I had some discussions about this through PMs. People have expressed an interest in hearing from the host, so please let them answer the questions that come in. Feel free to contribute by asking questions or by politely flagging inaccurate answers. Thanks!
Maybe you could include a note on the etiquette expected. I have been posting on AMA threads (mental health, essays) and would not have, if I had known that only the designated expert should be responding with info and experience.
For the Georgetown AMA, I would have liked if the AO could say where they were an AO at, even if in generic terms (large state school vs. small LAC etc.) Knowing that they went to Georgetown doesn’t really provide any background on their experience, especially since it’s been 10+ years IIRC since they were an AO.
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Interesting comments from everyone.
I have an AMA going right now, and a couple of longtime posters very kindly asked if they could offer their advice. Of course, I said they should, but I didn’t think they needed to ask. I assumed the AMA’s are as much about asking questions as they are about others sharing insight too. More brains=better perspective.
I like the AMA format. I think it’s good to see a different topic featured each week. I like that there generally seems to be interest in the AMA’s offered. It’s something different and it’s good to be able to look at one thread and get questions answered.
Is there a place to find all the AMA’s? I think it would be handy for people to be able to access them and look for AMA’s of interest, even if they are closed threads.
@CTTC , the AMA I’m doing is simply to share info with others who might have questions. Just a way to be helpful?
I think there’s a difference between the Parents4Parents AMAs and the author/expert AMAs. For the Parents4Parents AMAs, the hosts seem to be fine with other jumping in and providing insight so I think that’s fine. We can continue that collaborative approach.
When we have an expert/author, I’ll make sure to include a note on the posting etiquette, as there the consensus so far was to have the OP answer the questions.
I have tagged all AMAs and you can find them here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussions/tagged/ama
Yes, I am sorry – I meant to differentiate between the advertising AMAs and the ones from longtime parent posters. (Although I still don’t know why AMAs would be different from any question asked at any time in the Parents Forum.)
To me, the AMA’s are just another way of engaging with others. I think they improve the user experience.
I think any true expert/author values additional insights given by others. CC has a lot of long time contributors who are involved one way or another in the college process, and who are experts in the AMA topic themselves.
I think the issue with the AMA experts and CC members contributions is that, at least in one thread, was the manner of questioning the advice of the host. Although sometimes presented in an unfortunately aggressive manner, I thought the questions were fair because the host’s wording was unclear and sometimes could have been inadvertently misleading to someone coming to the forum seeking answers. I think the CC members’ contributions truly helped get to a clearer understanding and helped people searching for answers.
Honestly there are so many people in the college consulting business, and as a parent you get bombarded with all sorts of experts trying to sell you their services to help you navigate the college admissions process. Parents simply don’t know who to trust and who is a true expert verses someone who has a strong ego and is a good salesman. That was one of the things that had attracted me to CC so much; no one was trying to sell me anything, so I felt that the advice came without any hype and was more reliable. (I also really enjoyed the fellowship of parents going through the same journey, so theParents of theClass of…thread was helpful).
I do appreciate the AMA format, and appreciate that you’ve identified a particular CC member as having particular knowledge in the area to act as the host in a collaborative environment.
The AMA format for outside experts whose advice can’t be challenged? Well, I feel like I’ve seen that same format in lots of other places and isn’t nearly as helpful. And I feel like to maintain CC’s credibility, if CC has an ”expert” seeking to use CC as marketing tool, then CC is putting its reputation on the line by calling this person an expert, so I hope they’ve been well vetted.
@CCadmin_Sorin, I did that and was told that it is allowed.
I flagged a post from a company that helps students writes essays (not in an AMA), replying to an international student, asking about their competitiveness for a selective university. The company’s post specifically says ‘you need a good essay’ and ‘that’s what we do’. Either do straight up ads or not, but this special access inside content/no warnings to desperate 16-18 year olds.
I haven’t found many of the expert AMAs that valuable (and agree about the promotional aspects being off putting), but I am finding the current one from the ex-Stanford AO very informative. Just wanted to put that out there. (Feels more like thoughtful answers to specific questions than a cut and paste from chapter x of the book.)
(As I presume many others do, I only look at the ones that are of interest to me personally so it’s possible I’ve missed other very informative ones.)
I agree with sj2727…this current AMA with ex-Stanford AO is excellent. Posters are definitely keeping him busy, and he is giving such thorough answers. Hope he sticks around!
I guess though, CC doesn’t really know how a particular AMA will do until the person is actually on here and answering questions. I do appreciate the extra effort involved in trying to broaden the insights available here. Perhaps the particularly responsive /valuable contributors could get invited back once every year or couple of years, or something like that?
How about asking Betsy Mayotte from The Institute of Student Loan Advisors? https://freestudentloanadvice.org/. Lots of topics could be covered including loan forgiveness, payment plan options, consolidation, how to deal with defaults, etc. They don’t charge for their help so they won’t be trying to sell anything.
This thread is older now but my new CC is jumping me around and it came up. My 2 cents-
–When we have an expert/author–
You don’t know that they’re experts. They may work at x, make some money, but you don’t know more than that. And things change so quickly with admissions that old experience is often not current enough. Or very specific to one college can be too narrow. Same when you learn a particular guru’s experience is limited to some local kids or a guaranteed transfer program.
Buyer beware.
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The only AMA I’ve viewed is the Stanford one and I found it interesting. I would love to see an expert on learning differences featured because there are so many misconceptions about the issue. In fact, the higher the IQ, the more likely a student has learning differences. Here’s a link to a book about students with disabilities at Harvard:
I’ve also seen a number of parents recommend books by this author for help with executive function issues. I think this topic would have broad appeal.
Lastly, it would be interesting to have admissions officers feedback on disability, whether or not to disclose it during the application process, whether or not they actively recruit students with these differences as part of diversity initiatives, etc.
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Why is a former Stanford admissions officer allowed to have a thread aimed at high school students where there’s a link to his business website that offers college counseling services for $250-$500? While I can appreciate that he also has an application tips newsletter for free the thread and link feel like a direct violation of Terms of Service. Can everyone set up shop on CC now or is there a special application for it?
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So, I’m starting to see a lot more posts from people sharing their webpages, start ups, and businesses. How are we supposed to know what is CC approved and what should be flagged for TOS violation?
I just saw a poster telling people to visit his international relations site on a thread that was started years ago.
I flagged a post a few days ago that seems to have been taken down but it feels much more grey now that we have posts from “experts” with links to their for profit sites.
Would love to get some clarity on this.
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@momofsenior, as previously announced, we have invited experts and authors to participate in forum initiatives like AMAs or school chat parties. When announcing such initiatives I put up a post introducing the expert (and include a link back to their website/YouTube channel/business).
The ToS have not changed. It is not allowed to use the CC Forums to promote your business or solicit your services. These experts/authors are not exempt from these rules, so please flag whenever you see violations. Thanks!