I found CC when my oldest (2015) took his PSAT test, and I wondered what those scores meant. I’ve been around ever since - for d16 finding a college and transferring, and now s20 finding a college (completely found here !) - and now will be gearing up for D23. I too have both college and HS kids.
I’ve been thinking about running a more formal survey that would accurately cover situations like yours. We’ve been talking about our community internally and I realized I don’t even have a ballpark estimate of who participates.
Also, this is a limit to the poll feature here on the forums. I’ll need to us a more advanced survey tool.
Thanks for the clarification, however! I’ll take it into consideration.
That works! Again, this is more of a rough estimate to help us get a lay of the land, so to speak. 
Quite interesting.
I have the final of my four kids on his way out of high school and on to college in the fall.
The sheer breadth and scope of information given, requested, and bandied about here has certainly changed the way I have come to view the college selection process. In the time between sending my first kid off and this one, I’ve stuck to some patterns (still call for the college prospectus), and learned some new ones (that College Data Set is an interesting resource).
I come around in an ebb-and-flow kind of way to ‘hear’ the sage voice of one of my favorite posters, whose voice I have decided is that of Charlotte from the 1973 film version of Charlotte’s Web, touch base with current thought and trends in the world of college admissions, and find lists and stats regarding the same that I could not even imagine were part of the calculus.
I have found it enjoyable to ‘hang around’ CC. DDs finished college in 2014 and 2016. Between H, DDs and I we have attended 7 colleges/Universities in 3 non-contiguous states and degrees from 6 (one was for pre-requisites before a move entering a graduate program). Having worked in FT staff positions at two Universities (including Associate Director of a large Cooperative Education Program), I went into the parent guidance mode with some skills. However we did college visits to other area schools and when we had an opportunity elsewhere (like where nephew attained his PhD).
I do understand the feeling of coming from a starting point with little information though. My immigrant parents who came from trade school experiences. H’s mom had a college degree and did seek out advice for ‘best school’ for him in engineering - and it was a good match. I went to a school that was a good match for me in my degree plan thanks to dad’s friend who had a DD that transferred to that school in my same degree plan. H and I both completed degrees on time (and I also had a double major, picked up the 2nd major during first semester).
Thanks for the dedicated people that keep CC moving along.
Just a side note that I lurked for a very long time before I posted anything. Do you have a way to capture the statistics for that population?
Not just yet. I am looking into starting an on-site survey that randomly shows up for people visiting the site. That would provide a more accurate picture of the audience. I’ll have more details when I know more. Thanks for the suggestion!
I came when my youngest was a HS junior, in hopes there was some secret to be discovered re: auto merit as I really wanted to keep costs low. (Oldest was in cc, didn’t need assistance with that.)
She just finished freshman year. I don’t really need help with anything, but I like reading here, and I really like the “Parents of” threads. It has been so nice to talk/vent/share with other parents in the same stage of life as it’s been a roller coaster ride.
I found this site a couple of months ago while searching for information on financial aid for D20. Wish I’d found it earlier! I also have D21, S23, and S25, so I anticipate being around for a while.