<p>thinkingparent:
I haven't read all the posts here, but I do want to add one thing.</p>
<p>I hope you will stick with CC even now that your son is launched. It is critical that people like yourself, who may feel a little bruised, are around to comment on the "chances" when parents are told that there kid has GREAT stats and will get in anywhere. </p>
<p>When we weigh in on some of these lists that are WAY too top heavy, people are reluctant to agree. Often, they've been given bad information by guidance counselors. One great thing about CC is that the view is slightly more "global" than just one high school - that being the perception of many GCs.</p>
<p>I don't get the piling on with the "shame on her" business.</p>
<p>The OP herself (himself?) said in the OP that s/he was ashamed of his/her previous attitude:</p>
<p>
[quote]
how ashamed I am now that I had those "Ivy-&-its-ilk" blinders on for so long...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The OP has already repented. The OP's son is happy with his school. The OP is happy with his school. The OP is encouraging others not to make the same mistakes of focusing exclusively on "Ivy & its ilk" schools that s/he did.</p>
<p>cheers, I don't know if it's as much a puddle of guilt as a puddle of confusion. I really wish the OP could come up with the previous screenname they were using so I could accurately track the process in old posts. I find it hard to believe that the parents that were around at that time would have let this happen without many many warnings. That's why I asked for the OP's previous name but they have forgotten the name they were using.</p>
<p>I don't think so.... I think the OP probably lurked more than posted, and heard what he/she wanted to hear. I think the problem that everyone is having with the initial post is the casting of blame -- i.e., the subtext that "I made a mistake and it's your fault for misleading me." And we all know that it didn't happen in this section of the board -- at least not here, not this year. </p>
<p>It wouldn't take much for someone's post confirming that a kid with X set of stats has "pretty good chances" of getting into Ivy League U to be converted into the idea of "sure thing" if that's what the parent wanted to hear. </p>
<p>I've been on this board or another for 6 years, and every spring there are disappointed parents who just can't understand why their darling was turned down by Harvard or Yale. Some just chalk it up to the luck of the draw and leave it at that-- others want to analyze or blame or complain about the admissions system. The blamers/complainers probably aren't going to go away, though each year the specific cast of characters is going to change. </p>
<p>Anyway, the point is: no need to go digging. What we would find probably wouldn't prove much of anything.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, it's clear that your D got at least some of her smarts from you!!</p>
<p>I suspect that people can have selective memories about the advice they were given. Sometimes, especially with our kids, we "hear" what we want to hear. </p>
<p>I do not recall ANY thread (at least on the Parents' forum) where a poster was told he or she, or his or her kid, would "get in anywhere." To the contrary, the mantra is "safeties first!" -- and I have been reading here for six years (the kid who got me started is now a college grad).</p>
<p>I didn't find this forum until my 3rd was already in freshman year, but boy do I wish I had. Not so much for advice on "chances" and how to get in to an elite school, but there have been so many threads that would have been helpful to us---esp. those pointing out all the different things to consider when choosing a school for a good "fit".</p>
<p>"It wouldn't take much for someone's post confirming that a kid with X set of stats has "pretty good chances" of getting into Ivy League U to be converted into the idea of "sure thing" if that's what the parent wanted to hear. "</p>
<p>But I have been on CC for years and can't think of any time in which parents have responded to someone like that. Virtually all of the parents here emphasize that no one is guaranteed to get into Ivies, all should consider them reaches and have matches and safeties that they'd love attending.</p>
<p>It's in the Chances board that people get all kinds of guarantees of success from teens who are uninformed. As I said before, anyone who believes those tea leaves readers deserves what they get.</p>
<p>I don't like it when someone comes here and blames people for problems that there's no evidence that we caused.</p>
<p>I wish CC would post some sort of disclamer at the top of the "chances" boards, because I think that asking about chances is like asking for a look at the future in the crystal ball- the responses from mostly HS kids is likely to be as worthless, because how could they know if they have not been through process? It's my opinion that the chances threads reduce the credibility of CC, which without them, is an INVALUABLE resourse to students and parents involved in the college application process.</p>
<p>andison redux was my first thought when I read the OP, wisteria, so yeah, you're right, 'shame' was kinda OTT. </p>
<p>Then again, andi let it all hang out when she asked where she went wrong. I don't recall a hint of blame in her posts. In fact, she went out of her way to steer clear of blaming anyone.</p>
<p>What's the point of this OP? Half of it was to share some hard learned lessons. Got that. Down with that. GA Tech is a great place for a great student. </p>
<p>The other half of the OP cast pebbles at 'elitist' CC parents and successful but 'manipulative' Ivy applicants. Neither deserved the beat down.</p>
<p>"I wish CC would post some sort of disclamer at the top of the "chances" boards"</p>
<p>Why would that be necessary? Virtually all of the chances posts are for the most competitive colleges in the country. Students who have those as their goals certainly are intelligent enough to be able to know that they aren't going to get accurate chances information from anonymous people on a website.</p>
<p>People who really want to figure out their chances would do the time consuming work of looking at the stats and ECs of accepted and rejected students, and doing other kinds of research to find out out the college's admissions stats and criteria.</p>
<p>Most people who use chances simply want to hear reassurances that they'll get in. Not the brightest way to figure out where to apply. That's not CC's fault.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, my point was that after reading many of the "what are my chances" threads over the last 3 years, and comparing the quality of knowledge in those responses from HS students, who most of the time as clueless as the OP', the difference in the quality and realism of responses from the Parent board is more than striking, it is like night and day. Does it serve CC as a resourse for information about the college application process to treat all opinions offered here as equally valuable or valid? Just food for thought. If I were coming to this site for the first time I would want to know where the most realistic, accurate information could be obtained. As It stands now, because of the order the forums are listed in, one could infer that "what are my chances" threads are where one should start. I think they are a waste of time for those serious about obtaining facts or informed advice, rather than just some other students opinion of their chances.</p>
<p>Thinking-
I'll add to your case...123 posts in 9 hours on "Qualified but cut..."(or something like that). The elephant is VERY big. Congrats on GT-Awesome school, thank goodness you and your son recognize that. Make sure you get sliders at the Varsity!!! "whataya have?!?!?!?..."</p>
<p>The Chances threads are very misleading. However, I find the information posted by the admitted/rejected students posted in December and April extremely interesting as well as sobering.</p>