Wow - this thread is a great example of what makes CC so great. Thoughtful responses, a mix of perspectives, respectful disagreement, careful moderation… it’s a delicate and unique balance hard to find anywhere on the internet.
This sums up CC’s challenge very well. We’re committed to keeping things free while piloting some features that provide added value for a reasonable cost. We’ll learn as much as we can along the way. I’m sure you all will be watching closely and providing feedback. 
I am on here all the time and have never seen an ad? are there ads?
I am sure you are familiar with application nation, if not, you should check out her revenue model…
What you should be looking, IMO, is the prep school angle/boards - that is a unique board ( to my knowledge) with lots of very specific insight and high $$$ users (I would assume). While a much smaller audience, it is less saturated. For regular college you are competing against lots of people and lots of non profits and such striving for improved college access…
I’m a current high school parent of a senior who is actively using this board to find out information on the schools to which my S24 is applying as well as discrete topics that relate specifically to my kid (e.g. schools that would be good for kids with adhd; NMS discussions; schools that are good for engineering).
The admissions landscape is changing so rapidly since Covid that every cycle is different from the last one which makes the data or experience from the prior cycle and those more removed less and less accurate and therefor less relevant to the current parents/kids going through the process.
As a current parent, what I’d like to see is more content from kids who are actually at the colleges my kid is interested in (or their parents), to hear from the boots on the ground. If there is a way to lure more current college students and their parents to provide feedback on what’s happening now at colleges, or now in the application process that just occurred, I think that is something to pursue.
I remember the student ambassadors at some point, maybe that could be behind a paywall? I’d pay for that inside information from current students who actually attend the college so we can get the skinny on dorms, food, clubs, profs, etc., without having the filter of admissions officers. I’d also like to hear directly from the AOs, sort of like a blog where you could ask anonymous questions, but on CC so they are all in one place. Maybe the colleges would pay CC to be on the forum so it could be free to all CC members?
As the parent of a recent graduate (2 months ago) and a college junior: there is no way they would ever come on here to give their perspective of their schools, fyi.
The best prospective applicants can do is ask me, I will ask them, and then report back. It’s imperfect but better than nothing 
Agreed, that my D would never have posted here, but I have put some posters in touch with her when their kids had specific questions I thought she could answer. She also arranged to meet up with some families from CC for private tours when they visited campus. (For people reading, she’s since graduated so tours are no longer an option).
Miniscule audience, mostly kids wanting (useless) “Chance Me” feedback or help determining which is the most prestigious boarding school they have a chance of getting into or posters wanting to know which is the best feeder school for HYPS. The parents with $$$$ don’t need advice from an Internet forum. They are well-connected in other ways.
I presume they are going to be adding something to the offering beyond message boards (which nobody is paying for in any context).
What we found with the student ambassador program is that if we pay them, they will come. But keeping them engaged hosting “office hours” and answering questions on the forums, etc. has quite a bit of management & supervision overhead.
That is so cool!
My daughter was very gracious and offered private tours of her college to more than a few CC families. DD was happy to do so (and it also helped that DD worked in undergrad admissions and was a trained tour guide for both general and college of engineering tours).
She really enjoyed doing this, and many families thanked her by treating her to a nice restaurant dinner!
If you’re ever looking for someone to get this restarted, let me know. No need to pay or anything; i’m happy to volunteer especially since CC has been so important to me in my college application journey.
I’ve noticed the same, and I think the top of this recent thread is a good example of the disconnect between our resident CC grownups and the students who stop by.
Noting that many of those participants are people I respect (and are in this thread) - and I think the motivation is pure and the facts are right - if you put yourself in the shoes of this clearly-stressed-out high school student, telling them to “stop discussing this with others” and “Why do you need to rate it?” isn’t really meeting the student where they’re at. Some comments are more empathetic, I don’t think we should lie and tell them everything is great all the time and haters gonna hate, and I know these are people who care, but we can’t change the way kids are thinking about the world or socializing with others. A little empathy goes a long way.
As the mother of a fourth year med student (28 next month) with a much-much-less-than-perfect undergrad science transcript and middling MCAT score, I have to say that if she had followed conventional wisdom, she’d still be working as a nurses’ aide in Rochester. I know that her story is atypical, but there is nuance that is not always recognized in the stats. Of course she was old enough to keep her eyes on the prize; much more complicated for high school kids.
same!
I know that one of the points that’s been made in the thread is to get more eyeballs (and participation) on the site so that ad revenue might be increased. In doing so, I think about who we’re not getting to post.
According to the Census Bureau, this is what racial demographics look like right now in the U.S.:
Obviously we’re anonymous posters on a forum and there’s no race box to check. But my definite sense is that there are very few Black, Native Americans, 2+ races, or Hispanics who regularly participate in this board. Perhaps people might want to think about why that is.
Additionally, this board is filled with parents/kids where the students are overachievers. 95% of the time before reading the first post of a chance me/match me, I know that it’s going to be a kid with superlative accomplishments that’s looking for a college. These students/parents also post about their “low” 3.7 GPA or how the kid only got a 1510 on the SAT and needs to study so they can do better on a retake. That environment can be extremely intimidating for parents and students where the student does not have that kind of stats. We get some folks like that, but 95% of our population is of the superlative type when in real life, there’s maybe 5% of the nation’s high schoolers who are like that.
So I guess my question is, what does CC want to be?
Does CC prefer to be the place for superlative students and their families? I suspect that their incomes are higher and so perhaps it’s more desirable for advertising purposes.
If CC desires to be a welcoming place for all college-bound students, what do we need to do to get there?
If the answer is #1, then I don’t have that many suggestions, as it already seems to have that niche. If the answer is #2, then I think we may want to brainstorm on that topic.
A possible answer is to give readers something that CC is not currently offering. Both the method of presentation and the content goal would change. That is something for which readers and posters might be willing to pay. In its current form, the best sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate marketing.
P.S. Not willing to get into specifics regarding added offering and alternate method of delivery because I am presenting it elsewhere (non-college focused website).
Respectfully, I am perplexed by your post because I thought the responses in that thread were just honest. I didn’t think any post was lacking empathy at all. It was just matter-of-fact advice. In fact, I clicked on the link without reading your whole post, then read your post after. The student didn’t indicate they were upset by any responses, nor that anything was toxic.
Teenagers overuse the word toxic. If they don’t like something, it’s toxic. I saw nothing harsh there and I feel that we shouldn’t coddle kids, many of whom will be legal adults and who will move away from home soon. I don’t think that means I am disconnected. In fact, there are a fair number of students who come here for “brutal honesty”, etc…
Can people occasionally be rude? Yes. If you want to see true examples of toxicity, spend ten minutes on a more youth oriented forum. Sure, there’s a lot of “ur gonna get in!” But no one is playing nicey nice in this: [Reddit - Dive into anything]
I think teens want to “hang out” with other teens. They don’t seem to mind raw truth from peers, but if it’s here on CC, it’s toxic.
Take a glance at Parents of the HS Class of 2024 thread, post #498. Experienced parents are talking about volunteering for ScholarMatch. It would be nice to keep those experience parents engaged on CC.
Only accessible on your summary page. How many people look at their summary page?
