<p>@blue147: curmudgeon's post was satire. No New York Times URLs end in ".edu"</p>
<p>oh...(blushes) lol. Thanks for clearing that up.</p>
<p>Sorry, blue147. I could have been more clear that it was a bogus site address (or I guess I could have set up a bogus site. LOL.)</p>
<p>@curmudgeon: You mean, a bogus site like THIS[/url</a>]? (<a href="http://www.CollegeJohnny.cjb.net%5B/url%5D)?%5B/b%5D">www.CollegeJohnny.cjb.net)?</a></p>
<p>Curmudgeon--you are a genius.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, that's the best laugh I've had all day---hysterical (have you ever considered stand-up comedy?)! Thanks, I needed that!</p>
<p><a href="have%20you%20ever%20considered%20stand-up%20comedy?">quote=poetsheart</a>!
[/quote]
No, I haven't. Would I have to stand up?</p>
<p>Curmudgeon,
It doesn't matter:</p>
<p>Stand up! Sit down! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!</p>
<p>Add me to Cur's legion of fans!</p>
<p>Nom's editing footnote's worthy of note, too. Even though I'm a writing teacher, I can't type for poo, so I ALWAYS have to edit mine for typos. Why would anyone want to know that? So I got a large giggle out of Nom's footnote!</p>
<p>Having accomplished the mission for my only child, I will now be spending most of my forum time on the Open Road RV forum instead of here, but I check in occasionally still and ALWAYS read Curmudgeon when I see his name.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, I had to laugh when I read your story. You must know an acquaintance of mine. Sad thing is, her oldest hasn't applied yet as he's just a sophomore, but every conversation is about how wonderful her kids are and that it's all just raw talent, although we know the kids are a mess and they stay up all night studying. Folks run when they see her car roll up. "Oops, gotta go!" I don't answer my phone if I remember the night before was an awards ceremony or performance. I so appreciated your humor on the subject. I will remember it when I want to scream at our next encounter!</p>
<p>Digmedia, I absolutely agree with you also. Although my son ended up at a top 50, I know that's not where my daughter will be heading. The competition in the admissions process, the competitive process just to get to the admissions stage and the having to measure up to some standard would eat her alive. We will be looking at tier two schools with great music programs or perhaps lac's that fit her personality. I have learned through this board the last year that there are great schools out there that will fit her personality and learning styles and that we can find a school that fits her and not have to mold her to fit a school.</p>
<p>blue147,
[quote]
I'm just shocked...stumbling on this site gave me the chills
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have experienced your reaction, both in the way I think you intended, but sometimes because of the information and insight I've gained from some of the CC contributors. And thank goodness for posters like Curmudgeon who manage to remind us all to keep this in perspective, while making us laugh. </p>
<p>Curmudgeon,
I think I know what you mean by it. On occasion, it can be amusing, it is often irritating, but it is also curiously seductive. Before I arrived on the shores of CC, I knew digmedias secret. I thought I was immune to "it." But I found myself urging my S to join more clubs and asking him how the cure for cancer was coming along. I wanted to know his class rank, and tried to identify which teachers will write him incredible recommendations and hand deliver them to the deans of admissions. Or failing that, which teachers are susceptible to bribes or special incentives which require the clever and timely use of digital cameras. I even started hoping that he could improve his scores going from the old to new SAT so he could get into a better college, rather than increase his chances of acceptance and merit aid at the excellent schools hes interested in attending. Maybe one of us should quit our job to increase our chance of getting need-based aid?!!</p>
<p>I think I have it under control now, but I now know that Im susceptible to it. Ill have to take this one day at a time, and submit to a higher power. On any given day that could be Curmudgeon, Carolyn, or any other member of CC. To paraphrase an old bartender, Its funny isnt it? Two admissions are too many, but a million are not enough </p>
<p>To the folks who said nice things about me, thanks. Maybe by using levity and sometimes self-deprecation, I can get away with some things I wouldn't ordinarily be given a "pass" on. But most of the time I'm just carrying TheDad's bags.</p>
<p>doddsdad, I agree, Boss. I am certainly not immune, either. My sins are legion. I guess all we can hope for is that we'll keep fighting the demons within us.</p>
<p>Blue147, you're absolutely right. I love the posters on this site, and the helpful parents and wealth of information, but I sometimes curse the day when I discovered CC. Before discovering this site, I was calm, collected, and confident in my ablities. I believed that i would get into a good college and everything would work out. Now however, I am extremely stressed out and insecure about the whole college process. Although I'm better informed, I've become so cynical andpreoccypied with building up my resume.......every thought I have revolves somehow about getting into college. </p>
<p>Sometimes, it jsut seems as if the college process is purgatory itself.......I sure hope this isn't the case. Again, I love CC.......sometimes though, it makes me more nervous than anything else</p>
<p>Helix14788 ~ For what's it's worth, my S has a different perspective. He started by being essentially clueless, and was just assuming that he would get into a good college and that it would all work out. Then he had a stressful stage (post CC) where he knew a great deal more about admissions, and realized that he needed to think some things through (like what he wanted to learn, what he might want to do after college, what kind of people he wanted to study with in college, etc). He made up his mind on some of these issues, made his plan to find a collection of good colleges, and now he is in the third stage: acceptance. He has two safeties he really likes, plus about ten more selective colleges he also likes. He is thinking more about departments, interesting faculty members, and things he wants to learn, and not all about whether this or that individual college will accept him next year. This seems to be a good result for him and hope you can find something analogous for your situation.</p>
<p>I see that you are thinking of yourself as pre-Law. Do you have some preferred areas of study for college (I mean like business, engineering, history or political science)? As a pre-Law, i would guess that there are many, many avenues to success open to you as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Slightly off topic:</p>
<p>Is it possible to "subscribe" to a poster on this forum? Another discussion group I belong to has this function. I would definitely like to do so for curmudgeon and a few others.</p>
<p>I do agree with you. Many students get worked up about this. Maybe it is due to the parents who urge their children to do better and push them so hard that college acceptance is all that shoull matter in their life.
Think of it this way... I heard a wise man say "A degree is the smallest unit in a measure." So why is it that our society gets so worked up about this?
College is cool, but there are thousands of successful people who never finished school like Bill Gates and Henry Ford.</p>
<p>Audiophile,</p>
<p>If you click on the poster's name, you'll see "find more posts by [posterchild]"; click on that, and you'll find the collected works on CC.</p>
<p>reasonable dad~ first, let me say congratulations for you and your son! It seems many posters are having happy endings, and I hope to join them next year. I also have been thinking about college in different terms. Before, I thought of colleges as names and rankings, but I've come to the wonderful realization that these factors mean very little. For me, college needs to be a learning experince. I must enjoy where I am, the people I'm surrounded by, and experince and learn from those four years. I must leave the insititution having learned something about myself and the world, and having contributed something to the environment. If this happens, I will consider myself a winner, no matter what the prestige factor is or how high that college is rated.</p>
<p>As for my interest in law, I am especially interested in international relations, political science, philosophy, and the like. I will probably major in in either IR or PS. </p>
<p>pfsman04, in my case, my "college anxiety" is in part due to the pressure from my parents. Ever since 5th grade, HYP have been very repeated names in my house. Although my parents understand that college is about me, my life, and goals, they cannot get past the rankings and lists. They think of colleges as "The TOP 10", and......the rest. There seems to be no middle ground. Often, the most difficult thing for a child to do is not earning A's or getting perfect scores, but pleasing their parents.</p>
<p>i think a lot of these people are really pathetic. its one thing to be ambitious and want a great SAT score and get into a great college, and going on these message boards to figure out how to achieve that goal... but its another thing for so many kids and so many of these parents to be on this board 24/7 absolutely OBSESSING over the college application process... my only question is, what happens to all you people when you/your kids get into the college of your choice? is there anything else to live for in your lives? jesus. </p>
<p>some of the greatest people in history are college dropouts, high school dropouts, or simply substandard students. there's more to life than college. ambition and difficult goals are awesome, but so many people on this forum truly go overboard with the stress and the anxiety. chill. be content with yourselves and your kids. let them follow their hearts and be who/what they want to be. if your son isnt cut out for the Ivy League like you and your father and his father and his father before him, well, there aint nothin wrong with a little change. </p>
<p>everyone should just smoke a bowl and be happy. or if you are too "ethical" for that, go tell ur doctor u are depressed and get some prozac, America seems to love that, a conscientious high.</p>
<p>
I have never heard of "ethics" being used as an argument against the use of substances. I needn't resort to fuzzy intangibles to rationalize my aversion to drugs. Oh, and by the way, antidepressants do not make people high. You should also note that highs cannot be "conscientious". Put down the pipe h4zin. . .</p>