<p>I am the parent of a high school senior at a a very selective (test-in), very large public high school in NYC with a wide range of backgrounds of the students and parents, including many families for whom English is not their first language but who have very high expectations for their kids. I have been sending some links to threads here on College Confidential to the teacher in the college office who helps with financial aid and scholarships. This teacher told me that he intends to present CC as a resource for parents at an upcoming meeting for juniors and their parents introducing the college admissions process at the school. So I ask you: any suggestions? How do <em>you</em> negotiate College Confidential? I always start with the list of new posts and subscribe to threads and forums of specific interest but I don't think that's very efficient!</p>
<p>I scan to see what threads come up bold on the Parent and Parent Cafe page - if they look interesting, I see what the latest post is. When my kids were applying I checked the college threads for those colleges. The SAT prep thread, the AP study threads, the Financial Aid threads and some of the specialty threads (Architecture, Musical Theater etc.) also provide good info. I’d emphasize that Chances threads are useless and that in general the info in the parents thread is more useful than in the kid threads. Most of the stickied threads provided good info.</p>
<p>I don’t subscribe to anything. I hate getting emails about message boards.</p>
<p>The search function is very useful. I was able to find answers to most of my questions in existing threads. Many people’s questions are of a general nature, and have been answered time and time again. </p>
<p>I also think parents with very high expectations could benefit from reading the admissions results threads in the spring. I believe my expectations about the selectivity of various schools was recalibrated significantly by looking at the credentials of students who were not accepted to top schools. I also was able to snowball out from there–seeing where those students attended instead–to cast a much wider net and broaden my view of what the “top” schools were. </p>
<p>As a graduate of an American college, it was important for me to discover that the mental grouping of schools as being for “A students” or “B students” or “stoners” or whatever that I formed in the 70’s were no longer valid.</p>
<p>Also, everyone should peruse some threads on the financial aid board where the whole concept of EFC is addressed, the formulas that drive it, the definition of “need,” the variety of ways (including loans) that need might be “met” (or not met).</p>
<p>Look at the main forum names, read the stickied threads at the top of each (particularly the FA forum), read some thread titles to get the idea of what is included in each, visit ones that are interesting. Stay out of the maelstrom point of view threads in the parents forum. :)</p>
<p>Students at very selective/test-in/well-known NYC schools may have more in common with day students at the very selective NE preps than with the general pool of high school students, so the parents the OP describes may also be interested in some of the college discussions on the Prep School Parents sub-forum of CC. The parents there, too, represent a very diverse population and generally have high expectations for their kids. I don’t think the public vs. private distinction invalidates the information of interest on that sub-forum. Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>ChoateMom, to be clearer: about 60 percent of the students at my daughter’s school are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The other two big test-in NYC public high schools have wealthier student bodies.</p>
<p>I subscribe to certain forums and let CC automatically subscribe me to any thread i post in. (By “subscribe” I do NOT mean get emails, I mean it shows up on my user control panel).</p>
<p>I bookmarked the control panel page so any threads I’ve subscribed to are right there , I go to those first and click “first unread post” to jump to where I left off.</p>
<p>If I am still hanging around, I’ll check my subscribed forums for any new posts that look interesting.</p>
<p>I think suggesting parents read the admissions results threads particularly for selective schools is a great idea. It will give you a much better picture of how many perfect stat applicants get rejected, but also show you that it is not impossible for bright kids with no apparent hooks get to get in, sometimes with stats that are definitely not perfect.</p>
<p>I would send the parents to the Financial Aid Forum, and encourage them to read the stickied threads at the top. They need to know about the money - especially if their kids are FARMS category. </p>
<p>I’d also encourage the international parents to spend some time at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov%5DEducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov) That website is designed for true international students, but a lot of the information is useful for parents who weren’t educated here. It will help them better understand how higher education is organized in the US.</p>
<p>Over a third of the student body at Choate (and most NE preps) is on financial aid, many with full-rides. Choate even has a “Beyond the Classroom” fund available to provide things (like varsity jackets, help with the cost of music lessons, and college tour trips) that ensure that students are able to participate in the full experience at school regardless of family income level. It is misinformed to think that everyone at these schools is wealthy. I only brought up the Prep School forum because the concerns of parents are the same everywhere and the OP emphasized the selectivity of her kid’s school.</p>
<p>I agree with ChoatieMom. In our experience, a lot of the better New England prep schools have a large population of “highly deserving/low income” kids there on scholarship. They have special college admissions needs including finding schools with great financial aid.</p>
<p>I would encourage them to visit the following forums:</p>
<ul>
<li>Financial Aid</li>
<li>Colleges (to look at schools their student is interested in)</li>
<li>College Admissions (for a lot of good general threads on admission questions) </li>
<li>Parents Forum</li>
</ul>
<p>I would specifically encourage them to stay away from Chances and forums frequented mostly by students (vs. parents).</p>