<p>My username actually began over on a Brand X Web-based discussion site, where I was involved in discussions with a lot of young people who pursue a particular extracurricular involvement that I coach. I chose the username just to to indicate that I was an adult, a coach, and not one of the competitors. Over there another adult told me about CC, and now I post more here than there.</p>
<p>If there have been 127,000 members join since 2004, and we generously assume that each one is a legitimate college-applicant student, then we're looking at, at most, 2 percent of the college-applying population. (127,000/[1.4 million annual first-time freshmen * 4])</p>
<p>Of course, given that not everyone who joins is actually a student, that number is probably substantially high.</p>
<p>Furthermore, that figure is skewed heavily toward those who might apply to "elite schools," and is definitely not a proper random sample of America's college population. :)</p>
<p>I think it's somewhat representative of the people who have a REASONABLE chance at elite institutions. All the people who at least have a chance are like those who post on CC. The majority of people from my school who are planning on applying to HYPSM... are... how should I say this... not brilliant like a lot of CCers. I mean, come on. 1900's on the SAT and Stanford or Princeton just don't mix too well unless you're some WAY underrepresented minority.</p>