From what I have seen over the years here, threads like this one do not actually die at all. They get reincarnated as another thread with essentially the same subject matter, the same arguments made by the same people (typically repeatedly) with an occasional new participant. This thread (and its brethren) are among the most common threads here. More commonly its the "my kid got into X (elite – however that is defined keeping in mind to many here # rankings are absolute and hugely significant by each ranked number such that the difference between #2 and #3 is very significant) college but I am not sure if he/she should go to Y (non-elite again however defined) college. Reading those threads you often see the discussion continue for 10+ pages after the OP last appeared in the thread. The phenomenon is pretty fascinating.