<p>I used CC regularly in HS, and a little bit since college started. It seems that both the overall site and pre-med section has been taken over by creepy helicopter parents in the past 4 years</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>[Top</a> Secret Stealth Helicopter](<a href=“Top Secret Stealth Helicopter Program Revealed in Osama Bin Laden Raid: Experts - ABC News”>Top Secret Stealth Helicopter Program Revealed in Osama Bin Laden Raid: Experts - ABC News)</p>
<p>One more reason for a student to go to a college at a “safe” distance from his/her parents. At least it will not be so easy for them to stalk at you whenever they want 
– from a creepy helicopter parent who at least has the wisdom of sending his child to a college far far away.</p>
<p>Just face the reality: It is a fact that this generation of parents are the first generation in history who pay so much attention their offsprings. You can not escape from this, other than minimize the effect by going to a far-away college (well…but those cell phone calls still follow you wherever you are!)</p>
<p>BTW, how many percentage of high school or freshmen/sophomore students here do their own FAFSA (including their parent’s part – parents just hand them the asset/income info) and these probing financial aid forms all by themselves? When parents need to pay more than 100K easily for a “product” in four/five years, they are naturally very concerned about whether the money spent is worth its value.</p>
<p>OP . . . </p>
<p>we helicopter parents got together and have developed a plan for you so that you’ll be able to deal with us wiht more, shall, we say grace . . . in other words, we are willing to make accomodations for your particular situation, but to do so we will need to see substantial improvement and cooperation on your part . . after all, if WE’RE going to invest OUR time and money improving your life, you are going to have to give up some of your autonomy to comply with our “requirements” </p>
<p>we’ll be in touch . . and you’d better answer when we call!!!</p>
<p>Black Hawk </p>
<p>P.S. The main reason why we have so many helicopter parents these days is that once a college education became a commodity that one buys in the marketplace, whoever pays for it naturally became a customer . . and since part of being a responsible consumer is being value and brand conscious, any number of invasive, independence-destroying actions become justified because now WE - not the students - are the customer.</p>
<p>It’s a crazy world!!!</p>
<p>I don’t know or care why but I sure do appreciate their advice</p>
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<p>Whats with all the kids who start stupid threads on CC?</p>
<p>^^^College Confidential really needs a “Like” button!</p>
<p>I’m guessing you are from New York, OP. Downstate, but not Manhattan? And full pay?</p>
<p>hi Stonecold :)</p>
<p>I can understand that to some kids, it can seem odd, weird, and even creepy that some parents are so involved with the college process.</p>
<p>It might interest you to know that when we went to college in the Stone Age there were virtually no parents to help/guide/advise us on any of the process…frankly because the process wasn’t nearly as complicated nor competitive as it is today. Most of us took the SAT one time, took it stone cold, maybe half-sick, no practice questions, and applied to 1 or 2 schools only. And few of us ever did “campus visits” or anything like that. </p>
<p>If a student is incredibly lucky, he’ll have great advisors in high school and undergrad, reviewing each step, giving thoughtful advice, etc. However, that is soooo rare that mistakes and oversights are often made. </p>
<p>And, sometimes, what may seem “logical” is not really logical in the college or med school app world. It might seem logical to double major and take ridiculously hard classes to “pad” your transcript even if it means that your GPA will suffer a bit…however, that’s not logical when it comes to the med school app process. </p>
<p>So, it’s rather easy to make a misstep that can have long term consequences and most undergrads really don’t have the time to find out a lot of this info. And, there’s this little problem of…“you don’t know what you don’t know”…so sometimes you don’t even know that you need to know a pertinent piece of info. </p>
<p>For instance, after taking the ACT and SAT multiple times in high school, it’s not unusual for a pre-med student to think that it’s a good idea to take the MCAT multiple times…say one time as a soph for a “baseline”…and then again, with practice, for real…because that is what kids often do for the SAT / ACT. Proceeding with that misunderstanding can be “fatal”. </p>
<p>Anyway…because of the above and the very complicated process it can be a big help (a life-saver, actually) to have parents finding out info, sharing info, etc, to prevent some of these missteps. </p>
<p>Best wishes to you. :)</p>
<p>What’s with the arrogant kids who think that parents don’t have a valuable role to play on CC?</p>
<p>The parents also have a vested interest in their children doing well so they do not end up back in their HS bedroom years later after the $250,000 investment in the university.</p>
<p>A lot of the parents I see on here irritate me honestly… Maybe I feel like 'Oh my parents aren’t THIS involved and I’m doing just fine if not better than these kids… ’ but at the same time I wish my parents were that proactive… It’s kinda a double edged sword kinda thing.</p>
<p>^^yes to smile</p>
<p>Not every child gets the same help. only those who are willing or even wise and mature enough to ask. for kids like op, i would just leave him or her alone and if after college by any chance wants the HS bedroom? No way jose. </p>
<p>those arrogant kids who do not wish to see parents on this forum, you can always skip the posts.</p>
<p>stoencold 23,
Isn’t it contradictory to say that you rarely use CC and care so much about who is posting here. Strange!</p>
<p>OP- IRL parents talk to each other about this stuff all the time, on CC you get to witness the conversations. The problem for most posters is that they have no one IRL who can advise and answer these higher education questions. I would bet many of our kids are some of the few in our areas pursuing the interests they have and are likely seen as high achievers who, of course, will get into med school or PhD or whatever, without any understanding of the difficulty of the journey.</p>
<p>Does any college student care about these?
Where does the money come from? Who is going to pay for these?
For a private college, $250,000 investment and $250,000 interest (7.9% in 20 years repayment) is needed.
For a medical school, another >$250,000+$250,000 maybe is also needed.
The time, energy, and care the parents give.
18 years of effort to raise child (ren) (how much money is it worth?). Most of all, their child(ren).<br>
That’s why parents care about and involve in the college process at least for me.</p>
<p>I monitor the premed forum to make sure that partially informed students do not mislead others about private practice, medical facts, the practice of anesthesiology, and residency experience.</p>
<p>The medical education experience is intense: it easy to allow current circumstances or immediately present mentors to dominate one’s opinions. It is not possible to which of these opinions will endure. “Adults,” especially those with relevant professional experience, may be a source of time-tested, reality-based opinions.</p>
<p>
Yep. And some of us are just fun to be around when we’re drinkin’.</p>
<p>fair enough…</p>
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<p>Or, perhaps only when we’re drinkin’!</p>