I wish I had a resource like this when I was applying to schools back in the Bronze Age. No one in my family or in my neighborhood had the first idea of what the college process might entail, and it was much simpler then.
We forget that there is a culture and a language about college because we are steeped in it. Many of us probably live in communities where college is discussed a lot. (Maybe even too much.) Not everyone breathes that air, however, so there is this option of a virtual community. Like every community, it has its flaws, but you can sometimes find wisdom in crowds.
I generally think the āchance meā advice is good. Itās sometimes repetitive, but it often takes repetition for an idea to stick.
āThe most selective schools are reaches for all, have a balanced list.ā
āDiscuss budget as a family and run the NPC for each school.ā
āCheck the middle range of SAT scores, which can be found on the Common Data Set.ā
These are just a few of the āchance meā greatest hits.
Even for kids who come from communities where college is just expected, this is good, basic advice. Thatās because itās not intuitive knowledge.
I find āmatch meās far more useful than āchance meās but I donāt think the latter are silly. They can be useful if posted before applying anywhere, to see if the list makes sense, and what adjustments might be warranted (assuming the OP is open to feedback - some are adamantly not, in which case itās a futile exercise). Many times, an OP uncovers things they werenāt aware of, through othersā feedback.
Then there are anxious students who post a chance me after applying. Sometimes just days before results are out. I think most of these posters are just looking for assurance, and for some itās a way to bide time while waiting for results. For such posts I typically just tell the OP to wait for the results, or donāt bother responding at all.
Iām taking it a step further. If youāve already responded a couple of times, thereās probably little more that needs to be added, even if the proposed post is to a different user. Personal anecdotes wonāt move the conversation forward.
Chance threads exist. Theyāre not going away. Some users avoid chance threads. Thatās fine. Others enjoy responding. Thatās fine too.
Yeah ā my topicās title would have been āChance Me for UW-Madison, Beloit College, and Dartmouth.ā lol
In the end I only applied to UW, in-state. Got in and had a blast. I donāt think it was quite a safety, though --a low match, but not a safety, quite ā so my completely uninformed approach was foolhardy.
I used to read those, never responded as not sure how I can chance anyone. But the responses now all just seem to focus on finances and urging everyone to the cheapest school, which is not a view I share (with lots of exceptions, you get what you pay for is a good guideline I find) without regard to what the applicant is actually looking for.
I just celebrated my fourth anniversary on CC. I have learned so much by being on this site.
Many of the folks who respond to Chance Me or Match Me threads have huge insight on the college admissions process. I am reasonably well-educated, but I simply had no idea about the basic issues, much less the nuances, of admissions until I came across CC.
I have said this in previous threads, but there is a huge asymmetry of information in college admissions. I have had friends of mine whose kids recently applied to colleges telling me they had no idea about the complexities involved.
For that group of students and parents alone, the Chance Me and Match Me threads, at the very least, raise issues that most would never think of. I included myself in that group. But for spending the time here, I wouldnāt have had a clue about how to go about things like ED 1, ED 2, EA, SCEA/REA etc, and thatās just for starters.
Personally I think that having some focus on finances is not a bad thing, even if it turns out that the OP isnāt interested?
Families with lots of financial resources are likely to have other resources for college counseling, not just CC. I canāt imagine that full-pay families are substantially harmed by receiving unwanted financial advice on their chance me threads? At worst, it seems like it would just be annoying.
On the other hand, families who donāt have lots of resources might really benefit from financial advice, even if they donāt think so at first. If college is a huge financial stretch for the family, ending up with a more affordable option might have the potential to make a hugely positive change in the studentās and familyās life trajectory.
I donāt know about other high schools, but at our big urban high school, college counseling is minimal. The college counseling process doesnāt seem to include any discussion of schools with merit scholarships. Students looking for lower cost options are simply steered towards the lower cost state schools and community colleges. Although nothing is wrong with community college, itās possible that a lot of students at our school could benefit from some of the high guaranteed merit OOS suggestions that appear frequently on these forums.
I donāt share that view either, but I think those who say āgo to the cheapest school, itās all the sameā are a small minority. Most of the responses Iāve seen related to finances typically urge the OP to make sure the schools they are applying to are within budget, and to not take on an onerous amount of debt for any school. I think both those are critical messages, but of course, shouldnāt be the primary focus of a thread - and can be skipped entirely if OP says something like āhave checked, and cost isnāt a constraintā.
Of course not to that extreme, but I wonder what percentage of people are joining CollegeConfidential, because they feel theyāll lose out if they donāt chase any ābrand namesā that their community (or grand parents) had been pushing.
For them, hearing many voices who prioritize affordability over brand, even in responses to othersā chance-meās, can give them the confidence that itās perfectly normal/acceptable (and, not being ācheapā) to go their own way.
I always like to take a few minutes giving the kids some āwiseā grown-up advice. I never actually āchanceā them. I usually advise them on putting together a list with healthy expectations. And seriouslyā¦TAKE THE FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP!