<p>I'd agree, to an extent, with the whole "demoralizing" description, but I also think that, given the generally supportive atmosphere on CC, it's pros outweigh the cons. Besides, to each man/woman his/her own. Some people are just great at stuff in general, some people not so much, and the rest of us, distributed in between.</p>
<p>This site is really what you make of it.
It can make some feel inferior, or it can motivate others.</p>
<p>For me it was helpful to have other people to look at my stats etc. and give me tips on what can be improved. </p>
<p>Just take it with a grain of salt, it is the internet.</p>
<p>Yeah, I find CC to be really moralizing - it gives me a sort of benchmark to shoot for in regards to top schools. I stumbled upon it one day when I was looking for some discussion of the June SAT and was instantly sucked in. Before I found CC, I was content with my 3 EC's and ~2100 SAT. Now that I've seen what I'm up against, I've been motivated to join some more clubs, try for more leadership positions, retake some standardized tests, and just generally put more effort into my schoolwork. If I get into one of my top choice colleges, I think CC will have been a large part of my success. Love you guys! :)</p>
<p>Check out forums other than College Admissions and What Are My Chances. School specific forums and the College Life forum are great places to pick up useful information without being constantly bombarded by insecure high stats kids seeking approval.</p>
<p>Please don't let the site demoralize you. The site does attract those who are looking for admittance to the most selective colleges. For most kids we know, college apps are a slam dunk. Maybe 3-4 local/state schools are the norm here, with half of them pretty much auto admits. That is far more the typical college student. That you are on the site at all makes you unusual.</p>
<p>nuclearfree got it right in one shot. people who really want to get in top 50 schools look for sites like this, not ppl who are indifferent about college.</p>
<p>so dont be demoralized. though if u r demoralized by CC and want to get in top 50, it might mean a little bad news for u =/ (i'm demoralized by it too sometimes.)</p>
<p>i admit i felt that way the first 3 ish hours on this website cuz all those poeple with 5.0gpa and 2400sat and godly ec's and whatnot...etc etc, but i suggest u dont worry too much.</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean, it's like, if you look closely, lots of people that are semi-mediocre and not-so-godly come here for advice, and most students here actually care about these kinds of things, so just go with your own pace and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>My D has good stats and GPA and it wasn't until I started reading the threads on this website that I realized how hard Ivy admission was going to be.</p>
<p>Since those eye-opening days, I have gradually come to realize that state u's have a lot to offer in her prospective major (sciences). I guess she might want to apply to a few Ivys so that if she gets accepted, and ever winds up sitting next to a person bragging about her Ivy League ed, she can reveal that she was accepted, but refused to incur the debt.</p>
<p>After completing the college application process I have to say that CC has been a fabulous resource for determining realistic boundaries for GPA, SAT, etc. It also provides a lot of information about the college application process and the emotions involved in it. Take it for what it is; a valuable tool that provides invaluable resources. </p>
<p>Honestly, I have to say that D used it as a "sounding board" for whether to apply to colleges she was targeting or not. I am happy to report that she was extremely successful in one of the toughest application years in history. She was accepted to 9 of 11 colleges she applied to and had scholarships to boot. We can credit the CC site for that success!</p>
<p>Don't let what you read scare you. You're about to make a life-changing decision and you will make a better one if you're more informed.</p>
<p>It lets me know what some of the top kids in the nation are doing, and motivates me in that way.</p>
<p>However, I have seen far too many times people on the "What are my Chances" boards with such closed minded views on admissions to top colleges. I would say that admissions to those schools is much easier than the average CC'er actually believes.</p>
<p>I would say that a lot of people on here represent the top 5% of grads just based off of SATs and GPAs. This site has provided me with an excellent resource for comparison and motivation. Many of the awards and scores that I thought were unattainable now seem within reach. Also, I would like to add that I think CCers have a much higher than average acceptance rate overall. Look at the number of posters on here that were accepted to Harvard class of 21012 versus the number rejected. It may not be statistically perfect, but it is clearly above 9%.</p>
<p>Not to sound melodramatic or anything (seriously)...</p>
<p>...but I feel like CC did change my outlook towards high school (and, through cause and effect - college admissions and my outlook on careers/life), a LOT.</p>
<p>I came from a very small international high school in Taiwan, where students are not bad compared to the American average (in fact, our average SAT score is about 300 points higher than the national average), but it's not stellar (ie. prep school) either. Generally, people are content with going to UCs, and we have the occasional Ivy.</p>
<p>I was on the same track. I didn't know what SATs and APs were until late freshman year (seriously), and had no clue about this whole "college admissions" game. </p>
<p>If you look at when I registered, I've been here for quite a long time - starting from my freshman summer (at first, we were back in the old forums where your username was on top of your post, rather than to your left! - now who remembers THAT far back? ;p). </p>
<p>Over my high school career, CC (or rather, CCers like yourself) taught me:
-When to take SATs and SAT 2s - and what best prep books to use.
-How to self-study APs in high school (and I'm back to spread that message, even though I'm done for good for APs =p it really was THE most useful thing I learned about supplementing your coursework)
-What summer programs to apply to
-And of course, which colleges to look at/apply to.</p>
<p>It's not an exaggeration to say that where I am today is influenced by CC. I'm actually really happy that I happened to stumble upon this site during my freshman year. It really motivated me to be more than just the "average student" at my school.</p>
<p>ps. And I actually met some people in real life through CC - I just stayed at the dorm of a poster I met here senior year 2 weekends ago when I was at NYC! It's a small world. =D</p>
<p>For me, CC was neither moralizing or demoralizing, but enlightening. I went to what most people would call a highly competitive suburban hs in NJ and I <em>never</em> envisioned admission to top schools being this difficult. I always knew, obviously, the kids creating chance threads were in the top 5% of the country on average and even better than the average Ivy/similar college applicant however I knew that not all of them would get in based on the decision results threads. So yeah, it didn't actually spur me to work harder (I had already done most of the things that would affect my application) but it did make me realize that I couldn't expect to send in an application and expect to have my pick of top schools, which is what I believed prior to coming on this site as arrogant as it sounds. So if that makes it demoralizing so be it, but I think it's better now that one knows how difficult getting into these colleges are rather than when he or she gets all the thin white envelopes in April.</p>
<p>admissions is not that difficult if you have the stats :)</p>
<p>I'm not sure why I constantly find myself here, despite having a 2.5 GPA.</p>
<p>WOOOOO!!!!. I got a 2100....wait a sec...thats like lower than half the people on this site. oh crap. man! oh well. still. ha!! woo....2100 is still good.
who cares about other people. I am just going to do my thing!</p>
<p>more serious though. don't let this site get you down. let it get you up!! just think....this is seriously like the top 5% of high school students in the US. They are not the majority of people applying. Think about it. every school has kids who score lower on SATs than people on her. I mean a quarter of the incoming class at yale score lower than a 2100....a quarter of about 2000 students!....thats 500 kids. so there is always hope.
keep your heads up high! achievements are personal. don't let other people make you feel bad about yourself. stay chipper.
haha...im in a good mood
wow...lol
i just figured out how to start my personal essay....and it is a doooosy!!!!! sorry...i really like where it is going. it makes me laugh...and even chuckle at times...even though i wrote it
have a nice night everyone.</p>
<p>When I first came to this site, I was like "omg, I must be dreaming. Hope my mom doesn't wake me up and disturb my sleep." But (un)fortunately, it wasn't. I didn't even know what Intel or IPhO were until I came here.</p>
<p>CC isn't demoralizing. </p>
<p>this one is: Davidson</a> Gifted ~ Davidson Institute - Programs & Scholarships</p>
<p>the 6 yr old who received the scholarship is better than me when he was 3...</p>
<p>Sure it might be demoralizing, but many people have to realize that it's the overachievers who have the guts to post up their stats and stuff. And, in a sense, since we're now in a world where SAT scores and GPAs are now mumbled behind doors and hidden under stacks of books, I think CC is one of the only ways left to communicate about the reality of college admissions. </p>
<p>Back at home, I'm one of the top students at my high school, but I like reading forums in CC because it gives me a taste of reality -- that there actually are students out there who are better than you and that cutthroat competition is almost, if at all, inevitable when it comes to applying top schools</p>
<p>@username</p>
<p>Damn, lol I had never heard of a Davidson scholar. If I had known about that a couple wees ago (when I was still 16) I could have applied to be a young scholar :P. The requirements aren't really that difficult, just a 1420 SAT and above and 145 IQ...</p>