<p>Before CC, my parents thought that dropping 34k per year for boarding school would get me into the college of my choice, given that my stats are decent and that I have ECs.</p>
<p>After CC, I learned that receiving anything than an A is horrible and will keep you out of the most elite institutions. This was news to me; I have received plenty of B+s throughout my high school career, yet my grades are considered stellar by my adviser, college counselor, teachers, and parents. I do have a tough schedule relative to my classmates, and good grades are hard to come by at my school. B students receive 5s on their APs, whereas at schools with easier grading systems there are A students getting 4s and below! Yet it doesn't matter, because As are a prerequisite for top schools... </p>
<p>So basically I learned that...
1) Receiving decent grades at an expensive prep school with challenging academics is worse than receiving straight As at a public school.
2) You need almost all As to get into a top school. Bs will keep you out of elite institutions (unless you only received 1 or 2).
3) My parents and I underestimated the difficulty of getting accepted to a top school. We never knew how intense ECs had to be...I mean, I have them, but they are nothing special at all...I didn't know ECs were such a big factor in admissions. </p>
<p>There's more that I've learned from CC that I can't think of right now.</p>
<p>What about you guys? I imagine that CC has given many of you a new perspective on the college process, and I would love to hear about it.</p>
<p>It opened up my perception on how hard it is to get into top schools. I know many kids who haven’t gone through the admissions process who are delusional into thinking they are going to get in their dream school. This site will definitely open up your eyes.</p>
<p>After navigating this website I realized the university one attends matters very little. A motivated, intelligent person will usually be able to obtain a great education almost anywhere they go. I also realized American “elite” institutions are largely overrated at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Finally, I realized that there are many clueless kids and deluded parents that waste time and money in the belief that their perfect stats will earn them the Presidency of the US, the Fields Medal, or the Nobel Prize because they attended a “top” institution. In the end they lose to people such as President Obama, President Bush, Arno Penzias, and/or Grigori Perelman.</p>
<p>It made me realize that if you have an SAT of a 2100 or under, you’re stupid. Also, all of the Harvard kids pretty much went on CC. It made me feel stupid with my 3.8 and 4.25 GPA and “a little above average” SAT/ACT scores.</p>
<p>it helped me realize how 90% of information on this forum is utter BS and the scary fact that people actually suck it all up like its kool-aid. Helped me become more wary and cautious of things that people post on CC and figure out what is actually true and what is crap.</p>
<p>1) How crazy people can be about the Ivies.
2) Feel inferior even if you have a 2300 SAT.
3) Show off on ‘Chances’ threads with millions of EC’s</p>
<p>But I absolutely love CC!!! I got to know A LOT about everything - from College applications to Course Selection and everything in between. Thanks a lot CC!!! :D</p>
<p>Before I came to CC, I practically had no idea what APs were (I go to an international school where APs are not offered and few people know about them).</p>
<p>Thanks to CC and multiple threads on self-studying, I now know much more!</p>
<p>CC showed me that you are your stats and ECs. You have no character; your life does not exist beyond schools and its black, soulless tendrils people call extra-curricular activities. You have no compassion if you do not volunteer; you waste too much time if you are home for more than an hour at a time; you do not do enough homework if you get 6 hours of sleep; you are a reject if you get into anything other than Yale, Harvard, and the like.</p>
<p>CC taught me that I am nothing.</p>
<p>(Although, the less-trendy college forums are good).</p>
<ol>
<li> There is so much misinformation that we couldn’t hope to cure the problem.</li>
<li> Racism is alive and well.</li>
<li> People get REALLY INTENSE about their test scores.</li>
<li> There are people in this world who think $200,000 is “middle class.”</li>
</ol>
<p>-I learned that middle-class depends on where you live. The middle-class of Montana will probably earn a very different income than a middle-class person in the Bay Area.
-I learned that you must be in the 99%ile
-I learned that going to a top high school doesn’t really matter that much
-I learned the value of having really, really unique ECs
-I learned to be incredibly anxious over test scores and grades
-I learned that not sleeping CAN really improve grades
-I learned that work experience can be very important</p>
<p>I think that CC makes you realize the “big fish small pond” analogy, especially if you’re from a public school. Coming here made me realize that there were people WAY more accomplished than me, but I owe most of my academic success in high school to information found on CC. I also met some cool people and found a community where I could discuss the college process [which is all most of us care about in the 1st half of senior year and in march] and just find people who had similar aspirations.</p>
<p>There’s a good amount of misleading info here, but the veteran posters all give good advice. It’s those 100 post new kids who see 2300+ people and think that’s the only way to get into an elite school.</p>
<p>CC does foster a sense of insecurity amongst all college applicants, yes, because a majority of people here are high achievers in high school, judging from their statistics.</p>
<p>Personally, I was a run of the mill student who had few special qualities whatsoever. Decent grades, yes; good essay, yes, but still not HYPSM material in any way.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve learned how obsessed people can be about the USNWR ratings in particular - they see it as the manual to determining the “quality” of a school - hah!</p>
<p>CC made me realize that there are some people who, rather than doing what they love, do instead what they think would make a college “happiest” to see.</p>
<p>Colleges aside, I found CC most helpful in terms of AP classes and the SATs. Granted, I had no idea what the SAT IIs or self-studying even were before I came here (I’d been a lurker for a LONG time, haha). The amount of information concerning test prep is incredible, and ones get a sense of the competition when applying to colleges. And it reaffirmed my belief in having a few, unique ECs as opposed to a long laundry list of meaningless nonsense.</p>