on Sept 15. </p>
<p>So, even though these forums can evoke alot of anxiety, they are also very helpful.</p>
<p>I love CC. I fully admit that I am crazy! Gosh I love it when some other parent picks up on some little minute status message change that can predict a decision. Why can’t I wait? What’s a few more days? I am crazy!!! I LOVEEEEEE the past year’s decision threads but I know well enough that CC doesn’t REALLY represent a cross section of applicants. And I love the positive support others (be them students or parents ) give out. As a parent of a kid stuck abroad in LONDON-how fabulous was it to find a thread on the topic???</p>
<p>That said, I’m with Youall with parents (I don’t mind the other kids so much) “chancing” or predicting or “rationalizing” other kids acceptance chances. It’s bad form, even if asked for. The parents should really just encourage and not discourage. You’d be hard pressed to find a private college counselor that doesn’t turn to CC for “real time” trends and decision news.</p>
<p>imanicollegehelp</p>
<p>i agree with you and gald you havent become as defensive as some other people. </p>
<p>momofboston
In terms of dates, dates are all posted on a colleges website, how could you trust what an internet forum has to say? And maybe you should have approached your guidance counselor before sep. 15, its not about when they kickoff, its when you do.</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p><<and maybe=“” you=“” should=“” have=“” approached=“” your=“” guidance=“” counselor=“” before=“” sep.=“” 15,=“” its=“” not=“” about=“” when=“” they=“” kickoff,=“” do.=“”>></and></p>
<p>Not necessarily. Certainly, there is a lot that a student can do to make sure application materials are submitted on time - but some schools have strict rules about when things happen. And other schools are hampered by plain logistics. </p>
<p>Each of our counselors handles 600 10th-12th grade students. The last few weeks of the school year are focused on graduating seniors - so forget about getting an appt with a counselor to talk about college applications. And the first few weeks of the school year are focused on getting everyone’s schedule straight, changing students into/out of pre-AP, AP classes, etc, getting students registered for dual credit classes, and doing a final check that all seniors are on track for graduation. You can’t get an appt with a counselor during those first few weeks unless you have a problem with schedules or classes. </p>
<p>And, yes, information is posted on college websites. But some websites are better than others. Some are great - some are just very poorly designed. </p>
<p>I consider myself pretty good at navigating websites, and I spent many years as an academic and admissions counselor (undergraduate and graduate level - both state and private universities), so I know how to interpret degree requirements and application info - but there have been a couple of schools that have really tried my patience. And that’s me - an adult with college admissions/advising experience - heaven help an 18 year old who is new to the game and has no one to advise him/her. So if I am able to answer a question that at least points a student in the right direction - I consider that a positive thing.</p>
<p>To be fair, no one should take the information posted on here as fact. It’s like genealogy research…the information obtained from various forums should be used as a guide for further investigation and research. You need to verify things on your own, which is why I try (altho sometimes forget) to include specific links for information that I give. </p>
<p>Now - as for your comment about some of us becoming defensive. Perhaps if you had not filled your original post with phrases such as …
- “Certain people on these threads are out of control.”
- “Please stop lying and posting all day every day.”
- “As a parent I am shocked…”
- “Some of you have given unwarranted advice or have posted things that you
yourself most likely know nothing about.”
- “Please find something better to do with your time”
…people would not have gotten so defensive.</p>
<p>Just a thought.</p>