I joined after my daughter had been admitted to an ivy (not HPY) and was thinking about summer programs at the college. Since then, my daughter has taken a medical leave from school due to anxiety and depression, dropped off her sports team and moved home. She is hoping to return in this fall. Since my first post, I’ve earned a certificate in College Counseling through an extension program and am currently volunteering at the high school at which I completed my practicum. I’ve received so much helpful advice on CC, especially when I was helping my nephew apply to colleges.
Emmsmom1, both my kids took a medical leave for similar issues during college and made it through. Best wishes to your D for better health and peace.
@countingdown thank you. It’s nice to hear from other parents who have been through this.
I joined back in 2004, moving here from the forum Princeton Review which had gone downhill. Years certainly roll by!
I started as someone just a few years out of school and feeling I hadn’t make good college choices (where to apply, how to research colleges, things to do in college to become an strong job candidate, etc). Coming from a community where going to the local CC instead of right into the workforce was considered a success (as our principal told us during his graduation speech) I did not get a lot of helpful advice. Once out of college and working with peers from a variety of colleges as well as living in a large apartment community with many recent college grads, it dawned on my how different my college experience was from that of many others. I wanted to give advice I wish someone had told me back when I was in HS, and the then-novel internet allowed reaching kids I never would have ever crossed paths with in real life
Roll forward these 15 years and college now seems like a distant memory. In some sense I stick around out of inertia, so many concerns and beliefs about the process seem the same, although now many posters are planning on going into some branch of engineering although they don’t know which one yet while back in the day they were going to go to Wall Street or consulting but hadn’t decided which yet. I hope the posts and discussion are a net benefit and kids can walk away with something they didn’t know or think of before.
I logged onto CC just in time to find out I had 24 hours to put down a housing deposit at chosen college before missing deadline. Been here ever since!
I joined in 2008. S was applying early admission and through CC’s experiences I called the school to make sure his papers had arrived. Not only had they not received them but they cancelled them a second time as a double applicant. He was accepted but it seemed like a close call at the time. I would never have thought to call if it had not been for information from CC. My family and friends now know that if I say “Someone posted on a thread” that I mean the Parent Cafe. They have even asked me to start a thread when information is needed. I was very active on the old Garden Home forums prior but since their take over I rarely go there and just stick close to CC.
I’ve been on CC in whatever form it took since 2003 when S1 was starting the college process. In those days, I was only on the college forums. Eventually I made it to the Parents Forum, but not the Cafe. I posted on S1’s college thread, trying to find info and then helping new applicants/students, but when another parent would contradict everything I had to say (even about the department S1 was majoring in), I decided to quit posting on that college forum and left CC until 2007 when S2 started the college process. He graduated in 2011, which is when I started only reading/posting in the Cafe.
S1 now has his PhD, is married and the father of an adorable little girl.
S2 is currently getting his master’s part-time, working full-time, and single.
DH & I are retired and 5 months ago downsized and moved near S2. Winters are too harsh where S1 lives to have considered moving there.
It’s nice to see so many familiar names after all these years - it’s a testament to the community here!
I started out on the “old site” in late 2003/early 2004 when my daughter took the PSAT in 10th grade. Wow - my eyes were opened to all the intricacies of college admissions. At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom, but soon after got a job as a secretary with the school district. I met many wonderful people here, some of whom my daughter met in person whenever any toured Carleton. Me: What was (insert parent name here) like? Daughter: They were pretty much like you. Then it was son’s turn, and I made more new friends and had a lovely meetup with some of them at WPI orientation. Oh my son. We laugh that had he graduated on time, he would have faced an abysmal job market. Fortunately, he took a very long time, and now has a great job with amazing benefits. And now I am doing another type of career entirely (which I enjoy) and looking forward to retirement in the next decade.
Thank you to everyone who taught me what I needed to learn, listened when I needed to share - I hope I was able to pay it forward.
I joined in 2003 between junior and senior year @garland and it is still good to see so many who are still here on the journey. Since joining, left corporate life, became a school counselor then a school administrator (high school kids while they may drive you nuts, they keep you young and I love the work that I do).
I have so many fond memories, of latetoschool and sunriseeast and how we miss them so. I have become such a fan of the wisdom of @blossom and @mikemac , that I know their posts before I even read their name. In 2006, I wrote on the what is fair thread and so many of those sentiments still ring true today.
The one thing that keeps me coming back to CC and the parents forum is the sense of community that has been developed and the stories that connect us in this particular forum.
Many of you I do look at as extended family and I have learned so much from you. Those of us who have been posting or lurking for any period of time may even find ourselves sharing the stories of our CC friends with others, not so much from a ohhh, point finger perspective as much as thanking those who have been so gracious to share their stories that provide us with so many life lessons and teachable moments. These are kids that I will probably never meet live in this life time but I hold them in my heart like my own.
I know since I have been posting/ lurking, my heart did go out to the kids that were part of the Yale EA massacre of December 03. During a time when it seemed that April would never come, I was grateful for Thedad counting down the days to acceptance letters to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas.
I remember Evilrobot being accepted to Yale and passing it up for a full ride at Vandy and how he came back and gave us feedback on the wonderful first year he had. Lesson, there is life if you cannot attend your “dream school” you just make new dreams and it all works out fine.
Many of us went through the admissions process with Candi, who was taking care of her family and dealing with her own illness and her acceptance to Yale and a host of other great schools. No one would have ever though that the deposit to hold a space would become a big deciding factor in choosing a school.
How many of us gasped when we heard that Soozie’s D and Orangeblossom’s S were in car accidents? How many of us were so happy to hear that Soozie’s D a year later is dancing and hasn’t missed a step and were grateful for the new but totaled car that kept OB’s son safe?
We remember how disheartening it was when Berurah’s son’s college acceptance but the money did not come with it. We all rejoiced together when the admissions with the money came rolling in and for one shining moment no matter what colleges we attended we were all blue devils fan because her son was living his dream with aid that made it possible.
I remember rushing home and starting up my computer while taking off my coat to find out what happened with Roby’s, Bandit’s, Simba’s, Marite’s , Kat’s, dig’s, Momsdream’s and other’s kids during the admission process.
I remember how sad Alu when she shared one of her D’s rejection and how sad she was sitting in her office because she knew she would have to put up a brave front for her daughter. We all at cyber ice cream with her. A few days later drank cyber champagne with her celebrated big when the Stanford and Princeton acceptances came and she wrote about seeing her D’s red hair waving across the campus. When she sent her first born off to school and wrote about how much she missed her, many of us knew how she felt.
When Katrina hit the golf coast schools, we wanted to know what happened with every one’s kid who got displaced and when we did not hear from Cangel for a few days we were worried. My heart goes out to Jmmom who has been a stauch supporter of Tulane and said that they were sticking it out only to find out that her son’s program has been discontinued and now they must start the search again.
I watered up 2 days ago reading minnesotamom’s posting about her and her son.
So almost a year later we remember waiting for days on end and getting excited when we saw andi’s name posted only feel her disappointment when she said nothing yet and the wait list schools did not come through. So yes this has been a long night in the life of andi and andison and we are all waiting (some like me almost impatiently) for the joy that comes in the morning. Who would have though that a single letter could touch so many lives?
MOWC was a one-woman referral system for any one who has ever had an Oops moment and a testament to phrase the race not given to the swift nor the battle to the strong but to the one who endures until the end.
I happy that Blossom reminds us to love the kids that we have and not the ones we wish we had. Yes I do keep in mind that some us have marigolds that thrive in any condition and some of have hot house flowers that need extra care. It does not make one or the other better, just different.
@Garland, what ever happened to our kid from the mega thread? It took mootie, to tell me what the brass rat was< I still tell my students today about it.
I am grateful for sinners alley, because it is a place where we can truly get away from it all,
And who ever forgets sluggbugg, her slugghuggs and adventures with the evilneighbors. We are grateful that while momofthree did ask us for wedding dress advice that she did ignore us when it came to bugles for the reception:)
The stories that I have read her on CC are the stories that resonate in our hearts and are etched in our memories. They are also the stories that we want to hear how they play out because they are the stories that we remember, and we share with others. They are the stories that we tell others when they think that things are hopeless to remind them that there is hope and at the end of the day you are where you need to be.
There are soo sooo many great stories. I am grateful to all of you who have stayed and have shared their kid’s next phase of marriages (divorces) and grand children. They grow up so fast, but they are still our babies. They are the ties that bind us as parents, as students and as a community here on CC. I don’t count it robbery when one is singled out because I know that we’ve still got enough love, happiness, compassion and empathy to go around to everyone who so graciously tells their story here and Sinners alley is never out of free drinks.
I joined in January 2009 when my oldest was a HS junior and I was feeling overwhelmed. He was an excellent student and a recruited runner and I didn’t know where to begin helping him look for schools. Wow, what a journey it’s been! I’ve made so many friends and gained so much knowledge in a lot of areas of life, not just education. 
Wow, @sybbie719! What a stroll down memory lane! I still smile at the wonderful NY meet-up, and one poster’s idea to pretend we all met up with some famous actor.
@sybbie719 Post of the year. That’s just beautiful. Remember Andi and how her son didn’t get into any of his schools since he had no safety and had to take a gap year? We all learned from that!
There are some classics and certainly the thread by Andi was a classic must read. The Mega thread was another doozie…missing violadad…and bassdad and a lot of other music parent regulars.
The day of the meet up in NYC, I had lunch with another CCer who lived near here…but we just didn’t want to make the drive.
@sybbie719 --I would like that a hundred times over if I could!
Also, I think that starting the meta thread might be my greatest achievement as a writer! Certainly got read more than most things I publish. Of course, it was a wonderful collaboration with many brilliant minds!
I was actually directed here in about 2006 by D2 who had discovered the site on her own, and became more involved when D3 decided to pursue music. The music major forum was incredibly helpful and supportive. And then I discovered the Parent Café and now I’m the virtual version of that quirky little old lady sitting quietly at the table in the corner every day.
Wow, @sybbie719 , you have an amazing memory! Thanks for that wonderful recap of many years of highlights.
Who knew when Mr.Tubbs strolled over to the parents forum for help with his college application that he would grow up to be Mayor Tubbs?
Forgot about that one!
Thank Sybbie - that was beautiful! It’s amazing how many life journeys we have shared here.
I joined in 2013 when my D was a freshman in HS. She is now a sophomore in college. She, too, has an account and has posted sporadically (mostly in offering advice about disability accommodations and/or her particular academic interests.
We both have benefited from (and hopefully contributed to) the collective wisdom on this forum.
We have gained a great deal of specific knowledge about niche schools and program; it is thanks to CC that my D heard about TASP a life-changing experience that she otherwise would not have known about. I
I have edited literally hundreds of essays and have seen dozens of kids (and a few parents) through the application process.
I’m sorry to have missed out on the early days of CC – it sounds like it was quite a community back then! I have had the pleasure of (virtually) meeting and co-posting with quite a few regular posters (a couple of whom have posted on this thread). It’s funny how you can sometimes know who has written a post just by what they say or how they say it.
I would love to read some of those seminal threads to which @sybbie719 refers…what, for example, is/was the Mega thread? Are any of those threads archived someplace? I know about clam farts, but draw a blank when it comes to brass rats…