Is the only reason to ask to be chanced for a self-esteem boost?

sumobats
Sat, 02 Aug 2014 03:55:42 +0000

There is a lot of info that’s not easily searchable on the web. A prospective student may have talked to the band director at the school and found out there is a 40% acceptance rate for oboe players as opposed to a 15% acceptance rate for flute players. Chance threads help you gain knowledge from others who have other insight in the application process.

And tbh I don’t think people do it as a self esteem booster because if you’ve browsed the chance thread, there are rarely any positive posts. I mostly see “all selective schools are a crapshoot” or “if you don’t raise your SAT score you won’t have a chance at x school.” I think the value of chance threads on CC are that they evaluate the applicant extensively. You mention that someone can evaluate their own credentials based on research but research never includes stuff like ECs, essays, hooks, LORs, etc. If you are applying to a selective school then these things are just as important as seeing where your stats fall on a scattergram. CC is a place where people have some knowledge on what makes someone holistically appealing and whether their subjective data is strong or not. The value of the chance thread is that you can get this insight from others without being hindered by your own bias or the bias of family members and friends.

And lastly, what you mentioned about top schools. I think when people make the “Can I get into Harvard” threads it’s mostly to see whether they even have a chance, not whether it’s a good chance or not. It’s hard for us to tell whether our ECs are good because in our mind they’re the best we could do. A second opinion is helpful.