The title says it all. Don’t have facebook, don’t really want to be on it in general, but is it worth it to get school information for parent of college freshman who just committed?
I only use FB for that and it’s fantastic for my kids schools. In a parent group for both and it’s a wealth of information and people are always ready to help other families if needed.
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Lots of useful groups use Facebook for useful purposes.
But there is a lot of trash there. This includes a large percentage of postings on current political issues which are false or misleading.
I would say give it a try. You can make your profile pretty private so random people from high school don’t try to friend you. See if the parent group is useful to you. If not then just delete your account.
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Thank you all, I guess I will give it a try if it is really useful and can delete if needed.
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Does the school have any family connection newsletter? If so, you’ll probably be able to stay current just with that.
While I think our parent FB group can have some nuggets of good information, 90% is “where should we go to dinner?”, “what’s the best hotel?”, “anyone know a good dermatologist?” type posts which can be just easily googled.
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I enjoy being on mine, and have picked up a few tips here or there but don’t think it is necessary- and am honestly kind of glad I did not join until my ds had been there for a few months- it was good for him to have to figure things out and I think I would have been stressing about things just going by the other freshman parents who have joined recently. Lots of unnecessary angst about housing etc.
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I say no unless you feel your need information that is missing due your child’s committed school or you just like to know all the “tea”.
I don’t have facebook and signed in the parent groups through my spouses very inactive acct - lots of parent complaining about food, course registration etc and both our kids thought it was weird we knew so much (through a parents group).
Really up to how much you want other parent’s thoughts - as the school and your child most likely will communicate what you need to know.
Step 1 of stepping back, in my opinion.
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I have found the school parent pages invaluable in researching choices for my current high schooler, For example, issues I was concerned about have not been mentioned at all, whereas other ones cropped up that weren’t even on my radar. Also very helpful for providing information once my S20 committed.
It’s nice to get a sense of what kind of community the schools seem to have. Offers to help sick kids, etc are nice to see when your student is considering a school very far from home.
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I deleted my account several years ago and don’t miss it one bit. I’d vote not necessary. Never needed it for anything school related.
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Yes. I only have FB on my laptop, not on my phone, because of that pesky little internet addiction issue, and privacy issues. But I have found out all sorts of useful info from the FB parents group for my kid’s school and year, plus I’ve made connections with his friends’ parents, which has been nice.
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For sure, especially if school administrators are in the group too. The last school I worked for was very active in their parent and family FB group (way TOO active, to be honest…I felt obligated to regularly monitor the group because parents used it to complain far too often) and parents who were not in the group definitely missed out on some useful info.
Tip for current parents: don’t post complaints in the FB group. I can’t tell you how many times a parent said their student told them such and such happened, but when we went to look into it that was not the case at all and advisors and faculty had well-documented proof otherwise. It’s better to coach your student on how to seek a resolution themselves.
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And that information is what I find important (urgent cares too, and I learned not to have my daughter go to the closest ER due to crazy wait times). Landlords, cupcakes delivered, where not to park - informative fluff. I ignore the constant parent complaints about dining halls, bad advisors, weed out classes, roommate issues…
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I find it useful for all the reasons mentioned. My son’s college does monitor the FB group and they will intervene in some ways, I.e. fixing a leaky window, helping a student whose train was delayed by several hours and would have otherwise had difficulty getting to their dorm during Covid times.
Lot’s of useful opinions. I guess I need to review it and see how useful this school’s page is.
Many dont think cc is helpful either. I would recommend you join and make your own opinion. Its not permanent.
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i really dont like FB.
but - i have turned completely around on FB groups - including the private parents group for my son’s college. It has been INVALUABLE. so many helpful people, sharing dates, ideas, , about all sorts of things, from important to trivia. When my son had mono, and i asked where to order online groceries, i had several random parents offer to check in on him and take him things! it’s been THE BEST. So i say go for it just for that group experience.
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Personally, I do find the parent groups useful. I also found it an interesting point of comparison when D22 was still considering other schools. There was one school’s parent group that was far and away more negative and combative and it was a real turn-off.
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I’m on two of them - both are mostly useful with occasional ranting about Covid policies or OOS parents irate that sending in housing application at the last minute doesn’t result in getting first choice. Overall positive.
Some posts are hilarious - a OOS kid really loves a pie (Betty’s) and a parent wanted someone local to travel hours in one direction to get the special pie as a birthday surprise. Maybe not a good grasp of geography.
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My daughter was offered an internship last year and I asked for housing info on the FB parents page. I had a mom message me to offer free housing to my daughter! Because of Covid, her internship was remote, but this year she’ll be going for a second year and staying with the family. The location is a high cost of living area so we are so grateful for the offer. I believe that another family also offered her housing.
I’ve seen many posts about local parents helping sick kids, taking them to the ER, delivering packages, organizing transportation for groups of kids stranded at airports, etc.
I scroll through lots of annoying posts (no, I don’t need to see humble braggy posts of families on vacation wearing college gear “representing” x college).
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