<p>– that getting an early start on understanding the application process, FA and different types of colleges is probably just as important as the GPA and SAT scores.</p>
<p>That, in my teen’s eyes, I can be totally pathetic for a year for following CC, then totally cool for the 5 conversations that really matter on testing strategy, college selection, ED/EA strategy, financial aid, and application construction.</p>
<p>Of course, now that she’s in ED to her top choice, I’m back to being pathetic again.</p>
<p>
So true. There was so much that I either thought I understood but was incorrect about, basing things on my own experience <mumble> years ago, or just was wrong period. </mumble></p>
<p>My two biggest surprises: a 1400 SAT (Math/Verbal) isn’t worth what it was way back when and the virtues of LAC’s, when both TheMom and I came from pro-research university backgrounds. After that, possibly that D attended a women’s college…who’d a thunk it?</p>
<p>KL, don’t worry, you’ll become un-pathetic again one of these years. My D doesn’t get why I’m still on CC.</p>
<p>-that it is possible to have less than a 4.0 and still get into a top 10 school.</p>
<p>-that no matter where my child ends up, he will probably be fine.</p>
<p>-that it’s not necessary to have an Ivy league degree to be successful.</p>
<p>-that a lot of my reasons for being here on CC have more to do with my own fears and insecurities than anything else.</p>
<p>-that sometimes the best choice really is the State U.</p>
<p>-that not all GPA systems or AP courses are equal.</p>
<p>-that the selection process at the more selective schools is a lot more subjective than I thought.</p>
<p>-that people will cling to their own positions, no matter what.</p>
<p>-that I can argue about the same thing over and over again with strangers and for some reason, it feels good.</p>
<p>-that the threads that got my blood boiling the most are also the ones I can’t stay away from, no matter how many times I tell myself ‘this is absolutely my last post on that &%!* thread’.</p>
<p>-And, finally, no matter what, love the kid on the couch. That has become my mantra.</p>
<p>Really, when all is said and done, I think I’ve learned more about myself than anything else.</p>
<p>TheDad, a 1400 back then is closer to a 1500 now, so don’t feel badly…
I had a 1300 (old scale) and had the second highest score in my HS. My kids have had opportunities I never could have imagined, and I was the one at my HS who won lots of awards, etc. The playing field has changed.</p>
<p>CC was a real eye-opener for me, starting with simple things like the fact that kids take the SAT test more than once. I learned what types of classes kids in other high schools take, online courses, dual enrollment, etc. I learned about ED and EA, and that whether or not you need financial aid can affect admissions. I never knew kids did scientific research during the summer! I learned how important teacher recs can be. There is so much more I am still learning about schools for my 2 youngest kids.</p>
<p>I’ve learned that I have a better understanding of the subtleties of financial aid than most of my friends and family. Given this knowledge, I’ve learned that sometimes I just need to chill.</p>
<p>CD, it’s the opposite problem: when D got a 1400 on her first SAT, I thought she was done. Then I started reading CC…whups!</p>
<p>I learned that after I read a post, I want to continue the dialogue. </p>
<p>And I have new worries, worries about things I never thought about before until it was raised here.</p>
<p>And regrets. Aside from the regret that I didn’t discover CC when my other kids were applying, I regret that none of my kids took the ACT. And none of my kids took the SATs twice (statistically they would have dropped). And, of course, the regret that we didn’t get started earlier.</p>
<p>I learned that i LOVE women’s colleges and one is at the top of my list(followed by another at Number 2)</p>
<p>a year ago if you had told me that, I would have died</p>
<p>Momlive, great post. I can’t disagree with any of those points.</p>
<p>John.</p>
<p>…that I can find an answer here to pretty much any question I can think of, college related or not.</p>
<p>…that you should not let your children know what your screenname is.</p>
<p>…that if you do, your son’s roommate might post a (fake) very incriminating email which is clearly about your son on his college’s board and that it can make you hysterical…until you find out you were had and explain to them both the meaning of “paybacks”.</p>
<p>…that you can make a really good friend when you both go through a traumatic time with your kids and start commiserating by PM.</p>
<p>…that saying the word “Bush” in the political forum is equivalent to yelling “food fight!” in a high school cafeteria.</p>
<p>…that hanging out here can make you a pretty darn good amateur guidance counselor.</p>
<p>I learned:
- there were so many parents like me there was a name for us but there is still no emoticon for helicopter.
-Also that there are degrees of helicopterishness that can not only be acceptable but helpful.
-That CC was a place I could vent my frustrations/anxieties/and desire to do something without adding to the anxiety of my kids
-that it really does take a village to raise a child ( or at least get them into an institute of higher education) and this is our 21st century village where i have learned much more than i thought there was to know.</p>
<p>TheDad, why were you responding to me seriously in post 60, when I was being sarcastic in post 40? (I made it rather obvious.)</p>
<p>It sounds as if you’re arguing with the irony and trying to make a statement about comparative academic rigor, when I was obviously mocking the repeated attempts of many parents to do that among highly reputable schools.</p>
<p>Which “Ivy-covered” party school are you referring to?</p>
<p>I learned that…</p>
<p>…people all around the world are willing to help an autistic girl with a B+ average find a college. </p>
<p>…a 29 ACT is not bad. </p>
<p>…in this day and age, a college doesn’t have to be OMG OH SO LIBERAL AND ALTERNATIVE to have high gay acceptance. </p>
<p>…being low-income is not a “hook”</p>
<p>…there is a middle ground between lusting after the Ivies and settling for one’s state flagship.</p>
<p>…should I end up at community college for whatever reason, it is not the end of the world.</p>
<p>…I can do this.</p>
<p>Not as important as my widened perspective but, the kids who post here seem WAY different than the kids of parents who post here.</p>
<p>What? What’s this supposed to mean? 
lol, are parents controlling what their kids post?</p>
<p>Timely - Thats too funny about your s and his rmmate!!!</p>
<p>^^yuechen;Not sure if you are responding to me, but what I meant is, kids who find their way here are a very different breed. I think kids of PARENTS who find their way here are a little less extraordinary.</p>
<p>and what do you think characterizes that “breed”?</p>