<p>Three years ago when my son was first completing his college applications, I was diagnosed with cancer. I was tied to numerous cancer websites that had discussion boards, always fearful about whether my cancer would return and if I was getting the correct treatment. I saw a therapist who told me not to look at cancer discussion boards as this increased my anxiety. (Concurrently, I was on CC which was not a source of stress as my son made his number 2 school early action, a school that he attends today.)</p>
<p>Fast forward and it is now March 2011 and my daughter is waiting for an additional 6 decisions! The anticipation and stress are great for me but even more so for my daughter. CC has been a wonderful resource for us, but it does increase my anxiety has anyone else feel the same way? Therefore, until April 1. I will try not to look at CC. I hope I have good news to report after that date!</p>
<p>No … quite the opposite actually. I stay with CC because it’s a helpful and supportive environment. (Though in all honesty I stay away from university-specific threads this time of year because of the drama. “I just found out my HS transcript had a misplaced comma on it. Is it likely I’ll be rejected for that???”)</p>
<p>Sometimes, it does. As an example, I found out that a certain school sent out acceptances in waves - wave 1 went out and D didn’t hear from them. Wave 2 went out and we still didn’t have a letter. Didn’t tell D, but was very stressed. Turned out the letter took a day longer to reach us than most people. Clear case of CC adding to the stress!!</p>
<p>But overall, thanks to CC, I feel like we are not in uncharted waters, we have a clear idea of what we are doing. And the strategies we’ve used seemed to have worked out fine so far. Next week of course will be the kicker!</p>
<p>For me, CC has added persepective. I may think that S/D are incredible with a <em>.</em>* GPA, 22** SAT, top ten class rank, great ECs and would be a definite at an IVY. WRONG! Enough time on here and you realize that there are lots of great kids with great stats and the “top” schools are a lottery. Most importantly I’ve learned that there are many incredible options that can be great fits.</p>
<p>I will say that reading the students on the school threads is way too much drama for me when parsing every sentence in a letter/email, analyzing the time stamps on emails.</p>
<p>I think it definitely can stress you out, but I like being able to read what other people are going through at the same time. I also like when people can post updates about notification dates, etc. It’s nice to stay in the loop.</p>
<p>It was pretty clear from the college specific threads that years ago Caltech sent acceptence priority mail and rejections regular mail. It took 6 very long days for that envelope to get here, but at least we were pretty sure about its contents by then! My son was lucky enough to be in an early “wave” at Carnegie Mellon, but I think the waves are a crummy way to do things. I far prefer the send them all out on the same day - preferably equally fast for good or bad news (like email).</p>
<p>Hi, I think CC helps. It helps to know when notices are likely to arrive & in what form. Will it be an email or snail mail? So many notices arrive later than expected. CC also helps to pass the time as we wait & also helps take the stress off of our kids.</p>
<p>CC was a lifeline during the fall admission process when it was so nice to know I was not alone in pulling my hair out over a recalcitrant boy applicant. Although I forbade S from visiting CC because I thought it would freak him out-especially the “chance me” threads. </p>
<p>I did encourage S to apply EA based on the information I learned here and then it felt wonderful when he got in. It also feels wonderful to hear everyone else’s good news about acceptances and $$ awards. So thanks CC!</p>
<p>Yes and no. It has been unbelievably informative. I have learned SO MUCH over the years, but sometimes what you read is so disheartening, and I have taken breaks from CC because of that. There are a lot of amazing kids out there. You think yours must the best possible candidate (because they - and you - have been told that fact ever since they were born), until you read about others who seem even more fabulous. My daughter occasionally visits CC but feels a blow to her self-esteem every time, that she vows to never come back.</p>
<p>Yes and no. I appreciate the intelligence, wisdom, and perspective I gain from perusing and occasionally posting here. I found this site the summer after D1s junior year in high school. Her application process went very smoothly, she got into great schools (great fit for her, as well as academically elite.) Now, D2 is a junior. I really do struggle to keep perspective with her, because she is the B or B+ student in the honors and AP sequence, who is too stubborn to tamp down the courseload a bit to save the GPA. I don’t disagree with her from a learning standpoint that she will benefit from having taken a challenging curriculum, and while it may not help her get into college, it likely will help her be able to handle the courseload while there. This is a kid who is extremely insightful (as told to me by teachers, not be observation) but who has never done well on standardized tests. We are in CA where kids are not getting into the CalStates they want, much less the UCs. We cannot afford full pay at a private, and her profile is unlikely to find her getting much in merit aid, if any. I can’t begin to state how painful it is to read the 2012 thread, and I have stopped doing so. There are only a few threads for the B students and their parents. Next year, I will wean myself from this forum, because it will be too stressful to hear about the fact that someone’s child got into UC Berkeley instead of UCLA (or vice versa) or that they got into Princeton but not Yale, or that they got a full ride at their state flagship but great financial aid at Amherst, which to choose? On the other hand, I do realize that my own child will be fine over the long haul; she has a wry sense of humor about the entire process. It is sad to me that, at this juncture, she feels worthless in the eyes of the academic system (but she does not suffer from self-esteem overall. ) Anyway, yes, I can see how it is stressful. Finally, everything has gone topsy-turvy in this economy, so the truths that we believed in (college or training program will lead to good job, good job performance will lead to good career, will lead to positive options in a fulfilling life, etc) may or may not still be true. How to help guide your kids into the unknown? In sum, support and stress can both be encountered here, possibly depending on my mindset at the moment.</p>
<p>CC was more valuable than any other source in helping us to adjust our expectations and truly understand what “competitive applicant pool” meant. (Certainly more valuable than college websites and viewbooks, articles in the popular press, and conversations in the supermarket. :D) It’s hard initially to get your brain around just how many outstanding students are out there, that some schools truly are reaches for every student, and that, yes, many excellent students have no choice other than their safety come April. But after that wake-up call, you can move forward much more productively, and with much better results.</p>
<p>It’s important to read any source critically, including this one - but I think it’s relatively easy to tell which posters know their stuff and are here to help, and which ones don’t and aren’t.</p>
<p>We’re all college enthusiasts - perhaps to extremes - and interacting on CC probably does allow us to feed off of one another’s obsessions. I’ve had two highly-qualified Ds apply to top schools and yes, there was stress for both the applicants and the parents. Kid #3, a HS jr, has a resume similar to his sisters but is decidedly Type B. He’s more interested in marching band than college selectivity, and in looking for a top marching band, he’s probably likely to wind up in an Honors program at a State U. I’d anticipate the application process to be comparatively short and simple. As I read the typical late-March posts of this year’s graduating CC class, the de-stressed process is sounding pretty good right now. :)</p>
<p>Hard for me to say, because I found this site AFTER son had applied to schools in, what, 2005? (Boy, am I old.) But…I wish I had found this spot prior to applications. Son’s HS was focused on just a few close-by schools. I had done much research on my own, and some of the posts here reinforced hat I had learned. Very helpful.</p>
<p>CC combines well with dog walking or yanking weeds out of the lawn. I will agree that this community serves the intense sort. So I read a bit and then go get in touch with the rest of the world and it works out. </p>
<p>Each kid is their own self. I can see where a parent might be confident that KidA will be fine in any number of environments while KidB may need some more specific things so the waiting on KidB will be more stressful.</p>
<p>It also helps to look forward. All of this will be decided by May. By September all this stress will be water under the bridge. </p>
<p>Start painting the living room. I guarantee, just one kicked over gallon of paint and CC stress will fade away while you hotly pursue paper towels . . .</p>
<p>I am most grateful to CC for the wealth of information I have gotten over the past 1.5 years. In fact I will probably will be a tad sad when “the decision” is finally made next month. However, there is daughter #2 a sophomore:) I will need to research for, so I will be back</p>
<p>Just when I think this site stresses me out, I read something that makes me laugh, or cry, or just smile at the honesty. That’s what keeps me coming back, as well as the general intelligence/thoughtfulness of the posts. It is interesting, also, to be in touch with parents of teens and young adults, like a virtual version of the mom’s group I was in when D1 was an infant.</p>
<p>CC has been beneficial to me. I almost made a major mistake advising my D concerning a scholarship, but was prevented from doing so by something I read on CC. Some scholarships don’t notify applicants who don’t receive one, and it is less stressful to know where my D stands (through the fact that offers have been made and she didn’t get one) than to be left wondering. If one’s child is a top student, there may be few parents with whom one can discuss the process without appearing to be bragging or insensitive.</p>
<p>CC takes a lot of time. But using the info (in perspective) helps a lot. It was a good level set to read about the MANY highly qualified applicants out there. For example, my son applied to MIT with us all knowing it was a long shot.</p>