<p>My D has no interest in either posting or reading CC! Hmmmm.</p>
<p>Kudos to MissPickwickian (#75).</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I wish I had known about CC earlier when S1 was going through the process. Someday I will post his story – but not until I get S2 into college. </p>
<p>I’ve picked up some tips with S2. But the most reassuring thing from CC is that no matter what is going on, someone else has probably gone through the same experience first.</p>
<p>I’ve also learned that ED is not just a medical condition.</p>
<p>^^^^
Oh man, why didn’t I think of that!!!</p>
<p>Doesn’t matter, I’ll just claim I did from now on.</p>
<p>Fantastic.</p>
<p>
Way, way too funny! Thanks for a mid-afternoon laugh.</p>
<p>I have learned that I am bored all too frequently.</p>
<p>I’ve learned that prestige and relative excellence (being better than everyone else at something) are the most dominant values in American culture.</p>
<p>Excellence in itself is not valued unless it can be measured in terms of how much better you are than ninety-nine-point-something percent of other people.</p>
<p>Good point, nauru. On CC there seems to be a sense that excellence is only important as a stepping-stone to college. I see this more in the postings by kids than parents, though. Generally the parents seem very proud and happy with their kids, whatever their level of excellence.</p>
<p>CC taught me that an internet forum where everyone has 2000+ SAT’s and 32+ ACT’s:
- has the potential to warp your sense of reality so much that you have to look at College Board statistics to make you realize that a lot of people do actually get 1600’s on the SAT’s.
- Create some funny and/or saddening posts when you see people talking about how their life will be ruined by their 1900 SAT.</p>
<p>I learned about how competitive and talented the kids in the world are. I guess CC takes away the “big fish small pond” feeling from a lot of people who don’t go to top notch schools or spend thousands on college prep. CC has served as inspiration for me to be successful in my endeavors and to even share this information with people at school so they can be successful as well.</p>
<p>The very first thing I learned on CC was what the PSAT was and why it was important. In learning that, I also discovered that there is a community on-line that consists almost entirely of people helping each other with college admissions for free. I found that humbling then and I still do.</p>
<p>I have learned that:</p>
<p>-what sometimes sounds like bragging is actually just sharing information to find the best answer.</p>
<p>-it’s possible to become deeply invested in the hopes and dreams of students and parents you’ve never met in person. </p>
<p>-“love thy safety” is the best advice I can give any student, “check thy EFC early in the process” is the best advice I can give any parent.</p>
<p>-starting with the search for a safety forces a student to figure out what it is that they really want and makes the rest of the search that much easier.</p>
<p>-an acceptance letter early in the process, even from a safety school, makes the rejection letters sting less.</p>
<p>-there is no “dream school” and it’s very important to convey that to your student early and often.</p>
<p>-loving the kid on the couch allows that kid to give shape to their own dreams. </p>
<p>-talking about the empty nest helps.</p>
<p>I learned how little I knew about college admissions. Being part of a college community and married to an academic for many years didn’t prepare me! I think it’s because we live in a rural area where everyone’s kids go to the same public high school, so even though we have lots of bright kids who are the children of professionals, here in “The Land That Time Forgot” we don’t have the hypercompetitiveness that apparently goes on elsewhere (lucky us). I was shocked to learn on CC that kids have taken 8 - 10 APs (and what was this IB stuff?), visit and apply to such a large number of schools, and have so many impressive ECs. After reading so many “chance me’s” I thought my no-hook, just a regular smart hard-working kid might not get into a top LAC, especially with imbalanced SAT scores and one low SAT II. Luckily it all worked out, in part because I learned: where you can find out info on a common app glitch at midnight, how important the essays are, and the importance of “fit”. I had never heard of Naviance and QuestBridge and am passing that info along to our GCs. I also enjoy knowing that other parents are having the same concerns and frustrations that I am.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most impactful tip I got from CC was that the ED decisions for my daughter’s chosen school were coming by mail on 12/14, not being mailed on 12/15. An athlete passed on this info from a coach. I was out of town, but called my husband to tell him to get home and be there for whatever news came. He would have missed the joyful moment of opening that acceptance letter if it hadn’t been for the tip. I am so glad my D could share her excitement with a parent. Thank you CC!</p>
<ol>
<li>there are high school kids out there with insane resumes and workloads</li>
<li>most people are too obsessed with those resumes/workloads to notice, but top schools care a lot about personality and coming off as an amiable guy(as do employers). this helped me a lot with my essays. </li>
<li>everyone considers themselves to be intelligent and an expert, and it’s up to us to decide who’s the real deal. </li>
<li>parents need to calm down and get their own aspirations/lives </li>
<li>the people who are obsessed with getting in to top schools above everything else usually don’t get in.</li>
<li>adults are often less intelligent/informed than teenagers, as evidenced by many notorious adult members who consistently make unfounded and poorly conceived posts on this site</li>
</ol>
<p>And teenagers who often think they are more intelligent than adult members here. :D</p>
<p>^ many of the adult posters here are terrible. I don’t claim to be an expert on everything college related, but the advice I give regarding Penn and specifically Wharton is more accurate than 99% of the garbage that adults on this site dole out regarding those topics.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So true, so true. At least you’ll be glad to know that some of us parents and students get that, and have (like you) benefited from understanding that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>= another accurate statement.</p>
<p>I’m a teenager and I find that more of the adults here are smarter than the teens. The parents make smarter, more founded comments.</p>
<p> I learned that some colleges put a lot of weight and money into the results of one test taken for a few hours as a Junior</p>
<p> I learned that a free ride isnt necessarily the best thing</p>
<p> I learned that theres no reason to apply to an Ivy if your son doesnt want to attend one</p>
<p> I learned that visiting a lot of colleges was a REALLY good thing</p>
<p> I learned that its OK to apply to a school without doing a chances thread and feel good about it</p>
<p> I learned that the right school is the one that your son feels comfortable at and wants to attend</p>
<p> I learned that there are a lot of really nice, helpful people on CC and I cant imagine what our college search would have been like without it</p>