So sorry for your loss, @ChoatieMom.
I am so sorry for your loss @ChoatieMom
Hugs and prayers to you and family.
So very sorry, @ChoatieMom
Very sad news. So sorry for your loss.
@ChoatieMom, I am sorry for your loss. May his memory be eternal.
So very sorry for your loss @ChoatieMom .
Musings for a post A10 Friday afternoon…
Do y’all ever wonder how much chit chat on this board actually impacts where people apply and where they enroll? Do you think we drive trends?
Different schools get a lot of play here from year to year. SAS has been big, NMH got love a couple of years back, Choate has a regular cheering section, and this year Deerfield seems like a fave (props to the great input from @Golfgr8 
).
I would love to see data on it.
Thanks @CateCAParent . You do a great job informing us all @ Cate! The Cali parents have shared so much information over the past few years. It’s great learning about schools from everyone …wish our kids could do a school-year switch here in the US and spend a semester or even year at a different BS . Wonder which schools our kids would choose to go to for a semester or a year?
@CateCAParent I’ve often wondered the same thing. I’m not sure about influence on enrolling but I definitely think there’s an influence on applying. I can say for certain that many schools DD is looking at is due to the posters on this forum. TBH, some of the crossing off the list has also been from chitchat from CC posters. I’m sure we aren’t the only ones.
Interesting question, @CateCAParent. My guess is that it helps some people consider possibilities that they might not otherwise have considered, but it would be surprising to me if it had much of an impact once people have acceptances in hand (at least in years where COVID-19 is not an issue), as I think people will largely make final decisions based on revisit days, financial aid packages, etc.
I would also be surprised if many people ruled out schools that they would otherwise have been interested in based solely or primarily on what people post here. I think most of the posters take the tack of suggesting that there’s no one-size-fits-all school, and that everyone should try to assess their own priorities and situation, search for the school that really fits their child, and make their decisions based on what they perceive or can ascertain from available materials. With that being the main advice, I suspect people consider but do not feel beholden to the few strong opinions they might encounter here.
@buuzn03 , I just read your comment. I guess you are proof that some people do cross schools off their lists based on what is posted here. We fell into the camp I described above.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-west-point.html?smid=tw-share
Not sure I would let my kid go…
For me, I read some people’s posts, and I think “I like the way they think! If their kid loves a school, I should pay extra attention to that school”. There are some great, very persuasive writers here.
I feel like it is impossible to make headway with the mass of narrowly- focused prestige-oriented applicants. But overall the positive message that there are lots of great schools out there does resonate with some.
@PhotographerMom has mentioned in the past that there are “in schools “ - and they are not ones talked much about here. So that argues against the notion that anyone here is setting any trends. ?. But the “cast a wide net” philosophy endures.
Also, I don’t think kiddo would have applied to bs at all, but for the fact that “normal” people post here. Maybe the board is the reason for the ever-increasing popularity of bs? Lol?
@Golfgr8 - Forget about the kids. Can we do the exchange? Sigh. I would give anything to go back and do high school at any one of these schools.
@CaliPops our main focus is a certain type of community. There are certain posters where I think…I do not want my child (or myself during school functions, for that matter) to have to be surrounded by people like that. When certain schools are represented by several of those, it soured us to a few schools. Social media posts from the schools and their students also play a role.
OTOH, there are more from posters I love, who tend to have the same mindset and spirit we are looking for. And so, we’ve explored schools they represent. Case in point, at dinner last night, we were discussing one of my daughter’s very favorites. DH turned to DS and said “why didn’t you consider or apply to this school?” DS replied “Because we didn’t know what the heck we were doing”.
We were extremely lucky he landed where he did…he sees that from competing with other schools and interacting with them for collaborative projects. We learned from that and are truly going for community first. Y’all don’t be surprised if we announce a school decision result in the spring, and y’all have to go look it up. Lol
I will say CC has exposed us to more quality and viable options than it did turn us away from schools, though.
@ChoatieMom I’m so sorry for your loss.
Sorry to hear your news @ChoatieMom and sending light to you and your family.
@ChoatieMom - sorry to hear this sad news - sending prayers up to you…also prayers to all your families.
@ChoatieMom - sorry to hear about your loss. May the departed soul rest in peace and the grieving family gets strength to bear the loss.
Thanks, all, for your kind wishes.
As for this year’s West Point graduation, SO, SO, SO, SO glad we dodged that bullet.
From the WP superintendent:
Current plans are for the class of 2020 to return to West Point the third week of May, quarantining at Camp Buckner for at least two weeks to protect those currently sequestered on post.
Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose whether or not to let your kid go. All cadets are emancipated adults on R-Day (the day they set foot on West Point) and would be considered AWOL if they are ordered to post and don’t show up. Then the UCMJ comes into play. It’s an entirely different world. When your child attends a service academy you are totally out of the picture, just a guest in their adult life. They are owned by the government lock, stock, and barrel.