<p>As much as I think College Confidential has played an invaluable role in my college application process, I've recently discovered that I feel very hopeless, for lack of better words, every time I visit a "Chance Me" thread. I mean, how am I supposed to feel if a 2350 SAT/Siemens semi finalist/four-time state champ is unsure of his/her chances of admission at ANY college? I am a very well-rounded student; however, I don't have any major state/international awards,should I just give up on my dream school? I know the deal: "acceptance is a crapshoot", "you never know unless you try" blah blah blah. But I don't want to just try for the heck of it; I want to get in!!! (Doesn't everybody else?)
Don't worry, there's a question coming after my whining. Does anybody else feel this way?</p>
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<p>Easy solution: do not read that uber-wasteland of a forum. Unless you believe in the one-eyed being the best guide for the blind. </p>
<p>There are MANY very useful forums on CC. The WAMC is just not one of them, as its value is between zilch and nada.</p>
<p>Explore the individual colleges forums on this website. Many of them have alumni, parents, and current students of X school in them. Chance me threads are mostly chanced by students who are also in high school and have yet to be accepted anywhere.</p>
<p>Agree with the other posters, you need to be analytical and assess which forums, members, etc. are valuable. CC is very good for certain things, you have to be selective in what you read, ask and believe. </p>
<p>For instance, it’s much more useful to go to the Search & Selection forum for help on how to construct a realistic list of colleges to apply to than to go to the Chances forum and request guesses on individual colleges.</p>
<p>Fear not. When you actually get into a college, you’ll be able to look back on the sea of anxious posts and laugh about them. In my opinion, Chance Me threads are only good for people to get a sense of whether the school they want is a safety, match, or reach. No one can tell you whether or not you’ll get accepted; everyone has a chance. </p>
<p>Also, you don’t need awards to get into a good school. Me = zero awards, no work experience or internships, no sports, all of which I was freaking out about. But I got into some very good schools and even some near-Ivies (I’d say which, but it doesn’t matter). </p>
<p>The people with really high stats are probably feeling insecure about the people with even higher stats that are unsure about their chances of admission. There is cutoff for “You are so qualified that you should not be worrying about whether you’ll get into a college,” especially at the most selective colleges.</p>
<p>“Trying for the heck of it” means you want to get in. It also means being aware that there may be tens of thousands of other people who want to get one of a few thousand spaces. If you don’t try, though, you definitely won’t get in.</p>
<p>All underclassmen who use the Chance Me thread are equally frustrated and insecure. But if you have good grades, decent SAT scores, and extracurricular activities you are passionate about, you have MUCH better chances than, “Well, it’s just a crapshoot.”</p>
<p>I agree with you that CC is wonderful. However, they should eliminate the WAMC forum altogether. I would encourage you to never spend any time there. The two quotations that OP cited, “acceptance is a crapshoot”, and “you never know unless you try” are both horrible advice.</p>
<p>Acceptance is not a crapshoot. Rather, it is a rigorous evaluation by highly skilled professionals. And often, you do know before you try - a 3.0 GPA/27 ACT applicant will not be accepted at highly selective universities.</p>
<p>Work hard to understand the admissions process. Make sure you present your application in the best possible light. Be informed and realistic - don’t despair based on ill-informed opinions of complete strangers.</p>
<p>Second that, eliminate WAMC. It’s not just kids who haven’t been accepted anywhere, at this point in an academic year, most haven’t even submitted any apps yet.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say eliminate it - people will just put pseudo-chance threads in unnecessary places then. it’s good to have a “wasteland” where that stuff can go and not clutter everything else up. </p>
<p>It can have SOME value though. I personally skim through it sometimes and offer my 2 cents only on schools I’m familiar with (IE, North Carolina schools since I’ve lived there for 17 years, and Penn State, since I’m going there and have been through the process). I feel like if thats how everyone operated, it would be much more useful.</p>
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Are you kidding me. You really don’t understand the value of the WAMC forum-- it is priceless! It keeps the other forums from getting clogged w worthless WAMC threads. </p>
<p>Think of the WAMC forum as the CC Cloaca Maxima…</p>
<p>Yes!!! Other normal people! I HATE that thread. I don’t see why anyone uses it. It’s not a good indicator of ANYTHING, especially since you can’t go into depth about your EC’s because that would reveal your identity to thousands of random people on the internet. You can find out whether your scores are competitive on your own by checking the college websites.</p>