Does college mail mean anything?

Sikorsky
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:25:14 +0000

Liv, maybe I misinterpreted the tone of your question. If I did, I apologize.

Here’s my answer. I have a kid who’s a senior, and another who’s a freshman. I used to teach high school. I know a lot about kids and schooling, but until I started to post on CC, most of what I knew about college admissions was 25 years out of date. If you’d asked me to guess what a year of private college costs, I’d have underestimated by 20% or more. If you’d asked me what it takes to get into Princeton or Penn State or Towson, I’d have underestimated by 20% or more.

I still know a fair bit about colleges, but I needed CC to help me determine what was a match and what was a reach for my senior.

And, as happymom said, a lot of parents have spent a lot of time learning about colleges, so when adolescents come here to ask important questions about college selection, or the application process, or financial aid, they like to provide informed, sensible answers based on recent, practical experience.

Honestly, if there weren’t parents on CC, the lion’s share of what you’d have left is a bunch of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds making stuff up.