I see no problem with the use of the word “we” when referring to anything related to the college application process. While Mom and Dad may not have written the essay, many parents help with the editing process, so essentially “WE” all have a hand in it. We (both parent and child) are disappointed when there is a deferral or rejection and rejoice when there is an acceptance. The use of the word we simply consolidates the narrative when writing in a forum where a narrative should be brief.
You are right the correct wording should be: Johnny wrote a terrific essay which I helped to edit. He was disappointed when he received a deferral and I was down right annoyed at the deferral (or I was upset for Johnny that he received a deferral). But ,there is certainly nothing wrong with: We wrote a terrific essay and we were disappointed with have gotten a deferral. We all know what the poster is talking about. The use of the word we does not necessarily mean that one is a helicopter parent.
I was very sensitive to the CC communities criticisms of the use of “WE” when I first joined.
@TomSrOfBoston I guess the only difference between her and several other parents is she actually admitted she wrote the essays. Unfortunately , I don’t think it’s that rare.
This is petty, but people who post things like, “I just got into Harvard. How do I figure out …insert any item easily found on their website here…”. Geesh…you should be smart enough to find it!
Related to this, threads where a kid got into a single-letter school EA, apparently knowing very little about the place and how it differs from any of its peers, and now is on the fainting couch wondering if they really belong at a LAC or somewhere else completely different. How did they get past the admissions committee, and how do they expect others who have studied that single-letter school intently and would have killed to get in but didn’t to feel when they read that?
Sometimes people need to be reminded… if you have nothing nice to say, let alone helpful/useful, keep it to yourself. It goes for real life too. We could all be a little more positive.
"Or worse “The college website says one thing but I heard from someone that it is something else, which is correct?”
Lol. I get it most of the time. But I’ll tell you that when we were looking at nursing schools the question of guaranteed admission ( in programs where you might have to apply after the first or second year) was a moving target. At more than one university including at the time , including Emory and U Minnesota, the information on the website was not accurate( because they were in the midst of a change) We got the real deal at info sessions. The CC was highly skeptical when I told her but called and found out it was the case.
Yes, but they ask for the college’s phone number or how many LoRs they can send. And so on.
@elliebham, sometimes posters rush to say something nice which serves no purpose. I find that just as annoying as those who dismiss just to be ornery. For some colleges, it’s a thinking person’s game and many kids/families don’t think, they stop short on stats or “I want.” Just saying.
@lookingforward sure. I wasn’t talking about college threads though, but I see how that could be annoying. I was referring more to Cafe threads and comments like “why is this even a thread,” “you should be grateful this is the only problem you have,” and “you sound ungrateful.” I feel like comments should at least contribute or add something to the conversation.
Ya know, if you can’t read the websites and either get the info (LoR, deadlines, score requirements, 'what we look for," etc,) or glean it in other legit ways from what they write and show, chances are you and your stats and that special EC really arent hypsm level. Ouch. Sorry. But especially M, which is so open.
