Making the Prep School Forum Better

Roger_Dooley · 03-11-2008, 07:37 PM

I've been surprised by how much activity the Prep School forum has seen. It was started after a member suggested it, and has grown a lot.

So, is there anything we can do to make this area better? Do we need subforums for schools? Would that be overkill? Any other ideas?

crosscountry12 · 03-11-2008, 07:43 PM

Yes, a chances and school sub forums would be great!

localboy2468 · 03-11-2008, 07:47 PM

Hi first let me say thank you for starting this forum! I think overall it has been nothing short of essential to many kids (and parents) in supporting them during their search for the right boarding school. The prep school "world" is afterall somewhat a mystery and any help cracking the code is more that helpful. You have probably seen so much activity because of the recent release of admissions letters 3/10 (or waitlistings or rejections). This site has seemed to really help kids deal with the decisions they are receiving, to discuss the pros and cons of many issues, and to provide a place to ask questions. On the downside, often there is bickering between opinionated people or misinformation floating around which sometimes resembles the blind leading the blind. It would be better if subforums for schools were developed or at least an area for parents who have serious questions and a request to leave out the hear say tidbits. Overall, its a great resource but you do have to tread through alot of unhelpful stuff as well.

jazlyntrue · 03-11-2008, 07:52 PM

You should include a chances sub-section, but not for individual schools. Kids would constantly be requesting other schools, and then it would become outrageous--so I don't suggest that.

baseballmom · 03-11-2008, 07:57 PM

Thank you for asking, Roger. A section for parents would be great. The kids could go on and read or post too, but it would give us our own space.

Maybe even a parent's cafe for those of us on the brink of nervous breakdown! Oh, wait a minute, that was last week before decisions were sent out!

I think some forums for the individual schools would be wonderful. What is missing on here is feedback from kids who are attending the various schools. They are probably busy with homework, but their voices would be valuable to parent and prospective students.

Thanks again for the site. My son would not have even applied to the two fantastic schools he was just accepted to if not for the advice we received on CC!

pseud08 · 03-11-2008, 08:17 PM

I'm so glad you started this thread. There have been a lot of posts unrelated to advice, opinions, or facts, so I think it would be great if we could start a "Student's Cafe" in the style of the Parents, High School, and College cafes. Posts such as "congrats to everyone!", etc could be posted there, instead of being mixed in with the main threads.

hockeykid841 · 03-11-2008, 08:22 PM

as well as pointless posts about hannah montana and the jonas brothers, this would really help clear up the board and keep the focus on what it was intended to be on.

hsmomstef · 03-11-2008, 10:06 PM

I agree with the suggestion of a "student's cafe". I think numerous subforums are not necessary -- many kids start out thinking of applying to only one to two schools and find out that there are many more schools to consider. There is a ton of "chatter" -- I think particularly because of the typical age of applicants. An area there they can just "chat" with each other would be nice. A subforum for chances might also be a good idea.

jennycraig · 03-11-2008, 10:11 PM

This forum has provided an inmeasurable amount of support and information for my family. I have learned so much from the other posters on this site--thank you for creating it.

It would be nice to have some sub-forum threads, so that we could find information quickly. Some school threads would be nice. I think there are many great schools out there that do not get much press on this board. If there were a thread for the "2nd tier" (tongue in cheek) schools, it would be great.

Unlike localboy2468, I find 99% of ALL the prepschool posters to be polite and willing to listen to other opinions. I do not think there has been a lot of bickering. Actually, I think we are a well-mannered group!

BrooklynGuy · 03-11-2008, 10:30 PM

Yes, as an adult new to the boarding school application process, I have to say thanks to Google for showing me this forum...Despite some of the Hannah Montana chatter, it has been very helpful. I have found everyone willing to try to answer questions. It is great that there are parents of students here, and students at the schools, as well as applicants. Sure, some bickering happens, but that is the same for any message board on any topic. The number of flame wars here seems pretty low.

I think that a couple of sub-forums might be useful, but not necessarily one for each school.... Perhaps more use of "stickies" to keep certain posts up at the top might be useful. One thread/forum that I might propose is for us adults to post advice to other adults who will be managing applications for their children next year. I would have a post on "Start earlier than you think you should."

Thanks again for this forum, and for this question on how to improve it.

JB1 · 03-11-2008, 11:30 PM

This forum is a great resource. I would not create school specific sub forums. Parents & kids cafe may be a good idea. Definitely a chances forum. Other than that I enjoy the broad exchange of ideas.

Dazzlezzz · 03-11-2008, 11:38 PM

aww, come on, we were NERVOUS!!!!
Anything to keep out mind off 3/10
It was no big deal.

Dazzlezzz · 03-11-2008, 11:40 PM

I wuuld say a Chanses forum, indivisual schools seem a weensy bit overkill but a seprate chanses forym would be GREAT!

Burb Parent · 03-12-2008, 07:04 AM

I have been following this discussion for 2 years, and I was even one of the people who suggested that it should be a separate forum. I thought about breaking it up into different discussion groups. Then I looked at the traffic it generates relative to the college discussions, and I concluded that it would not be the way to go.

There is a seasonality to the hottest topics on the board. As a result, there should be featured topics on the seasonal hot topics. For example, hot topics now include rolling admissions. how to get off a wait list, and how to select the right school. I think there should be a few more stickies such as rating the importance of the application components. While I don't like school ratings, there is always talk about this. A rating schools discussion would be OK. In addition, there should be a stickie about great schools that are not as well known. Because there have been several suggestions for a "Chances" forum along with a "Parent Cafe" and a "Student Cafe," these are probably worth doing.

If you like what I am proposing, let me know. I can make specific suggestions for the seasonal topics to feature along with old discussions that would work. I can also provide specific discussions that can be stickied.

Thank you for starting this forum. It has helped many people.

snowedin · 03-12-2008, 07:05 AM

Thank you for organizing this forum! My family has learned a lot over the last several months and the moral support has been fantastic. Many important topics are discussed here, and the anonymous aspect makes this an invaluable resource for discussing challenging issues. For BS applicants who don't have a private consultant or placement counselor at their school (or even for those who do have these things), the process can seem quite mystifying. We already have one child in BS, and this time around still felt occasionally overwhelmed by so many details (ie merits of different schools, admissions statistics, process for online applications and decisions, merits of SSAT retakes, delivery method of decisions).

Personally, I don't mind sifting through the chatter to find the answers (or support) we are looking for. Some topics could be prioritized, however, to avoid to some of the duplication in the threads.