<p>I have come across many people who have bashed chance threads before, with this one the most recent:
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If you have posted a chances thread on CC or have asked CC members to read your essays, your chances of admission are probably very small because your behavior here indicates you lack the confidence and critical thinking skills that top schools seek.
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I am indifferent on the subject, but what are your opinions on chance threads, CC?</p>
<p>That,i think was by a Harvard graduate and was in jest.Dont worry,lots of people who get into the Ivies also get themselves chanced.I got myself chanced because im an international student who didnt really know if i had it in me to go to the colleges i wanted to just b/c i havnt been growing up in an environment where its common to know what the ec’s ,etc of a potential applicant look like(not that it was a huge help considering i left out half my ec info on the way,lol).So a lot of people have genuine reasons for getting chanced.</p>
<p>Well chance threads really don’t do much. They tell you other people’s opinions (which can be realistic or not) about whether you can get in or not, and generally the asker already has a good idea about their chances. There’s nothing wrong with starting a chance threads, but a lot of CCers get a little crazy and post too many of them, which shows their lack of self-confidence in their abilities, according to that comment. In my opinion, chance threads can help if once in a while a poster can offer you some good advice about schools, or something to do to improve your app. They can be useless when posters just put a high reach, match, low reach status next to each one, based on their opinion.</p>
<p>The problem is when kids start thinking that other high schoolers can give them accurate chances. The way chance threads are formatted is not the way applications are formatted, and we don’t get a change to see your intangibles–recs, essays. Chances are chance threads are usually just a shot in the dark.</p>
<p>But, certainly, there are kids with mediocre ECs or subpar SATs who are better off knowing before they apply that their chances at Harvard (or whatever) are slim. Same for kids with low ranks, same for Asians (or anyone who’s not a URM) from the NE, etc. </p>
<p>But people asking to be chanced need to be able to get through the fluff–aka, the chorus of “OMG so good! But idk, because the Ivies are a reach for everyone!!!”–and look for the genuinely helpful, knowledgable comments <em>coughRedrosescough</em>. Never think that a positive chance thread means you have an excellent shot at the nation’s most competitive schools.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with asking to be chanced!! I asked to be chanced… and its not because I’m not confident in my abilities. I am still unfamiliar with the schools I am looking at, as I myself have not done a ton of research or visited them (yet). The way I see it, other students on CC most likely know people who go to the schools in question, or know enough about them. And most people don’t reply back with “Yeah you’re in!” or, “No, you are definitely out.” Most people, from my experience, usually reply back with interesting info about the schools or have further questions or comments for you to help improve your application or give you other ideas.</p>
<p>I love to hear others opinions, wether they be good or bad. It helps me to get an idea of how other people feel. Think… if you were in class and you heard people whispering about how some kid <em>totally</em> can’t get into a top school, CC is nearly the same thing just in a different setting. A bunch of students get together to judge eachother and weigh in their opinions. However… it IS just that, an opinion. Don’t put too much weight on what they think, its just neat to know.</p>
<p>posting chance me threads is clinically proven to reduce social lives by up to 50%.</p>
<p>^citation needed</p>
<p>Very few high schoolers can see themselves clearly. Some are convinced that they can consistently get in far over where they realistically can; others are convinced that they’ll never get in anywhere. Some, like me, swing back and forth between the two. A chance thread can at least give you a sample of what the public opinion of your chances is, and can- if done well, anyway- help bring you back to reality.</p>
<p>Chance threads can be good tools for those confused in their path, lacking information or simply desiring to know whether it is worth for them to apply to a certain school. Having said so, what I have noticed in my brief skim through the chance threads, is that the useful, high-quality answers some posters seek are lacking. This is mainly due to the fact that most people chancing are other high school students also looking for chances(“chance me I’ll chance back”). If someone isn’t informed enough to know their own chances, they most likley aren’t a good judge of anyone else’s chances. Also, posters should be careful not to take extreme comments seriously and should remember that these might not reflect their true chances. Although chance threads can be helpful to some, they should be used correctly, and their responses taken in appropriately.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think a good way to make them helpful is to say that you don’t want high school students to post on your chance threa.</p>
<p>I think they’re fine. If someone who was accepted to a specific college had similar (or worse) stats than you, it can give you an idea of what to expect come decision time.</p>
<p>^ actually, those are decision threads, where students post their stats and whether they got admitted / waitlisted / denied to a certain college. Chance threads ask people to chance a student given stats and often are not chanced by those who were accepted (or even applied) into one of the schools listed.</p>
<p>Where do decision threads even go?</p>
<p>Usually on the page of the college they are for. For example, if you want the Harvard decisions thread, you would go to the Harvard page and they are likely at the top.</p>
<p>Edit: By the way, decisions threads are comprehensive - as in there is usually only one per year per college (or two with ED, EA, etc.) and all those who wish to, post their decisions in that one thread - so it is very organized for those looking for the info.</p>
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<p>My question would be: what’s the point?</p>
<p>No one knows what anyone’s chances are. The best anyone can do is look up the collegeboard, nces or Naviance stats and guess. But even then, there’ll be the story of the 2.4/1100 who gets into MIT thereby nullifying what little “accuracy” our guesses may have had.</p>
<p>So long as you treat chance threads as the trifles that they are, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with them. It’s when you start believing that “gotintoHarvardwitha2.5” or “youarespecial” has real insight into the process and then you change your plans as a result that you get into a danger zone. Put up a chance thread and see the reactions; it will take a lot of time to separate the wheat from the chaff - time that could be more effectively spent doing the research yourself, but it’s your time. Just remember, none of us are in the room making the decisions, we’re all just guessing and qualifying those guesses is the only honest way to go - you may be a 3.95/2390 with a great profile, but it’s still going to be hard to get into Stanford. As for the “haters” well at least they’re upfront about it, if you can be discouraged by jerks like that then maybe you aren’t ready to compete at the elite level. </p>
<p>At best chance threads are the slightly less blind leading the blind; at worst it’s the ignorant leading the totally clueless.</p>
<p>I would also take “Decision Threads” with a grain of salt.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They are self reported, so there is no way to prove if the data is accurate or if the poster is an actual applicant or some internet shut-in.</p></li>
<li><p>The sample size is very small. A huge decision thread on CC might have 200 responses for schools that accept in the thousands. There’s no way to check the statistical validity.</p></li>
<li><p>Human nature says that if you’ve been rejected you’re less likely to advertise it, so there may be a disproportionate number of “accepts” on a thread versus “rejects”.</p></li>
<li><p>Check the stats versus the required reporting done to the nces, (also found on collegeboard.com). Reading the decision threads here it seems that the average accept has to be a 3.85/2350; make sure the numbers line up.</p></li>
<li><p>Remember, people lie to make themselves sound better than they are.</p></li>
<li><p>When in doubt, re-read number 5</p></li>
</ol>