<p>@intparent Whether it be a .01% or 30% chance, it is still a chance and I clarified that I believe no one has an equal chance. Also I didn’t accuse anyone of saying that students should make choice out of fear. I simply clarified that that was my intent in creating the post. I appreciate your contribution and input but please remember that it is still your opinion. I agree with woogzmama that there is no harm in a student looking at reaches. If a person has a hook or is a competitive applicant then I believe there is no wrong in viewing the different reaches that would be suitable for her/him. If a student can afford it and is willing to understand that that money can go to waste then I don’t see how it can hurt. </p>
<p>NVM, it’s been a long day.</p>
<p>So @fcallicotte, c’mon back in late March to chat with the kids who hate all of their choices or can’t afford any of them because they were overly optimistic and didn’t spend enough time looking at match and safety schools. There are gobs of them every year. And have to say, I have NEVER seen a post from a kid who says, “my test scores were below the 25th percentile and I had no hook, and I got into HYPS!”.</p>
<p>@intparent Hey, I said if a kid wants to look at a reach and can afford it then he should go for it. Please, if you are so concerned about this go make a post about it or start becoming an admissions counselor because, to be quite frank, though your passion for this topic is noble, it isn’t worth crap when you’re commenting on a 17 year old’s post. So thank you for your opinions, but at the end of the day, know that nothing was accomplished except for you getting worked up about about a girl’s long forgotten post on her “magical unicorn thinking”.Hope the rest of your day is sunny and that you can learn to respect other people’s opinions. </p>
<p>Lol… you must come from the generation where everyone got a trophy for participating. For a 17 year old who has never applied to a college to come out to the Chances thread and make a rah-rah post about how everyone has a chance at every school is just silly. You don’t know a thing about the college admissions process yet. It IS pretty ridiculous for high school students to chance each other in general – but one reason adults come out here and post is to try to help students build realistic, affordable college lists that help them achieve their long term goals without breaking the bank or wasting their time chasing schools that are unsuitable or unrealistic. If you want to only post with other 17 year olds, you need to post on the High School forum or post something on your Tumblr or other social media about this. </p>
<p>And regarding being an admissions counselor – that is exactly what a lot of the long time posters act as out here. Many students go to high schools with poor college counseling services, and have parents who either didn’t go to college, didn’t go in this country, or don’t realize how the college landscape has changed over the past 30 years since they went to college.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m new here but I found this post super interesting. @intparent I get what you are trying to say. I think building practical lists for colleges are really important. People need to be realistic when applying and know what they’re getting into but I don’t think you’re gonna get anywhere by debating with her. I mean I get where you’re coming from but you’re not gonna change her opinion. I disagree with her on some points but criticizing her generation or unicorn thinking sounds just a tiny bit offensive. @fcallicotte I liked that you kept it nice in the beginning even though people were criticizing your opinion but you can’t do what you did in your last reply. You can’t start getting mad cause intparent is commenting. That’s the whole point of a forum is to comment and try to help out which he has obviously done a lot of. Also reaches are sometimes completely out of people’s reach. I know you explained your intent but you kinda gave the idea that a kid who got a 1500 SAT had a chance…which they don’t. To be honest I get where all of you came from, I just think that the discussion could have gone better so it could have been more helpful to people like me who clicked on this…</p>