<p>My S is a freshman in college now, but I find that I check CC almost every day still. I became fascinated with the whole college search, etc. when he was finishing tenth grade. Since he was in a fairly large public school, I knew I would have to be the one who would do the initial research. I found that the more I learned, the more I wanted to know. It seemed my interest went beyond what he would need to know to make some good choices. I do have a D who’s a sophomore in high school this year, but I can’t honestly say that I am reading CC posts right now for her. </p>
<p>So, I wonder if any of you other parents have reflected on the source of this “interest” (obsession)? </p>
<p>By the way, all the research paid off. He is at a top liberal arts college and very happy. I know his choices would have been more limited if we hadn’t broadened his view of what might be possible. So, I don’t regret the time spent learning about this topic.</p>
<p>I think it is the college admissions process, more than CC, that is so fascinating. CC merely provides an excellent window into this adventure.</p>
<p>Consider:
It’s a process that has many interlocking factors and you can never quite figure out all the unknowns.
Choices you make and strategies you adopt will have real life consequences.
There are multiple paths to success (and failure).
There are those pesky unknowns, but in general high performance will be rewarded and poor performance will be punished.
In the end there is a real outcome. College admissions and sporting events are among the few things in life that actually get resolved.
Even if you are not directly participating yourself, you can follow the fate of each year’s crops of hopeful applicants and celebrate with those who are thrilled with the outcome and mourn with those who are disappointed.
There is always a Plan B available.</p>
<p>What’s not to like? If you could make a video game with these features you’d sell a million of them.</p>
<p>It’s an interesting view of the rest of the country, many insights into what makes people tick and how geography affects everything concerning college.</p>
<p>Scipio, I agree that it is more the college admissions process than CC itself that I find so interesting. I read many books before I even discovered CC. You offer some very logical and reasonable answers to my question. Yet, I don’t know anyone personally who finds the topic so fascinating. (Most of my friends have children the same age as mine. No one comes even close to being as interested.)</p>
<p>I sense there are deeper issues here for me. I went to college, but I did not have the same choices my children will have. I think my original motivation to search more deeply in to this topic came from a sense of wanting to give my children more opportunities than I had. </p>
<p>For me, CC started out as a NECESSITY for my son’s college app. process because he attended a school which provided neither the information nor the support for his college aspirations. And as it turned out, CC, in the form of its various knowledgeable and supportive posters, was a godsend for us. :D</p>
<p>After that, though, I have stayed on for several reasons:</p>
<p>1.) I’ve got FIVE MORE wiith whom to go through this process!!! :eek:
2.) I have developed some <em>very</em> treasured personal relationships with some amazing people here who have now taken up residence in my “real life.” And then there are some with whom our relationship has stayed within this forum, and I couldn’t imagine leaving them for the world!
3.) It’s my one-stop shop for the news of the day!
4.) I have been able to associate with a MUCH, MUCH wider variety of interesting and enlightening people than I would ever be able to find within my environment here, at least with this frequency.
5.) The whole college app. dealio continues to fascinate me.
6.) I’m a major creature of habit, and I’ve been checking CC first thing in the morning for over two years now <em>sigh</em>.
7.) I’m too busy/lazy to do the research that many here thrive on doing!
8.) I am amused at how many people I can drive CRAZY simply with my use of exclamation points, colors, and font sizes! ;)</p>
<p>With my son now “launched” into his freshman year (and daughter now post-grad), technically, I’m “done” with the process; however I continue to linger, for many of the reasons already stated. There is a wealth of wisdom here in our collective mind (sounds Bork-like, I know). Also, I have friends going through the college search process and I can always pick up pearls of wisdom to pass on to them (as well as refer them to this board). This board also rpovides a reality-check and balance to the media hype and misinformation that’s out there.</p>
<p>hell, I’m a college senior (yeah i know i’m old - or perhaps I shouldn’t be saying that on this section of the boards :)) and I still stick around. I suppose its because I have a decent amount of knowledge about college and admissions, so why not share it with people?</p>
<p>I’m still around because this empty-nest thing is so darned lonely. I’ve figured out how to keep my days active and busy… but these nights all by myself in the house just are too quiet with no one to talk to.</p>
<p>9.) CC gives me a chance to “pay it forward” in tribute to those who so competently and kindly helped my son and me through a <em>very</em> challenging process two years ago! :)</p>
<p>Mine are four years apart, but I hung around even when my daughter started college because there was still a lot to learn about what would be going on in her life as a 21st century college student, and that has served me well as I work with my HS senior son through his college selection process. And my oldest is now going through the grad school selection process, so I’ll probably be here for a while longer. In addition, there are so many wonderful schools out there that I’ll never get a chance to see–I enjoy hearing about others’ experiences at them.</p>
<p>I also enjoy defending the closed & locked minded point of view against the open & oh-so-enlightened pov.</p>
<p>I didn’t even find CC until my youngest was a college freshman and having problems. The people here were wonderful with support and advice. Now I check back in almost daily like Calmom (empty nest) and also because
</p>
<p>I also have had 3 children and one DIL go to four very different schools and if I can answer any questions, I’d like to help. I’m sure too that for my youngest two I will have many more questions regarding further schooling and perhaps social issues.</p>
<p>I, too am fascinated by this site and the college application process in general. My youngest is in her second year of college, so I do not personally “need” this resource. However, I have assisted a friend’s daughter in her search for college and my interest is such that I have seriously considered going back to school myself in order to pursue some sort of counseling degree so that I could become professionally involved…</p>
<p>College Confidential is like calling up 50 of your smartest friends at once to get advice about something, and getting an instant response. I use this place for tips, advice, and just general knowledge sometimes. Plus it is just so damn addicting somehow.</p>
<p>I’m a foreigner so I have limited knowledge about US universities, and limited access to people with experience with American schools. Without this forum I probably wouldn’t have heard about Georgetown or Johns Hopkins, and most likely would not be considering them. I certainly would not have known about a program that interests me at the University of Chicago, and wouldn’t be applying there either.</p>
<p>joev–I agree–the draw is that there are some very smart interesting (and FUNNY) posters here-- on many topics, not just college admissions. Raising teenagers is a tricky business, and I love reading about how other parents are dealing with the things that come up when raising a teen, college admissions being just one of those things. And I’ve read some good books, discovered some good music because of some posters as well!</p>
