<p>I can think of a college, which my oldest son likes very well, that has a lot of outstanding students attending it. For a while one student there, who may have just graduated at the end of the most recent school year (or will graduate next year) used to visit one of the other college-specific forums on CC. He ran down the other college, rather than talking up his own alma mater. I have to admit that for a while I thought a LOT less of his college than I formerly did (and now do again), because he had little positive to say about his own college and a lot of silly, irrelevant negative things to say about the Brand X college he didn't like. </p>
<p>Fortunately, my son never read those threads, and he has formed his opinions about colleges from other sources of information. Meanwhile I've read other threads on CC where boosters of particular colleges either </p>
<p>a) run down perfectly fine colleges that are worth a look from many applicants, </p>
<p>or </p>
<p>b) make such exaggerated claims on behalf of alma mater that I can't take the claims seriously. </p>
<p>That's made me dubious about some other colleges that I formerly thought highly of. On my part, I like to hear from supporters of any one college what they like about that college, without a lot of less informed comments about other colleges the supporters have never attended. Sometimes I have to remember to seek outside sources of information </p>
<p>to make sure I'm not forming my opinions of other colleges solely on the basis of who supports them, and how, here on CC. Maybe I could name names of which colleges seem to lose the most standing in my thinking from how they are supported on CC, but I guess I will refrain. I will note for the record that I consider any college listed in my own posts in the thread </p>
<p>Duke seems to inspire pretty polarized debate. </p>
<p>I spent a lot of time in the Harvard forums when I was applying, which shot my nerves to pieces. A lot of the debate over EA and Affirmative Action left me with a sort of negative impression of the atmosphere at Harvard, and the chance threads with people replying with derogatory or negative comments were kind of a turn-off as well, but in the end I made up my own mind about the school.</p>
<p>I tried to stay away from CC after I applied...but I wasn't so successful. It stressed me out beyond belief, and while I like the forums now, I think they added a lot of anxiety to an already stressful time.</p>
<p>I'll be honest, the way people portray their colleges on CC did affect how I chose my college. Back when I was applying I wanted a top academic school in an urban environment on the east coast for my top choice. Naturally, it boiled down to Columbia and Penn. </p>
<p>I found CC and read the boards to get information about both schools. I got a feel for the personalities of the posters and felt that I liked the Penn ones more. [personal comment edited out to fit Terms of Service.] I liked some of the Columbia posters, but I just felt I had more in common with the people on the Penn boards.</p>
<p>I kept in mind that this was a small sample group of people who attend/attended these colleges and that thier posts shouldn't influence me too much. After visiting both schools, though, I decided to compare them. While I like Columbia's look and surrounding area more, I just felt that I had a better tour and info session at Penn. I felt the tour guide at Columbia was more aloof and that they were just carting us around showing us buildings rather than being too helpful. </p>
<p>I had pluses and minuses for boths schools from my visits, but I would have to say that CC posters helped me keep an open mind about Penn while it didn't encourage me to do as much for Columbia. I ended up applying ED to Penn and am now a happy sophomore.</p>
<p>I feel like the best posters who represent their schools are the ones who help prospectives by providing them with good information on the school and don't bash other schools (except jokingly).</p>
<p>Notre Dame, Duke, Northwestern, Harvey Mudd (especially)... Vandy trolls have only popped up a few times. </p>
<p>Sometimes, the ones that annoy me the most are the applicants to the colleges--they haven't even gotten in yet, but they boost the college and bash its rivals as though it was their own.</p>
<p>I try not to let it influence my opinions of the school, but when poster after poster displays the same sort of immaturity, it's hard not to.</p>
<p>Thanks for the interesting comments. What I notice is how regional the reputations of many colleges still are. Someone on CC has said that most students go to college within 500 miles of their home. If so, I rather suspect that most sources of personal information about colleges are confined to each region of the country. So Californians know all about colleges in California, and northeasterners know all about colleges in the northeast, and so on. (I could tell you all about the University of Minnesota, Carleton, Macalester, and St. Olaf, for instance, as those are all very familiar colleges here, three of which to which I have family ties.) A few third-party publications have attempted to produce NATIONAL listings of colleges with various attempts at ranking all colleges, or all colleges within a particular subgroup, on a national basis by various criteria. I find all such efforts debatable, but I don't decry them, because of course students choosing colleges want to choose the best colleges they can, with perhaps differing opinions on what makes a college "best."</p>
<p>Just over a year ago there was a Caltech vs Harvey Mudd thread that at some point actually required admin attention. It went on afterwards, and the last post in the thread went something like "I just finished reading this thread, and it makes me glad that my son chose Harvey Mudd over Caltech." </p>
<p>......just a related anecdote, Im not trying to saying anything either school ^^.</p>
<p>I have developed a negative bias (unfairly so) to some schools simply based upon the complete boosterism of some posters, including some otherwise thoughtful CC veterans. 3 LACs in particular.
I just never felt that the schools my son and daughter have selected were any kind of paradise. Fine schools with excellent reputations, but plenty of flaws as well.</p>
<p>I have yet to read a "booster" or "cheerleader" post that ... could remotely help a school. None of them does work! The results range from mildly annoying to extremely negative. The most insidious posts are the ones that seek to establish an advantage through negative comparisons. Amazing and extremely competitive schools such as Pomona and Harvey Mudd are painted in a dismal light by this type of puerile tactics. Unfortunately, there is no other way to judge the history on CC for both schools. Put mildly, those schools deserve better and hardly need this kind of business cards! </p>
<p>The prize for the most annoying and unrelenting boosters, however, goes easily to the supporters of public universities that have a hard time swallowing their "lower" rankings. The only difference is that this seems to please the fans more than turn them off. Go figure!</p>
<p>Well, I personally feel that the angst of state school attendees and alumni is justified due to the way that many people, especially on CC, easily dismiss their schools as subpar or inherently inferior.</p>
<p>Duke students and alumni seem to be catching passers-by unaware with their keen observations... And, my dislike for Columbia has intensified.</p>
<p>Oh, let me count the much touted schools of CC: Johns Hopkins, Duke, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Temple (OK, just one person), second tier UCs, LACs with no name recognition, Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>Who is excessively bantering about Johns Hopkins? I would like to toast him/her as we are all a delicate rare specie. I would like to meet this fellow and make him/her a friend. Maybe a boyfriend...</p>
<p>It's hard for me to believe that an anonymous internet forum could do anything more than reinforce an opinion the reader already had. I tend to credit the posts that reflect my own biases and ignore those that I find offensive/unbalanced/tedious. On the other hand, there are so many schools out there we need to eliminate most somehow. The forum is free, a consultation with one's astrologer involves some cost. </p>
<p>Occasionally I'll shudder at something I read here, like the posts about the parents decorating a student's dorm room. To me, that's usurping the work and pleasure that rightfully belongs to the student. I can't be bothered ferreting out what schools are being discussed so as to avoid them. </p>
<p>It takes all kinds, doesn't it (including me)?</p>
<p>But I have thought less of certain colleges, at least for a while, because of juvenile boosting on their behalf that I have seen here. Sometimes I need to look for other data sources besides College Confidential to be sure I'm giving a college a fair shake.</p>