<p>Go to the Chances Board. This is a board to discuss Brown, not to discuss you. Its quite annoying that some useful informational threads about Brown are hidden between all the, “Be honest, please”, “Help me Out”, “Chances for a Black Dude”, threads. Go away…to the chances board.</p>
<p>Don't you think it would be better for a group of people who are obsessed with a school to evaluate someone other than a group of people which may not have a clue about the credentials of a school, and are instead going off stats from Princeton review?</p>
<p>EDIT:
You have no room to talk sorry.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258577%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258577</a></p>
<p>yes, the quality of evaluators varies greatly from one board to the next. on the one hand, everybody on the chances board is a cutthroat high schooler trying to give your false chances help, but everybody on the Brown board is a former admissions officer ready to help you.</p>
<p>and with ur logic, mr. "i wanna be premed so i can save the world!!!!111omgomg", former drug addicts shouldnt speak up against drug addictions.</p>
<p>matt's point makes sense. Besides, if you don't like the chances threads, don't read them. Users can pretty much make those threads as they please and can decide for themselves whether or not to take any replies seriously.</p>
<p>I'd argue that far from making sense, Matt's point demonstrates the very fallacy that brings so many (annoying) chances threads to this forum. You can fantasize as much as you want about people here being qualified to tell you your chances, but the truth is you're likely to learn more from the stats on Princeton Review.</p>
<p>99.9999999% of what is said here about chances is pure speculation. Chances threads are silly. Chances threads are annoying. Chances threads give people looking to procrastinate a good opportunity to pretend they know more than they do. Chances threads crowd the list of threads and push out more useful discussions. In short: Chances threads suck.</p>
<p>MG and I have been there and done that and tried to get people to stop posting them. It'll never stop unless someone decides to make myself or him a moderator so we can just move all the chances threads to the appropriate forum. I've considered hitting "report problem post" on every chances thread and saying, "Off-Topic, should be moved the the appropriate forum (Chances)", but somehow I doubt that would work.</p>
<p>It seems like the most that can be done is to simply not respond to any chances threads to discourage them.</p>
<p>That's what I do, smv. Most of the people who reply to those threads arenot regular posters on this forum, I've noticed.</p>
<p>People are nervous and looking for some kind of guidance and reassurance. Chances threads flow naturally from that. If you don't want to read or answer it, don't. But let people post what they want to post.</p>
<p>I agree about people seeking guidance and reassurance, Clay. I'm just worried (and I started an entire thread about this a while back, I think) that the advice they're getting is really, really bad. Combine that with the fact that there is a whole separate forum for chances threads, I just wish the chances threads weren't here.</p>
<p>I just stumbled onto the Yale board, but here are my two cents:</p>
<p>Chance threads are pointless. They are superficial and cannot give any <em>real</em> "chancing" as presenting stats exclude the all-important personal touch of any application--essays and recs.</p>
<p>Oh how I long for the days when essays and recs mattered! Well, not really... but I'm applying for law school in the fall, and it's one hell of a numbers game. The world of undergrad admissions - where chances threads don't make sense - is highly refreshing.</p>
<p>Of course, I can't really complain about my numbers, so I guess I should shut up :-)</p>
<p>Shaqdaddy, it seems hypocritical to make a big point to tell those who put up "chances" threads on the Brown forum to go away and post on the Chances forum when YOU posted your own chances thread right here on the Brown forum last fall! So, it was OK for you but now that you are accepted to college, you don't want the kids who come after you who feel like YOU apparently felt at the time to do the same as you? Hmmm. </p>
<p>I personally am not into the CHANCES posts on CC at all, here on the Brown forum or on the Chances Forum which I never read. I just avoid the chances threads or forums. It is impossible to predict one's chances by what can be put in a post and also those who respond are lay people and it is not that useful. Frankly, I don't get why others put up such posts and I cannot imagine my kids ever thinking to do that when they were applicants (they didn't post on CC at all but they would never be into the chances posts if they did). Yes, it can be annoying. Yes, I can see why some post chances posts here and not just the Chances Forum because they want to hear from Brown people. As annoying as it is, chances posts are allowed and so the best thing you can do if you don't like the threads/posts or find them annoying, is just not open them. </p>
<p>Thanks to all the posters such as current Brown students who post here with HELPFUL posts, not chances ones. These are way more useful for a prospective student who should be taking your generosity to help and asking pertinent specific questions about Brown, not their chances. </p>
<p>There are ways to ascertain whether a school is a reach, match, or safety without doing chances posts. Further, Brown is a REACH school for anyone given the very low admit rate, even if the applicant's profile fits the profile of admitted students to Brown.</p>
<p>As a college counselor, I assess chances all the time, but with way more information provided than in these chances posts. I also hope that those who post such inquiries, do not rely on what other posters or students tell them are their chances. CC is a VERY valuable resource in OTHER ways and they'd be better off using it to help with their process, not assessing their "CHANCES".</p>
<p><em>is now terrified of posting chance threads</em> gee, I had no idea some people despised chance threads so passionately.</p>
<p>im gonna be appying to brown next year, and if anything, looking at other chances threads is amusing to me. i want to make one, but i feel that it might
a. make me unrealistically confident or b. very dejected. so i dont want to post chances threads. </p>
<p>soozievt, i find your job very unappealing. unless you are providing help to people who need to know which schools they shouldnt bother applying to, because they have limited application funds, your job is just capitalizing on the angst that many parents have. my guess is most of your clients are upper class or upper middle class people who are just curious. </p>
<p>maybe you help them with their applications. if you did that, then you are giving them an unfair advantage. maybe you dont do that, in which case, your services are really only for those crazed parents. either way, i think the whole chances thing is stupid, but i can understand why ppl are so crazed about it. its unfortunate that ppl like you capitalize on that craze and make money. if you did mostly or all pro bono work for ppl who dont have money, then i applaud you.</p>
<p>wow, it always amazes me how surprised people seem to be when they learn that we live in a capitalist society. It's like people who complain about "price gouging".</p>
<p>Soovievt has made over 6000 posts on this site, most designed to help alleviate angst by providing genuinely good advice. It seems like she (am I right about gender? I always get these things mixed up) really likes what she does. She sees a need for help and helps.</p>
<p>You, on the other hand, have two posts, neither of which has helped anyone.</p>
<p>wateronrocks....</p>
<p>You have made some assumptions. I will explain some things. Whether or not you really "hear" what I am saying or whether you keep to your assumptions remains to be seen.</p>
<p>First, you have assumed that most people who use a college counselor are well to do. Some are, some aren't. Obviously, it costs money. I have a current client who is a first generation college applicant. Also, while you didn't say this specifically, it seems implied that you may assume that those who use a college counselor are striving for "elite" college admissions. This is also not the case. Some are, some aren't. I currently have several clients who have, for example, SATs for CR/M combined ranging from 970-1100. Likely not what you thought. Are they looking for an "edge" like you assume? My job is not to give them an edge. They simply just need advice.</p>
<p>I believe that many can go about the college selection and admissions process quite fine on their own. It takes effort and research. Lucky for many kids that they have parents who are supportive of the process. Some kids are totally left to their own devices. Some kids go to prep schools with a lot of attention from a college "advisor" on staff. Lots of other kids go to large public schools where the guidance counselor is assigned hundreds of students. Clearly a very different situation. Some kids and their parents haven't a clue how to go about the college process. Some don't have the time, inclination, or ability or whatever to do it totally on their own. Others are resourceful and find things like CC where they can learn a TON of information about every aspect of this process for FREE. You do realize that CC is offering these very active discussion boards, Ask the Dean column, and various other articles on the site for free, yes? So, it is not like everyone NEEDS a college counselor. Some feel it would help guide them through the process and need that kind of support and expertise and when their GC has too many students, other responsibilities besides college advising, and/or may not have expertise for the kinds of colleges the student is applying to (ie., my child who attends Brown was the only student in her year to attend any Ivy school and it is not typical of her HS student body....my other child applied to BFA schools for musical theater, a highly specialized process that most GCs wouldn't have a clue about). </p>
<p>My job isn't to get the student into college. I am a guide and facilitator of the process. I help students of all sorts of backgrounds who are looking to attend a WIDE range of colleges, not all elite schools. While I have a student who is applying to Brown, I just recommended Cal State Chico to another student! </p>
<p>As well as counseling services for fees, which is an independent service but also what a guidance counselor would be trained to do if he/she could devote countless hours like I do to individual students, I also volunteer my time hours each day posting on CC trying to help many at one time, as opposed to ongoing help for individuals. This is not a paid job. I choose to do it. I also answer countless emails from CC members asking for help. If I answered every email sent to me, I would be working night and day as a volunteer. I do spend a LOT of hours trying to help as a volunteer, but I also take paying clients whom I can help individually on an ongoing basis. After all, I am trained as a college counselor, and have worked in the field of education my entire adult life, have earned the degrees to be able to work in my field, and have to earn some money to pay for two kids in college myself, who are on financial aid. Sorry you don't like people like me! I try to help many kids and parents. As you can see, many seek guidance as look at all the members reading and posting on CC! Some who have the funds, also pay for more individualized help. </p>
<p>Life is not fair. Some kids go to elite prep schools. My kids attended a rural public high school. So? My kids still got into the colleges of their choice. You don't need a paid college counselor to get into the college of YOUR choice. You need hard work. If you have a parent supporting and assisting you in some capacity in this process, you are lucky. If your parents opt to hire someone to help you, so be it. Others get SAT tutors. Others get homework tutors. Others can afford expensive summer programs. And so on. Work hard to achieve your dreams. One need not be well to do in order to be admitted to college. My kids aren't and they did just fine.</p>
<p>mgcsinc....actually, I have more than 6000 posts. I have been on CC for five years. But when CC went to a new server in 2004, the posts counts started anew. :D I try to help many for free on the boards and in emails on a DAILY basis. But I also am helping some families who have chosen to get help for fees. </p>
<p>Also, CC does grant funded work for several years with students in an inner city school who are first generation college students helping them with their entire college admissions process. </p>
<p>wateronrocks....while I spend hours daily doing pro bono help, your expectaton that ALL my work be pro bono is interesting. Do your parents volunteer full time? Neither do I. I spend hours doing so daily. </p>
<p>The help I give my clients is no different than the way I would be a supportive resource to my own children when they applied to college. If you see that as unfair, that is your perogative. I hope you do have parents who are taking an interest, learning all they can about this overwhelming process, and that you are as well. Students and parents who put in the effort, certainly can do this on their own without a counselor. Some seek outside help to make it easier to navigate the admissions quagmire. The counselor doesn't get the student INTO college. We have expertise and can help as a facilitator. The student has to get him/herself into college. </p>
<p>I hope, if you are a new member, that you can see that there are plenty of parents, students, college reps, counselors, and others willing to help on CC for free. I know when I came to CC when my oldest child started the college process and I wasn't yet a college counselor, I learned a great deal by reading CC. It's free. One doesn't NEED to hire a college counselor. However, a college counselor can be beneficial in the kind of one on one help. </p>
<p>If you go through life thinking "it is not fair," this kid or that kid has an "advantage," I think it won't go so well for you. My kids don't have everything their college peers have, but never thought twice about that. They had their goals and they reached them. That's what it takes....drive, motivation, hard work. You can do it too, no matter your background or whether you have a college counselor. Best of luck to you in reaching your college goals.</p>
<p>Hey Wateronrocks </p>
<p>You seem to be missing something. The fact that browsing on CC and getting Soov's posted advice is freeeeeee</p>