The Secret to College Admissions: Get Off of College Confidential

Applying to College
1

Hi, fellow CCers!

At the risk of being censored by the website that I am criticizing, I am here to give you all the most important advice you will ever get on this website: Stop going on College Confidential. Stop going on chance me threads. Stop looking at results. Stop wondering if you need to retake the ACT because you got a 35 instead of a 36 (seriously, it’s ridiculous).

I am just like you. I have been a member of CC since I was a freshman and in the fall I will be going into senior year. At any moment now I will have to start applying to colleges, and like you, I have been looking for anything that might answer the ultimate question: will I get in? The truth is, however, that question will only be answered once I receive my decisions. The only thing that CC can possibly provide is more stress (as if life isn’t stressful enough) or slight unfounded comfort. If you’re anything like me, you’ve scrolled through thousands of “chance me” and "[college name here] results " threads and have felt inadequate, not good enough, or worried because everyone has higher stats than you, or has achieved something you have yet to or maybe never will. Perhaps, you may have felt happy as well because someone with lower stats and “average” accomplishments has gotten into your dream school, so you have a glimmer of hope. There is so much wrong with all of this:

  1. People on the internet lie. Just because someone says they got an 800 on their 5 subject tests and a perfect score on both the ACT and SAT, doesn't mean they are telling the truth. Likewise, just because someone said they donated $1 mil to build schools, went on a 2-year service trip around the globe, and won a Nobel prize (i'm obviously exaggerating here, but some of these posts are absolutely ludicrous) doesn't mean its true--a lot of people, however not all I should add, "fluff up" their stats and accomplishments. Also, a lot of people fabricate their profiles--some will say they are students in one post and say they are parents in another. This could cause problems in many ways (for example, if you want someone to look over your essay...cough, cough" *plagarists...). There is no way to verify what people say on here, so keep that in mind.
  2. The posters on CC are not representative of the entire applicant pool. CC posters attract a certain type of student. No one with an "average" application goes on here because, frankly, this site would cause major self-esteem issues. Even the most stellar students find them questioning themselves. If you've taken statistics, you would know that CC is a sample--a biased one--that is probably nowhere like the total population of students applying to your dream school.
  3. Everyone here is your "competitor" at the end of the day. When it comes down to it, everyone its pretty much vying for the same spots in the Class of 20-whatever at the same colleges. While it would be nice to think everyone here would try to give each other hand, its probably not reality. People on here can be blatantly (and subtly) mean just to tear other college hopefuls down.
  4. Most people on here are not experts (including, I) and have no authority to speak on the things we ask about. Do you want to know if you have a good chance of getting into the Ivy League? Do you want to know if you should retake your 1520 SAT? Do you want to know if AP Calculus would look better on YOUR application than AP Physics? Do you want to know if you should give your letter of rec to your volunteer supervisor instead of your history teacher? I'm sorry but no one on here can truly give you a reputable answer.
  5. As I have stated before multiple times, this site can really make you feel bad about yourself. Trust me, I've felt it. Multiple times. (and I'm a really good student too, but whatever, who cares).

There are many more reasons why but I guess this is the condensed version (lol). If you have anything to add, comment below! Sorry, if my argument is all over the place. It’s important to remember that CC isn’t all bad, there is a reason it’s been around for so long. It just depends on the person I guess. You don’t have to consider or take anything I said to heart. I’ll probably still visit here occasionally, too.

Some final notes and suggestions:
If you want some accurate chance me’s, results/if you truly want to know if your test scores are good enough, etc. visit your college’s class profiles (i just type [college name here] class profile into google)!! Usually, colleges will post the average stats of students admitted from previous classes–most will have test scores, and if you’re lucky you might get some GPAs. And you know that it’s accurate because it’s coming from the college itself! Still, that’s just the academic portion. there are other parts of the application that matter.

Lastly, even if the applications on here don’t resemble yours, apply! You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. I believe in YOU!

You got this.

Your competitor and friend,
cacciatoredeco.

1 Like
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Thank you for this.

You are right about the fluffing up ordeal and the certain caliber of students that come here. Before I came to this site, I felt relatively confident about myself in terms of college chances. After coming to this site I have felt not only more stressed out, but also someone useless who genuinely believes he will go to a bottom tier school

I realized that I definitely don’t match up to those of you with 100000 club leadership positions, a national placement in some STEM activity, or a course rigor that would make me look like a grade schooler. To all of you who genuinely have these awesome achievements, congratulations to you, you guys are truly great and deserve to go great places.

But to those who don’t, remember that there is a place for those of us in this world, even if that place isn’t in an Ivy League school, a T20 or even a T75. You’re comparing yourself to the cream of the crop here — anyone who isn’t the best of the best is going to feel inferior. But by no means are you a terrible person and student! To those of you who may be thinking about graduate school (like me), working hard in college, even if it’s not too great by general consensus, will get you wherever you want to be. Thank you for reminding me of this.

You made my day.

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These are great reasons to stop going on chance me threads, not to stop going on college confidential. There is great information on CC, and not just for perfect GPA students.

Why do so many people think that “what are my chances” is what college confidential is? It’s one forum out of many, and CC isn’t even just forums…

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@soontobecolleger You have a point. However most people see College Confidential for its Chance Me forum because it is probably the most organized one there is, aside from the Subreddit for Chancing. Of course we are all a bunch of anxious teenagers who happen to use the Internet often, and as a result Chance Me thread also happens to be one of the most popular sections of the site and the most well known.

OP has a point that if we are being stressed out, we should all just log off and go enjoy life.

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Agree- avoid all the “chance me” threads. They are nothing more than a game, and an annoying one at that.

Disagree- about most people not being”experts”. While technically true, there are many adults on this site with lots of useful information, experience, advice, suggestions, guidance, etc. Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff and you can glean a lot of useful information from cc.

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@mundyt I’m happy I could help!! :slight_smile:

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@soontobecolleger @jym626 this is where what I said at the end of the post comes in:

quote “It’s important to remember that CC isn’t all bad, there is a reason it’s been around for so long” end quote

There are way more reputable resources one could go to before coming here, but yes, CC can be helpful in some cases.

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Disagree. Many chance me were responded by senior CC members with realistic projection with suggestions of more match and safety schools; therefore reducing disappointing result of not accepted anywhere.

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I also strongly disagree with your statements @CacciatoreDeco . The issues that you bring up are only posters who make up only a very small percentage of the total population of posters on CC. Also, most posters are very experienced and can easily sniff out the fake ones and report them to mods.

If you don’t want to deal with the Chance me threads, then don’t read them. There are other topics on this website that are still insightful.

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CC yes. “Chance me” no. Thanks for the interesting and refreshing take on this game. And it is a game!

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@amNotarobot I respectfully agree to disagree! Ultimately, (unless they have been college admissions officers, guidance counselors, etc.) senior CC members have no more knowledge than everyone else about one’s chance of getting into X college (no discredit to them). Of course, lower tier match and safety schools would always be more realistic than the higher tier ones people are shooting for, and people should always apply to schools they know for certain they can get into in addition to their dream reach schools.

I must also state that I value everyone’s opinion though we may disagree.

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“Chance me” and all the “Harvard vs Yale Vs Princeton vs Stanford” on CC are things I skip. I do find there are many useful information, such as college visit experience, past acceptance/reject results, available on CC and do not exist elsewhere. CC has a selection bias on the kind of HS student/parent attracts and definitely not representative on the whole college population. That said, it is good to keep this in mind when compare one’s stats with another w/o the consideration factors beyond the numbers. There are “hooked” candidates being accepted by all the top schools for the obvious hook, and if people rely on numbers alone there will miss the picture. As my son committed to his college selection this evening, I can only say CC has helped our family at times. But would I stay on this forum and endlessly defend my son’s choice, I don’t think so. Overall, CC is a enjoyable place to visit and it has served its purpose for us. For that, I’d say a big thanks to everyone at CC.

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i do agree with your points, but i think it’s also important to recognize the good this site can do for a kid in high school. had i never created an account on here, i would have never found grinnell (the school i’ll be attending in the fall). some of the advice i was given on here during application season was really, really helpful. so while i do agree, i think highlighting the benefits this website offers is just as vital as highlighting the caveats.

(i especially agree with number five though… gosh, i felt so bad about myself and my accomplishments when looking at the types of kids applying to the same schools as i.)

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@MrElonMusk as I have stated previously both in the original post and replies, CC can be helpful at times–it isn’t all bad.

Also, If I generalized these issues to the entire population of CCers, I didn’t intend to.

My ultimate message is that CC can be harmful sometimes, and it is very beneficial to take time away. It is too easy to get wrapped in this whole admissions process and feel overwhelmed especially when looking at some of the applicants on here. I want to remind everyone to not let anyone else’s profile dimish their own. (I guess this goes back to the chance me’s which CC is most notable for). As for all else, if you have a serious question, go to your guidance counselor, ask a parent, or email the college directly, first. They can give you much more useful info especially since they know you and your situation more personally (perhaps with the exception of the college).

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@kalons that’s wonderful! I’m happy that you found it, and even more happy that you get to attend!

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I’m a parent of an 8th grader, and the college process will start soon enough. I do find valuable information and perspectives here. But I avoid all Chance Me threads. Those have to be the most useless thing about CC. Why do students bother?

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Use the site for financial aid and merit info, to help identify schools that might not be obvious to you, to ask questions about how to fill out applications, to decide what to pack, to ask about majors and careers and internships. If you spend time on the Chances threads, or a lot of time reading posts from HS students who haven’t even been to college yet, you may not get much out of CC.

@sfSTEM I think kids really don’t know where they stand. And many fo an awful job finding true safeties they can afford and would be happy to attend, so that makes them very stressed.

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@intparent As someone who has made chance me threads, the motivators for me were a combination of stress, anxiety and just wanting to get a very rough gauge of how you stack up in the mess that is college admissions.

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I first posted on College Confidential ten years ago because my high school sophomore was fed up with high school and wanted to go to college early.

Point taken - it was actually painful to see how accomplished some posters on College Confidential were. That’s what awakened me as a parent! Suddenly I realized that my DS was competing with the whole wide world. That was a wake up call to him, too. It was so interesting (and humbling) to find out what other high school students had accomplished.

So I am grateful. If I my first son and I hadn’t experienced that first shock, he never would have accomplished what he has done (now getting his PhD in physics at Harvard). And the second son would never would have had a chance at his even more narrow and competitive career path.

God bless College Confidential!

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I think this is a productive thread. Some solid, if controversial, discussion here.

For me, I stopped looking at the Chance Me threads after my first couple of weeks online. That isn’t to say they’re of no value to anyone, but they weren’t particular useful to me right now as a parent.

Other threads have been extremely helpful. The FA topics are very important, for example. Very helpful to learn some of the pitfalls, some of the assets that “count” and “don’t count,” etc.

Re posters misrepresenting themselves, at first I never gave that a thought (who would have the time?). Then, in one thread, a longtime poster I respect called another poster out for, evidently–and bizarrely!–saying he/she was a student in one thread, then a parent in another! Said poster never responded to the call out…hmmm.