I think of it this way…CC wants more, many more, students to post here than currently is the case. I don’t think adding more rules and guidelines, or micromanaging titles encourages students to post. I don’t dislike the titles that you referenced, and believe they help give insight to the student.
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Fair enough.
Looks good for the most part. Thanks for putting this together.
A few comments and suggestions:
I would remove this explanation and simply ask for state or location. Northeastern, for example, tends to admit Massachusetts high schoolers at a much higher rate (possibly due to higher expected yield); UChicago has special admission programs for Chicago high schoolers, especially from underrepresented groups; Duke has a stated preference for NC residents; etc. So knowing the state can be important for private schools as well.
I’d use the full form (“freshman”) because international applicants are typically not familiar with the colloquial abbreviation.
I know these terms are accurate from a probability viewpoint, but I think many applicants will find that too negative. I personally would prefer to use “low probability” and “very low probability”.
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Some posters do not want to give specific state locations. They feel it might be too much personally identifying information when added to whatever else they post.
I think we should respect that POV.
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Agreed, some posters might not want to share other details like awards or ECs either because they could also be identifying info. That all seems fine to me, it’s not like the form has to be 100% complete to post and start getting feedback.
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It would be helpful to have a note reminding people that shared information should be kept general to protect anonymity, since according to ToS, posts will not be deleted or edited by moderators.
That’s my selfish request. 
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On rare occasion, someone will say they are from a region rather than a state. I saw someone not too long ago say that they were from the DMV area. The vast majority of people are comfortable sharing their home state.
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Another proposed revision:
Demographics
- US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
- State/Location of residency:
- Type of high school (or current college for transfers):
- Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.)
Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
Intended Major(s)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it)
- Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities)
- College GPA: (for transfer applicants)
- Class Rank:
- ACT/SAT Scores:
High School Coursework (First Year / Frosh / Freshman Applicants and Transfer Applicants for Second Year / Sophomore Entry)
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)
- English:
- Math: (including highest level course(s) completed)
- Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics)
- History and social studies:
- Language other than English: (including highest level completed)
- Visual or performing arts:
- Other academic courses:
College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)
- General education course work:
- Major preparation course work:
Awards
Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below; also, for colleges that admit by major or division, consider that in chance estimate)
- Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
- Extremely Likely:
- Likely:
- Toss-up:
- Low Probability:
- Very Low Probability:
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Thank you all for working on this! Is @ucbalumnus’s proposed version the final one? Can I update the current template to this?
I would note somewhere that answers to any question(s) is optional. But that the more information given, the better the responses have the potential to be.
As I said earlier, some folks will be reluctant to list their state of residence. Likewise, some awards are personally identifying.
Folks should be comfortable sharing what they wish to share.
I would add in some of the suggested guidelines mentioned upthread…
Please check back to answer questions
Please do not share identifying information
Etc…
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I hope I’m not sounding nit picky, but can we make this more concise?
High School Coursework (First Year / Frosh / Freshman Applicants and Transfer Applicants for Second Year / Sophomore Entry)
For example:
High School Coursework (Freshman Applicants and Transfer Applicants for Sophomore Entry)
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Call me egotistical, but I prefer the Lower Probability and then Low Probability names vs. Low Probability and Very Low Probability. I’ve found that even when using “Low Probability” as less than 20%, some posters tend to interpret that as an indication that it’s practically an impossibility. So making it Very Low Probability seems as though kids might be even more disheartened if all their reaches are there. Plus, leaving Very Low Probability available leaves an option for the schools that are extraordinarily unlikely…not just unlikely because there are way too many strong applicants, but so unlikely because the candidate does not appear to be in the same league as the majority of the strong applicants. So kind of leaving Low Probability as a believable reach and then, when needed, posters can classify as Very Low Probability for schools that are all but impossible admits.
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Maybe I have missed something but it sounds as if posters are supposed to bucket their schools into reaches/likely/safeties or similar labels? Should the onus regarding the chance of admission be put on the poster? Are not the members here far better equipped to gauge these probabilities than most students or parents who have come to seek guidance on their chances from the members on this forum? While there are some students who have guidance counselors that can make these types of assessments, many students probably do not. If the expectation is for the students to post their own chances which seems to be an odd ask given that they’re posting in a Chance Me thread, then perhaps there should be a guideline the student/parent can consult that would offer these probabilities for many schools based on the average student ie. if you do not know the likelihood of entrance to colleges you are interested in, then please refer to this page which lists these likelihoods for the average student and use those buckets for your post.
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I think a “How to Estimate Your Chances” thread would be a really useful resource.
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You make a great point. I think we should let posters simply leave schools unclassified if they aren’t sure.
@ucbalumnus and others - what do you think?
It would be, but would also be very hard to construct. The whole idea of chance me threads is that posters get to ask experienced parents who can evaluate their entire profile. This is in contrast to online chancing calculators that work with averages, not the specifics of each applicant. We too don’t know everything about an applicant, but over multiple posts we can elicit much more information than initially available.
Chances vary greatly based on major, ECs, geographic location, awards, school rigor, test scores (where required), etc.
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Posters can list these, and those responding can give their opinions about these. And that’s what they are…opinions. None of us who usually respond are adcoms.
I would not suggest a change in the current format regarding this.
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I agree. A note could be added saying that. “Unsure? List schools of interest for feedback on chances.”
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How though are students or posters who are new to this process supposed to estimate these chances? Some students are unlikely to know what these categories mean or how to place schools into them and I think it would actually disincentivize students from making a post if they find the instructions too cumbersome. Also, I would think that posters to a Chance me thread might be expecting the members of the forum to be offering these probabilities which many on this forum seem to be able to do even if they are not ad coms. Could not posters just be asked to list schools they are interested in and if they know their chances from a counselor/school history etc, list the schools in the following categories?
You know…you could just list the colleges you have interest in…and have folks chime in on your likelihood of acceptance.
Some students use Scoir, or Naviance, or have gotten input from their school counselors, and that’s how they guess their chances of acceptance.