I probably came around 2005, hoping to leverage older kiddo’s NMSF status for scholarships (though that kid we knew would not make Finalist due to GPA crash). Got more serious about NMSF scholarship with 2nd kid. Had a job that kept me up monitoring software upgrades at such in the middle of the night, so I found nice online “friends” along the way. Hung out a few years at Engineering threads but more and more on Parent Cafe, my go-to group for all kinds of advice!
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You can search for your own posts “before” a given date. So, if you know approximately when you joined, you can search for your posts before a given date in a given year sorted by “Latest Post.” However, I just tried it for me, knowing that I joined in April of 2011 (and knowing what my first post was), so I just searched for all my posts prior to 12/31/2011, but it appears the archives only go back to 09/2011. I also tried downloading my entire CC archive and that only went back to 09/11, so perhaps the online searchable archive is incomplete. I’m assuming that with some revision/update/cutover, the oldest data was archived/offlined (or lost/not converted).
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I just looked at my profile, which says I joined in 2006. I must have lurked for a really long time before actually joining (probably so I could post a question).
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LOL - Many of us probably lurked. When I finally decided to post a question, had to hunt for an available screen name. Might have picked another had I known I’d post so much.
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Me, too (different screen name)!!
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How long has CC been around (by any name)?
My history says Aug. 2004. YEICKS.
I think it was actually before that, however, as my oldest was in college by then.
Have no clue how I found CC. That was too long ago to remember 
. At first it was asking questions. Then answering (if I could).
I’ve stayed because of the Parent Forum. I learn SO MUCH here. The group tends to be very insightful, and it is typically kept polite by the posters and great moderators.
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I went to my profile summary and scrolled through my past posts. As noted those only went back to 2011. But my threads created went back to 2006…I don’t even remember that one!!!
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I think I joined that original iteration in July or Aug of 2004. Were you on that version??
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Found and joined CC in March 2006, devouring everything I could about the various schools D was looking into. Some period of time later found this board. I’ve never left because I enjoy the information and general smarts of those on it.
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S2 was applying to Syracuse, Emerson and Ithaca and I wanted info about those schools…and here I am all these years later. Y’all helped me survive that search, S1’s traumatic withdrawal from school, S2’s wedding, and now my father’s death. Who knew?!
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I came here seeking advice on the athletic recruiting process and found a super knowledgeable community of people. That forum became a great place for me to dump all my stress about the process instead of annoying my kid. I’ve been here ever since.
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Raise your hand if you remember when it looked like this! 
Wayback Machine (archive.org)
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I found and joined CC in summer of 2002 (more than 21 years ago) when my oldest was about to enter junior year of high school. In 2003, I even attended a training program with the owners of CC, who also had a college counseling practice as part of this site and have been a college counselor ever since. So, I really went “all in!”
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I don’t know how I ended up here, but it was during my oldest’s college app process in 2016. She wanted a small lac and ended up at Bryn Mawr (CC convinced us to accept her offer there instead of attending much lower tier schools that offered her full tuition scholarships and we’re glad for that). Two years later, my youngest wanted a large stem school and ended up at VT with @Lindagaf ’s help with test prep (she hasn’t read a book since 8th grade, but hey, she’s a grad student in civil engineering now!).
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My profile says I joined in 2005 but it was before that, since I was looking for NMSF numbers for my daughter who graduated from hs in ‘01. I vaguely remember having to change my screen name but certainly don’t remember what the old one was.
I don’t spend nearly as much time here as I used to but so many kind people have given me advice and inspiration over the years that I consider many of you old friends.
ETA - I recently saw someone on Twitter using Dragonmom as their username. That’s not me 
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I think I joined in fall 2007. I was president of my son’s HS parent association, and we had just hired a new college counselor and people complained about him. The previous woman was beloved. As ds1 was a sophomore I had no idea what all the fuss was about surrounding college counselors so a friend with an older child said that I should check out cc to get a better understanding of the college landscape so that I could get a better idea of parents’ concerns. Coincidentally, I’m having breakfast with this friend tomorrow morning after not seeing her for years.
Ds1 ended up at a school I’d never heard of before joining cc so I am eternally grateful for this crazy place. His school provided him with an education and eventually a job and even a wife – they met at an alumni event. I have so many friends who I’ve made thanks to cc. Again, quite grateful.
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CC possesses the most insightful views on boarding schools. I guess I’ve been reviewing the website in one way or another since 2017. You might say that I came for the prep school thoughts and stayed for the college information.
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I was looking for advice on how to help ShawSon apply to college. I was very knowledgeable about relatively high-end schools (or at least thought I was) but ShawSon was a complex applicant. Brilliant (in my judgment as a former Ivy prof and later his elite LAC advisor) but severely dyslexic and a bit ADD with speech delays. His very good suburban HS suggested that we partially homeschool him so that he could do math at his pace (HS honors math was painfully slow for him) and he really needed help in writing (reading was slow but high comprehension). So, I was seeking advice on how such a kid should apply. Emphasize the homeschool or high school? How to deal with the fact that he did not take a foreign language (at the recommendation of the neuropsychologist)? He had pretty high SAT/ACT scores on the first pass. Should he try to raise them with a second try? How to fill out some things on the application forms? How to handle the homeschool part of the application for the schools that wanted it. Who should provide recs? But, I had already learned quite a bit about how to work with a gifted kid with learning disabilities and would respond if I thought I could be helpful about that or other things.
I got lots of useful advice on ShawD’s college choices and application process and transfer process.
Both kids are now terrific adults pursuing paths that are good for them. One is married and Forbes 30 under 30; another became clinic medical director and homeowner before 30.
And, now I’m participating in lots of threads in the parents forum/cafe (can’t tell the difference) or either to get information (what should I do in Iceland) or share information (what to do in Italy) or generally learning/sharing (e.g., how much do you need to retire, etc.). I have learned a lot from others and have tried to reciprocate.
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I came to chance my kid to see if she had decent odds of getting into Stanford. Spoiler alert: she did not. 
It was hugely eye-opening to me to realize there was this whole world of college prep that families “in the know” embarked on starting in 8th grade. That there was a boarding school track. That people visited schools throughout high school. Or took the SAT multiple times. Etc., etc.
Our older kids just went to their favorite local school. I rolled up to CC wide-eyed when our youngest was a high school junior, NMSF, 4.0 U/W with 15 APs, athlete, volunteer — and then learned she was merely “average excellent”! Lol - another CC term I learned.
It was quite the journey. The elite schools with famous names had a definite allure. So did the free-ride/free-tuition NMF schools. So did the schools offering opportunities to be a varsity athlete.
This was the place where I turned to get different opinions and experienced voices when sifting through all the noise to help my daughter find her spot.
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I came here in the Spring of 2020 at the advice of Google - when I was searching for any information for college sports recruiting. I had no clue this site existed and never really participated on social media even Facebook. I came for info and found a very supportive community during the Covid recruiting and HS years (2021 grad) and I stayed for the Parent Cafe.
I love the TV, movie and book suggestions. CC made me realize I pay a lot for my hair cuts :), have a lot of fellow travelers out there and I love all the ideas, and also I realize that being a parent of Class of 2021 grads the experience and requirements for college admissions have changed so much that my info is already pretty dated to assist new parents in that area.
I have let myself get to invested in a couple off the rail posts, met two wonderful CC parent’s that have kids at the same school as one of my kids (we met by chance at freshman parent’s weekend, as I have never said my kids schools names) and feel like I would be instant friends with several other posters here on CC.
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