this sounds exactly like CC haha!
however, I think the What Are My Chances Forum is fairly accurate. Of course it’s not going to be the same exact thing, but veterans on CC can definitely distinguish between a safety and a reach for someone.
“The two above posters think this guy has a chance? He’s top 30% of his class, that won’t cut it for Stanford. You have a better chance of being struck by a meteorite than getting in, unless you have some ridiculous hook.”
AHAHHAHAHAH. mad props to him.
All I was stating is that anonymity will make people meaner than they ever would be in real life, not disagreeing with the assessment of those people’s chances.
I believe that she did an excellent job at capturing the CC environment. Although there may have indeed been a time when posts were overly optimistic (I was not here for it), I’d say that the majority of you are overly pessimistic and antagonistic. Granted, this can be helpful in giving students a reality check. There is also the possibility that a student may lose all hope and not even apply to a top college where they very well may have been accepted. Many posts read in a manner that indicates some people just get off on calling others out online or even by downplaying their achievements in a chance thread.
One thing in fact that ought to be mentioned, or a theory I’ve had, is that many of us that come here are more inclined to be accepted to HYPS by academic merit than otherwise. The fact that we have registered and participated in a community dedicated to college admissions is indicative of what type of student we are. Now, myself and perhaps many in the minority here will be quick to disassociate ourselves from the typical CC student. Still, accepted CC students will probably have on average higher test scores than those of the average student accepted to HYPS. For this reason, I believe students may overestimate the importance of high test scores - as well as other qualifications - as scores here are, in a sense, inflated.
Although I have been able to learn many lessons about the college admissions process through CC, I have done so through keen discernment over a long period of time. The air of confidence with which posters dismissed students in chance threads initially led me to take their word as accepted fact. Thanks to posters, such as the moderator quoted in that article, I learned that such judgments are not indeed fact. And as a student from a school that hasn’t gotten anyone into HYPS in a good 10-15 years or the ivy league for that matter, I have greatly valued such posters’ clear-sighted and observant posts, which do not encourage unreasonable optimism but instead shed light on the tough odds faced and the potential each applicant has.
The value of CC - at least for me - has been to get clarification about basic information on things such as the waitlist, early letters, what exactly a November 1 deadline means, etc. I’ve also enjoyed relieving stress in threads where students discuss favourite music, movies, and books.
By no means did I expect to get accepted into Stanford. I had lost all hope by December 1, which I think is somewhat natural for even non-CC students. I am just glad I never posted a chance thread, for based on the ones I have read I probably would have received fairly pessimistic responses as a result of my imperfect test scores and what would have been a personal choice to not degrade any of my passions further than I have already by listing them on an application. I have met enough pricks in life who have echoed “cannot” and “will not;” there is no need to further invite their sentiments online, especially when I can - if I am completely honest with myself - make a fair, clear-sighted assessment of my own chances.
why cant they write about SOME positives
they just look at the negatives
I do think the community has a tendency to be overly harsh, but it’s hard not to be when we have the statistics laid out before us. When we know that the 25/75 SAT percentile range for Harvard is something like 2100-2380, it’s really hard NOT to be a bit “pessimistic” when someone rolls along with a 2000 SAT score asking if his community service is going to take him through to the top schools.
I had to laugh a bit at the 30% comment in the article. I mean, look at this:
[Penn</a> Admissions: Incoming Class Profile](<a href=“http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/profile/]Penn”>http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/profile/)
You can see how much your chances decrease when you fall outside the top 10% of your class. If you’re barely grazing the top 30%, you’re probably not going to perform well at a top university against peers who were generally in the top 10%. Even then, if you go to an “easier” high school, that percentage only gets more strict.
As a Penn student, I can say from experience that most of my peers were easily near the top in high school… I think Beef Supreme was chastised a bit too harshly 
I think Beef Supreme was being entirely honest.
And the community as a whole is pretty accurate. If you come in with not-quite-perfect scores/grades and ask for your chances at 2nd tier schools, people will say, “sure, of course you’ll get in. Merit money too.”
But with the same scores/grades, they will say, “get real, there are thousands out there just like you trying to get into Ivies.” That’s the truth.
(Not to imply that there are no first tier schools other than Ivies. 2nd tier is what came to mind. Maybe I should have said “Not as well-known schools. Great Non-Ivies.”
My impression is that the majority tenor of most chance thread replies is to UNDERestimate an applicant’s chances. I’ve seen a lot of follow-up threads where the original poster who was said to have no chance ends up at a great college.
That said, the way to build a college application list is from a sure-bet “safety” college on up.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/664595-good-news-people.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/664595-good-news-people.html</a>
This is a really stressful time for collge-bound kids! This article from this morning’s LA Times may be useful.
[Anxious</a> college hopefuls look for reassurance online - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chanceme9-2009mar09,0,1741864.story]Anxious”>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chanceme9-2009mar09,0,1741864.story)
Our society has a problem with “harsh honesty” - that’s why we have to make sure that everyone feels equal- that it doesn’t matter if your work hard- it’s the age of entitlement and if the truth hurts- we don’t want the truth…in Jack Nickleson’s words “we can’t handle the truth”. I worked very hard to help my kids understand that getting into “elite” schools was a “gift” not a “right” even if they have the scores, and grades and talent- so do many many others. They very carefully only applied to schools that were good fits for them and yet still we get snide remarks and emails about how we are stealing spots from others who obviously had no idea what the real temperature of admiissions was. Rich or poor entitlement seems to describe so many americans. Though we don’t have to be mean about it- the truth is the truth maybe those people get into those schools and maybe not but either way they had the chance to be more prepared for the results and hopefully planned accordingly.
I agree that Chances threads often have bad advice, and many times I don’t bother posting because I think the person is either looking for an ego boost, or already has the information they need. I think it’s important that there is good advice as to what levels of schools they are looking at “reach, match, safety.” And also if a student is lacking in credentials in one place, it’s good to receive advice on how to balance the application, either with a stellar essay or by practicing to make sure the interview isn’t a flop.
All the admissions officers at my HS senior year were brand new, to the school and to college admissions, so the most helpful advice I got on where to apply and where I might receive aid came from statistics on the internet and forums like this.
I also agree that while some people definitely don’t sugar-coat it, people are being mostly honest (though maybe not well-meaning) given the information they have. Sometimes I think the best advice is to remind applicants that they aren’t only numbers, and that the statistics on the internet are averages, meaning you can be below the mark and still have at least a little hope.
Props to CC poster carolyn!! It’s about time she got some well-deserved recognition for her efforts. 
I would agree. The danger is when some of those applicants decide not to apply to their reach schools. I think member forget that not everyone here is from a powerhouse high school or a long-time follower of college admissions. In fact, this is a positive attribute of CC that the journalist gets right. Kids like myself who have struggled to obtain real information about the college admissions process essentially get the chance to do the same research that our hs guidance counselors do. However, I believe that I am not alone in having second-guessed my even having a chance of getting into a tier 1 school. When you do not know anyone that has applied and been accepted to a top school and all you are told from college counselors is that it is for the most part impossible, reading more about the daunting prospects online is not encouraging. I had to fight to get top schools on my application list and felt embarrassed for even thinking myself capable of getting accepted at schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.
Posts emphasizing how many factors play into the admissions process have been helpful; posts that declare a member has no chance whatsoever of getting into a school based on their test scores, GPA, difficulty of classes, etc. have not been helpful. And there are plenty of examples. Just see the the tone of the responses to chance threads following the Stanford Slaughter. Or steal a glance at what posters say in the SAT prep threads about the importance of test scores.
Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for all of the insight that I have gained from CC. I am just saying that it took a long time to figure out the dynamics of the site. I now read posts understanding that there are many high school students with near-perfect test scores and numerous APs who are more inclined to overemphasize the correlation between high test scores and acceptance; many of those posters also like to believe and frequently declare that their 2300 or 2400 will be seen as much different from a 2200. There are also those who have scores closer to 2000 that perhaps overemphasize essays, athletics, ECs, and so on. Albeit, these posters tend to do so with less adamantly than the high-score posters. And then there are the moderators and students who will post the stats, summaries of past results/lessons learned from past year, and give tips on potential hooks.
I simply do not believe the chance threads are healthy for the students that create them. Those who post too much information do so at the risk of coming off as self-congratulatory or being found by one of their schools’ adcoms (and I am going to guess that most students would not want to be associated with CC by an adcom). Usually it just comes down to students debating about GPA, class rank, and test scores, and there are better ways to have these debates. The chance threads tend to elicit extreme responses such as Beef’s. Posters like Beef have probably seen the same chance threads thousands of times and do not wish to take the time to write a thorough response to each person wishing to be chanced.
CC should stick to giving students the tools needed to chance themselves. Get rid of the chance threads and implement a reputation system (as offered by vbulletin boards). These steps would greatly benefit those attempting to decipher the confusing college admissions process.
As my DD attended a large public high school in California, where there was only 1 GC to 700 students, this site was invaluable to our college search/application process. Information about transcripts, safeties-and what constituted a safety, and likely acceptance turned out to be on target. The GC was not only overwhelmed by the shear number of students she was responsible for, but also better versed on the UCs & CSUs than other colleges/universities. So—kuddos to this site! APOL-a mom
Healthy or not, they are ubiquitous and in demand (much like rankings). Eliminating them would be like trying to stamp out kudzu. At least CC contains the madness by keeping them within the WAMC board.
^ haha I love the analogy!
I have never posted a chance thread. I just don’t see how it’s going to benefit me in any way. There’s no way a brief description of my GPA, grades, test scores, and ECs is going to give anyone a clear picture of whether or not I belong at a particular college. I’m also not one of those people who feels incomplete/vulnerable without having their worth/existence validated by their peers.
What slanted journalism. Was the writer told to only focus on the negative responses to chances threads? Most of the ones that I have seen are not only more kind (or at least not mean), but are also more realistic than those mentioned in the article.
Regardless of the validity of her criticisms of CC, one thing about this place is undeniable; the information is here. Even if some people are harsher in the chance threads, the rest of the forum is full of amazing people and amazing sources of information. This really helps people like me who have been “big fish in small ponds,” but learned early enough where the real competition was, so that adequate preparation could be done.
so beef supreme was a little tactless–that doesn’t mean he was wrong. i’d be prettyyyy surprised if i heard jimmy got into MIT.