<p>...how strange it is that this forum (College Confidential) exists.</p>
<p>Think about it, we are all trying to get into the same top schools which are ultra competitive (Harvard = 7.1%; Yale = 8.3% etc.) and yet we are helping each other get into these schools, when we ourselves may lose our own spot.</p>
<p>We tell each other what books to use to score high on the SAT's, how to get 5's on AP exams, etc. </p>
<p>So seniors (those rejected from their reaches), now that college admissions are over, do you feel as though you in a way actually helped someone else gain admissions into a school that you yourself were rejected from?</p>
<p>Yeah, I've thought about that too. It seems like a lot of times it's parents/college kids who debate stuff and offer detailed opinions and stuff, whereas HS kids are the ones asking q's... but yeah HS kids help a lot too.. maybe they have a tendency to help people in different grad yrs or not applying to the same schools? Idk. Maybe they're just really nice :D</p>
<p>It is mainly because this is internet, which leads people to believe that helping some random kid in a different part of the United States will not ultimately affect him or her.</p>
<p>i've helped people with their essays, and i've tried to answer questions that other people have had regarding the admissions process. my view on the subject is that my application is representative of me--if colleges are really selecting students in order to fill certain roles in their classes, then me helping somebody else won't change whether they select me or not.</p>
<p>then again, I was rejected at all of my many, many reaches.</p>
<p>Life isn't a 0 sum game...and neither is where you go to college. I would hate to live my life worrying about who I could potentially be helping at my expense.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Think about it, we are all trying to get into the same top schools which are ultra competitive (Harvard = 7.1%; Yale = 8.3% etc.) and yet we are helping each other get into these schools, when we ourselves may lose our own spot.
[/quote]
It's the same in real life, really. Your friends probably want to get into the same schools and I bet you still proofread each other's essays. And I don't want to be known for helping people as long as it inconveniences me. In truth, most of us relate to the people asking questions anyway. How clueless were we when we started to care?</p>
<p>I think it is a major generalization to say ever junior or senior on CC is vying for a spot at Harvard, Yale, or the other ultra competitive schools. Moreover who is to say that even if you did not sit on CC and give tips out if you were going to get a spot at the school either way. I would not refuse to give someone a tip just to keep my chances up. I may be a CCer but I still think I will get accepted to at least one of my 10 choices.</p>
<p>Anyone who has thought of that is waaay overcompetitve. This forum helps a lot more kids than the pretentious nerds dedicating their lives to college admission.</p>
<p>Think first generation students, international, URMs, and more. I didn't even know what most of you would consider the most basic information about college and admissions before I started reading up on it here.<br>
There is also a wealth of non college information on this site.</p>
<p>I don't know what you're talking about. Whenever someone asks a question, I always give them the wrong answer. We're talking about ultra-competitive colleges here, you need to beat out the competition. ;)</p>
<p>I never chanced anyone, nor did I ever ask for a chance. I think this forum has a bunch of well rounded applicants to high caliber schools, and if they're smart, they'd take 90% of the stuff on here with a grain of salt. I sort of wish I didn't ever find out about CC. This forum is like a drug now--I find myself looking at it at 2:00AM instead of doing homework. :(</p>
<p>this forum has taught me everything i need to know about applying to college etc. who cares about competition. ppl helped me out, and i return the favor by helping others out</p>
<p>don't get me wrong, i love CC...it has helped me a lot as well. But this is just something that was on my mind (it has been ever since I found CC).</p>
<p>yeah, i've thought about this, because a lot of people in my school have that same attitude of "it's you or me getting into a top college" not both or neither...it's really stupid!</p>
<p>personally, I would never read an essay or chance anyone simply because I don't have any expertise and i'm only in hs! </p>
<p>however, I try to help out as much as I can on the SAT/SAT II boards to pay back all the helpful tips I've gotten from them!</p>
<p>The unfortunate truth is, the majority of you will not get into these top level schools. I firmly believe that by the junior or senior year of high school, it is essentially decided who will be the ones to get in and who will get rejected. Obviously it isn't decided in any official or technical sense, but when you look at certain people on a case to case basis, you can figure out who the best of the best are. Don't ever let yourself regress into competitive stupidity by not helping out your fellow students. It is a coward's way out to withhold information just to get the upper hand. As someone said, this is the CC Community. So people shouldn't give a second thought to bringing each other up, regardless of who gets the top spots at the best schools. Competition can be healthy but it can also go to your head and erode your character. So don't ever take competition so seriously that you hurt others.</p>