On my nursing forum, they finally made text speak against TOS. Official justification was that our site is visited by people all over the world whose first language is not English, so the sole use of standard English is their best bet for understanding all of the posts. But I think also they did it because it is as annoying as heck.
Now that this thread is back on track (thank you!) the most annoying threads to me are the ones that make it sounds like a 3.75 GPA is the worst thing since Hitler. Honestly, it’s disheartening reading so many threads wherein parents and students alike worry that their 3.9 GPAs are too low to even be considered for a decent college. It’s a turnoff for parents of kids, and kids, with A- averages. An A- average is good in the real world!
CC is not the real world.
I’m a bit at a loss to understand why, when the OP and a moderator have asked that the bickering/snarky comments/sideeye end, I just had to go and delete several inappropriate posts that were just made in the last couple of hours. (Just to be clear, the statement is rhetorical; please don’t post a response to it).
We give a lot of leeway on the cafe threads (and the parents threads in general) because, for whatever reason, parents like to go off on tangents. However, per Terms of Service, rudeness is never acceptable. Please stop.
Threads in which respondents refuse to accept that any generalizations can exist. CC is helpful because it informs students and parents about trends in college admissions. Of course, there are no strict rules! For every generalization, some CC poster can point to an anecdotal exception. So what?? This is childish and boring. Of course, there will always be exceptions! That doesn’t mean that generalizations and trends aren’t observable and useful.
@TomSrOfBoston but I wish CC were real world.
I am quite annoyed when English speaking foreigners ask very basic questions about us colleges.
It is not just international but also domestic students who do not seem to know that each college has a website.
…which kind of infuriates me because I had no one to give me guidance. They should do their best to avoid any mishaps instead of blindly applying and whining later
^ and then insisting it’s a freaking crapshoot.
Said before- but any post where the OP is asking if a C will keep them from a top school- and when you read the post you see - that they haven’t even gotten their final grade so are speculating it will be a c, or OP is only a freshman in HS, or both. So much can and probably will change by the time they are ready to actually apply that I also can’t figure out why people bother to respond.
Chance Me posters who haven’t taken the SAT/ACT yet and say, “just assume I get 1550+…”
Threads where posters assert that a 2150-2250 is a “middling” SAT score.
Threads where posters have taken the ACT once, got a 30, assume that in two months they’ll be able to nail a 36, no problem.
Same idea, I’m just more familiar with that test.
Current thread in which the OP asks if he should take the ACT for a fourth time to improve his chances of admission to elite schools. Several of us have argued that he should not but he claims that we have given him insufficient reasons for not doing it.
No, I will not “bare” with you!
Threads where posters ignore the premise of the (sometimes ridiculous) question and tell the OP that everything he thinks is stupid. An example is the admittedly worthless “Chance me for these schools” question and the responses are “Why did you pick those schools, you are not choosing correctly”.
Threads where people ask for the chances and are told “no chance” without explanation as to why.
Threads where people go to the most annoying threads thread and post complaints about how people respond badly to chance me threads, essentially doubling down on worthlessness. Like this very post. 
Threads I read on a Monday.
Have a good week all.
- Johnny-come-latelies to a thread that is already 10+ pages, who don't want to invest the time to read the preceding pages of posts that have been developing a complex line of thought, but still weigh in based on the thread title with something superficial and snarky.
- Also agree with @Postmodern. I figure we're here to help. If you don't have something helpful to say on a Chance Me thread, then don't respond. Some people are very snarky about the EC's of newbie posters, which is especially annoying when the newbie is obviously first-gen low income. In that context, the why did you pick those schools, you are making prestige-driven/stupid/hopeless choices message is very condescending.
That is SO annoying. If you want to comment, read the thread. Or at least SAY you didn’t read it so we know what the context of your comment is.
The Do My Homework for Me class of posts:
‘Give me a list of the 20 best CS schools.’ (or any major or preprofessional program)
‘My parents will only pay for Harvard or Stanford. Give me a list of schools that provide financial aid to internationals.’
The opposite type, which I love, are where a kid (or parent) says something like: ‘I really like schools X and Y but I know I need a wider range. Can anyone suggest schools with similar [foo] programs that are suitable for someone with my stats?’
Or the ones where the pot calls the kettle black.