<p>Sincere question. Our son is a rising HS senior who will have a lot of options based on his credentials. He is slowly starting to get serious about the process, and has lately (with some urging) started to look at official college websites. My wife and I have read this site for years, since our older son started the process. While there's a lot of good anecdotal information, there's also, of course, much more chaff than wheat. That is the nature of message boards.</p>
<p>Of more concern to me, however, is that there is a very pronounced competitiveness among the kids (and, frankly, many parents) who post here. That leads to a lot of sophomoric argument, some outright meanness, and a very distorted perception of what it takes to be competitive for school X. To read this site, an impressionable adolescent might legitimately conclude that no student need apply to the "top" schools without a 2350, a 3.99 gpa -- unweighted, of course -- leadership in if not personal creation of a major charitable project, and preferably another half dozen ECs about which the student is "passionate." (Whatever happened to childhood? But I digress.) </p>
<p>Moreover, there's the simple problem of the powerful anecdote. "Wagstaff U? I heard they catch stray cats and put them in the meatloaf!" Or more generically "all there is to do there is drink."</p>
<p>Our son is an experienced consumer of message boards; he has even moderated several. And his baloney meter is pretty good. So I'm certainly not suggesting he will be a babe in this wilderness. But he's still a kid, and he is very uncertain about what schools he should be interested in. A little thing may have a disproportionate effect, and there are a whole lot of little things bandied about here, many of which are unattributed. So before we recommend this site to him, what do you think? Would you want your child reading all this?</p>
<p>(What a difference from our generation, when our high school guidance centers had dog eared manila folders for colleges with often out of date four page, two color brochures, and the concept of visiting colleges before applying would have been considered absurd by all but the super-rich.)</p>
<p>MilwDad, No, I have not recommended this site to students. Students usually find out about websites through their own connections. If a peer recommends it, fine, but I prefer to recommend the school’s websites as sources of information. HS students are busy and don’t have time to sift through every resource anyone might recommend.</p>
<p>Every once in a while I tell my son, “CC has some good discussions about colleges. You should check it out.” Then I wait for him to check it out, which he never does. I don’t mind, because he has better things to do. But obviously I don’t. :)</p>
<p>As a student and a CC regular who has (I hope) earned a measure of respect from the adults here, I have to disagree ^. For any person sufficiently motivated and patient–especially a forums veteran–CC is an invaluable resource. I have found no other single resource more comprehensive or useful, and I always flip through the CC forums at the same time that I visit the official website of a new-to-me college/university. Those official websites are all carefully marketing-designed and misleading, with the most useful information often only found through clever searching.</p>
<p>Definitely take everything with extra salt and look for multiple corroborating sources. Familiarize yourself with the “regulars” and their specific biases and expertise (e.g. interesteddad on Swarthmore for both counts, or curmudgeon on merit aid, or violadad on conservatories). Avoid the Chances forum/individual chance threads. Lurk for a little while.</p>
<p>Of course, most likely the OP will experience the Law of CC (College Conservation), which decrees that of a parent and a child in one family, only one may become addicted to CC.</p>
<p>I would not recommend this site to a student just beginning the process of deciding what colleges might be a good fit. It’s too prestige conscious in general. </p>
<p>Once a student has settled on a good list of safety-match-reach through visits and on-line research, I might suggest going to the individual college forums to ask about pros and cons and life at the college. Certainly after acceptances are in, it can be a good resource for information. I just wouldn’t want a student’s application list to be influenced by some of the numbskulled comments that end up on this site. </p>
<p>My two sons were aware of CC, knew that I was on it, but never wanted to participate. I think they considered it a “mom” thing and stayed away.</p>
<p>I’d encourage my student to go to the official webpages when just formulating their “list”. Some of the forums have been a big turn-off just because of the “I know more than you do or ever will” posters or the posters that I just want to ask "what exactly do you like about your school?</p>
<p>I do not recommend this site for students. My biggest concern is that there are so many prestige concious folks on this board and I would not want a student’s views to be colored by that. I think that kids should be open to lots of schools. However, I do think that once kids have a list that they feel reasonably comfortable with, this board can provide valuable information. None of my 3 were in the least bit interested in this board. </p>
<p>One forum I DO recommend is the music majors forum. I think it has some of the best info available on the audition process and applying to music schools, info that is not readibly available anywhere else.</p>
<p>I would recommend the college specific sections and I do find the engineering major section very helpful as well. As or the rest well maybe not. I had a student in my honors science class who asked me if I knew about this site once. I said yes I read it and he said “man there are some brilliants kids on there. I can’t even measure up”. He said he only had a 33 on the ACT and a 3.97 unweighted gpa and could never compete with the average kid on here.</p>
<p>This site in many ways is not reality for a large chunk of our students and I am not sure it is a positive thing for many. I agree with others they need an ability to wade through all the bragging and BS to find the good advice.</p>
<p>Not to my kids. They had a knowledgeable parent who could help them navigate the process. (And for me, CC has been a fantastic resource.) The kids who get the most out of CC are those who don’t have good counseling or informed parents AND who are willing to seek advice from parents on CC. For too many of the CC student posters, CC is just a place to feed their anxiety and engage in ****ing contests. Not healthy.</p>
<p>I vote no because your son is just beginning the process as a rising senior. The only exception is if he is interested in a boutique college and there is little information other than the school’s website.</p>
<p>humbly, no i would not recommend this site. there are better ways to learn about a college or university. preferably, first hand visits and conversations with students, overnights, sitting in on classes, etc., and of course meaningful talks with mom and dad. mostly, i’m a believer in not listening to others opinions but, rather, forming your own based on one’s own experiences. all in all, this is an exciting time for all concerned and i hope you enjoy the process of this important and wonderful transition.</p>
<p>I have suggested this to my own two kids…but I have also advised them not to bother with the parents forum which I feel has too much “competitiveness” to it. The college specific forums are a good source to get information from a source other than Facebook or the like.</p>
<p>Both my DS and DD have, upon occasion, read threads - usually because I say, “Hey, you should look at this post!” Neither has really taken to CC permanently. I have recommended this site to some friends. I find CC to be an invaluable resource. I have learned alot about the college process, colleges around the US, etc. In fact, I found CC while researching USNWR rankings. Frankly, it’s just nice to hang out with other college parents - you know, kindred spirits.</p>
<p>My kids know about the site, but neither has shown any interest in sharing Mom’s addiction. If I direct them to a specific thread or copy some content for them, they are happy to read what I’ve selected. I’ve occasionally asked mathson to respond to specific questions about computer curricula. </p>
<p>I don’t think either of my sons would get too caught up in the silly parts of the site. When someone asked me for recommendations about sites for college information this is on my list with some caveats.</p>