<p>This post is out of pure curiosity. I write from a neutral standpoint.
I feel like every other post that I read has a kid with top percentile stats, be it 5's on 10+ AP's or 2200+ on Sat's. Why is this? Do the top students really need to brag about their near-perfect stats to give them a sense of superiority, of even more accomplishment? I do not understand why there are so many students on this site who are the top 1% of students; you'd figure that they'd have better things to do than post "chance-me's" when they damn well know that they are more qualified than almost every other student in the nation.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, students who take 10 APs or are in the top percentile for SAT/ACT are also the ones most likely to engage in activity such as posting on CC. Given their undoubted dedication to schoolwork, one can infer that though they are the minority, they make up the majority of those who are preoccupied with scores and getting into colleges.</p>
<p>Quite simply, the reason you don’t see any "Help me improve my 1700"s here is because, once again, generally speaking, the students who perform very poorly or take all simplistic classes are less focused on these tests and colleges. I know that the vast majority of the kids at my school would never even browse CC, let alone post on it; the ones that would are those who take rigorous classes and do well in school/standardized tests.</p>
<p>But on the same note, I know no one at my school who has heard about this site, and a lot of them are competent students ( I even asked a friend who got accepted into Yale, who by the way did not have a perfect SAT and did not have 10+ 5’s on AP’s). I am starting to strongly dislike how everything is so stats and score based; it seems like my fellow peers on this site care more about getting perfect stats and getting into top schools more so than the actually learning itself. I know many in my school who don’t give a crap about whether they remember the material after the class or not, just as long as they get a good grade in the class. I care about my education; I love to learn. I just don’t want my love of learning to be compromised by the seeming majority of competent students who just want to beat everyone else in scores.</p>
<p>I slightly disagree with somestudent2. It isn’t necessarily better test takers that come to post on cc. It is just more conscientious students. For example, I haven’t taken the SAT yet, but if I don’t do well, I will post a post that’s “how can I improve my [insert score].” Honestly, posts like that are much more helpful to the average good student who isn’t the best test taker than a “chance me” post is to anyone. I just don’t think the “chance me” posts do any good to anyone, even to the person posting. If they are taking ever ap class at their school and did well on the sat, then what good will a “chance me” do? If someone says “you have a chance” that doesn’t do anything for the person; they still will either be rejected or accepted based on the admissions board, not what people on cc say.</p>
<p>“Do the top students really need to brag about their near-perfect stats to give them a sense of superiority, of even more accomplishment?”</p>
<p>Kyle, dude, my man, it isn’t because they are bragging, it is because they have such crappy stats that the only way to make it up for them is to post up an fake incredible stat on a site where noone knows the truth. its shocking. i know.</p>
<p>xckyle: Why do you assume that people with top stats don’t care about their education? I don’t see too many ‘i don’t like to learn, I just have perfect grades and scores’ posts do you?</p>
<p>Most of the time it is the opposite. Kids with the best grades like to learn more lol. Don’t devalue people just because they are very accomplished.</p>
<p>I do think average/above average students probably are reading the forums on CC, but don’t feel that they have anything to contribute and/or are terrified to ask a question that they’ll be pounced on for asking something “stupid.” So they lurk, and hopefully learn a few things, but they’re not going to join in the conversation. While I think the majority of CC’ers do want to be helpful, there are others that get their jollies out of bragging and generally acting like pompous jerks. And I do agree that there is probably a tiny bit of deceit about scores (although at least no one here tries to tell you that their SAT scores are 1745…you do see that kind of thing on other forums!)</p>
<p>I also think CC breeds/encourages anxiety, or maybe just attracts those that are already overly intense about college admissions. This type of craziness is absolutely a trend I see with my tutoring students, as well as their parents. There’s this belief that not getting into a top tier college is the end of the world. That kind of catastrophizing just leads to misery. Everyone on the forums is going to get into college and do well! So, I do wish everyone on CC would lighten up sometimes…</p>
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<p>For the same reason you find classical music lovers, definitely a minority in society, at classical music concerts.</p>
<p>Randolf: We’ll never know for sure if people lie on here or not. We can’t prove it. I would like to say that I believe every poster on here, but like I said, you can’t prove if they’re telling the truth or not. With some posters, I can see their intelligence conveyed through their posts; these are the ones I believe. Others I have problems believing because of how they present themselves on this site.</p>
<p>swans004: I agree wholeheartedly. When I first started reading this site a month or two ago (I was a lurker), I became depressed due to the number of AP classes everyone was taking, how they did on standardized tests etc. I do fairly well in school myself, I am probably (hopefully) near the top of my class, and I thought I was pretty well off. But when I saw that some users had taken like 8+ AP classes by the end of their junior year (I saw one guy who had apparently taken 18 by the end of his senior year), I became depressed. But then reality hit me, and I began to feel better. I do not know how so many of the users are able to take so many classes so early. We have around 12 AP classes in my school, but 3 of them deal with Art (and Art has nothing to do with my aspirations in life, so why I should I take them), and one of them (Calc BC) is nearly impossible to take; you have to start out in the highest classes (I did) and get lucky with your schedule(I didn’t). I am taking 2 choirs, which makes my schedule very inflexible. Out of the 4 AP classes that I wanted to take this year, even after sitting with a counselor for a long period of time, I was only able to take 2 (though I am going to self study physics B). I remember I saw one user criticizing another for having too easy of a schedule when the kid had taken 4 AP classes his junior year. Times like those are when I go “***”.</p>
<p>Yes, but I think that comparison is slightly flawed. Just as I know many who just care about the grades, I know many who truly enjoy to learn. By your logic, those who don’t really post on a site like this do not genuinely care about where they go to college, improving their scores, learning etc. That is not true. I’ll admit that my counterargument is weak, but that’s because I can’t quite grasp the words that I am trying to say. Classical music lovers and classical music concerts is different from zealous students and forums like these.</p>
<p>Well, it seems for every post with “great stats” there is a whiny post of someone who feels like a small fish in a big pond…</p>
<p>Lots of new folks on this thread. I agree the 99th percentile kids are the “ORM” around here, but I think if you stick around, you’ll see enough representation from other kinds of students. Especially on the parents threads. And furthermore, I 'd like to say, that a 1700 on the SAT is not “performing poorly”, but closer to the 75 percentile.</p>
<p>P.S. I’m a parent.</p>
<p><a href=“although%20at%20least%20no%20one%20here%20tries%20to%20tell%20you%20that%20their%20SAT%20scores%20are%201745…you%20do%20see%20that%20kind%20of%20thing%20on%20other%20forums!”>quote</a>
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…you can’t get a 1745 SAT score…they go in increments of 10…</p>
<p>@pigs<em>at</em>sea: exactly.</p>
<p>owlice sums it up perfectly.</p>
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<p>No. There are plenty of classical music lovers who don’t go to concerts; they may not have the time, the inclination, the money, nearby venues, etc. They care about the music, but listen to it on recordings. They may or may not read much about classical music in books or magazines; they don’t, however, seek out information online about classical music.</p>
<p>They still love it, though.</p>
<p>Then there are others, who go to concerts, read a lot about music, follow who’s conducting/performing/recording where, and read and post on classical music sites. It’s not that the first group doesn’t care, it’s that they don’t get as involved, don’t seek out as much information. </p>
<p>I’ve been a member of message boards on all kinds of topics: stocks and investing, classical music, astronomy, stereo equipment, biking, and so on. You might be perfectly happy riding your bicycle on your local bike path or around the block and taking to the local bike store for maintenance; that may serve your purpose very well. Indeed, I should think most people who own bikes fall into the category. But others may want to do their own bike maintenance, use their bikes for touring and/or commuting, compete in triathlons, learn more about bicycles in general. Perhaps most from either group will not go online, but of those who do, the latter will be the ones more likely to seek out online opportunities to learn and share information, and will be much more likely to post. Others who just want to go around the block may lurk, and might, eventually, chime in, but the conversations are going to reflect what the bulk of the posters post. </p>
<p>Or, as I’ve said on another board, if you don’t like what you read on the board, start a thread! Start a thread for those with SAT scores of 1500 who are looking to improve to 1650 or 1700, for C+ students and their college choices, for students with NO APs at all, or students who aren’t taking more than two years of a foreign language. Over on the Parents board, we have threads on B+ students, lesser-known colleges, dropping out of college, and so on. </p>
<p>If you don’t like what people post on a board, create a thread that is what YOU want… just as you did when you created this one!</p>
<p>Owlice, that was an extremely well written post. I agree.</p>
<p>what I dont understand is why people who just started reading this cite became depressed. I was intrigued and filled with surprise at all these extremely intelligent people. Most of all I did not feel inferior to any of these people, yeah they have a 2350 SAT and 10+ APs but like the result thread shows, college admissions is random. This cite made me push myself more and aim higher. I looked at the scores and grades of these other people and said to myself, yeahp thats what I will get. I didnt look at it and say oh man another one of these god I feel so stupid. The people here, from what they post, true or not, are all intelligent and it gave me hope that when I apply to college where ever I was accepted there would be students like me. Thats just me though.</p>
<p>Consider the vast industry that has grown up around college admissions: SAT/ACT tutoring, essay advisors, application packagers, and yes, websites about applying to college. All of these trade largely on the nervousness and inadequacies felt by students (and their parents) who want to get into very selective schools.</p>
<p>Now, if you were a savvy marketer, how would you exploit that audience to increase business? One way would be to make it seem like the competition was even fiercer than it really is – that there are armies of picture-perfect candidates lined up to take every available slot at each of the highly selective schools your student wants to attend.
And how do you do that? Well, it sure would help if there were hundreds of messages posted to that effect on the internet, wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>I suspect that this happens on College Confidential, but it’s impossible to know to what extent it goes on. Maybe it’s just a handful, maybe more. But I do know that too much reading of the posts here, and too much taking them all to heart, will do nothing but inspire huge amounts of agita. </p>
<p>And that, in turn, translates into lots of business for the college-admissions industry.</p>
<p>People on CC obsess over top colleges…and if you happen to obsess over them, you probably want to get into them. Which means high SAT scores.</p>
<p>Bruce, that’s kind of insulting. </p>
<p>I’m a parent of a kid with great SAT scores. I didn’t make up his scores, nor did anyone in charge of this website. There are a LOT of students here who do actually have great stats; there are a LOT of parents here who have kids who do actually have great stats. </p>
<p>Is my kid a “picture-perfect candidate”? I don’t know, because I don’t know what a “picture-perfect candidate” looks like. My candidate – well, college freshman now – had great SAT scores (as a sophomore), three AP tests (two 5s and a 4), a weighted GPA of 3.8+, and his major EC was reading. No community service to speak of. Oh, yes, and he was in a competitive-entry science and tech program (17% admit rate). And he left high school after his sophomore year to attend college, so those three AP scores – with only one AP class on his high school transcript to go with them – were as a sophomore. And he’s a special ed student. </p>
<p>He’s a kid. Someone else might see his SAT score and be depressed. I can’t help that, except to say that my kid is more than his SAT score. EVERY student is more than his or her SAT score! More than his or her GPA, more than the number of AP classes and/or tests taken. </p>
<p>Students are NOT their stats; they are ever soooo much more than their stats!</p>