Oh, I forgot to mention Weight Loss for Dummies! That thread inspired me to make multiple lifestyle changes that enabled me to lose almost 50 pounds over the next year or so. Although the thread ran into judgy posters, there was so much encouragement and support. Some of the weight came back, but I’m still down a considerable amount and continue to use most of the lifestyle changes regularly to maintain.
So sticking around CC after son finished college was definitely beneficial to my health!
Same reasons, also my S23 goes to a lesser known (on here) college and there are fewer Pacific Northwest folks on here in general, so I’d like to be a helpful point of information for anyone looking this way!
I enjoy the Parent Cafe quite a lot, and I will pop on here with my coffee most days. I enjoy seeing the usernames of folks I “know” from the last two years that I’ve been here, and hearing their perspectives and insight. It’s a community 
Occasionally H says ‘why don’t you ask CC and see what they say?’. Yeah H is not on it but likes it.
My kids asked me that question when I mentioned seeing something on here. The last graduated college in 2023. 2 are in grad school but I pretty much only frequent the Parent boards. I told them this site naturally attracts around my age, more educated people who (obviously) like to research everything to death like me. I sometimes feel like I bore people irl when I want to discuss some of the things discussed here. And also I learn a lot!
I was on this site for several iterations (from when my 40 y/o was looking for colleges 
)!
Sometimes I forget it is a college site as I am only in the Cafe. I have met several folks in person over the years, but many of those no longer post. Some have passed away and I mourn their loss.
I am still here because I consider you all my friends. Now we are grandparenting together!
You are a safe place to grumble, seek recommendations and advice, and become exposed to other perspectives. I always learn so much from the various threads.
ETA - And I can do it in my PJs!
I came here because I needed to find a community that wasn’t like mine, but had kids who were actually interested in learning, but weren’t considered “nerds”.
And boy did I find it!
I can say and take things off my chest and say all kinds of crap on that thread! It really can be therapeutic!
Plus, I come from a Mexican-American culture where they still had issues with my sending my daughter away to school. That was in 2008. When I went to school, my parents said “no”.
My mother actually said that if I went to college that I would be considered a whore! She said that only street women attended colleges away from their homes.
I had to get help from our priests and the nuns to convince them to sign!
I actually had a younger sister say to me that I should “groom my girls to find husbands”! What the freak??? I thought: what are we in? The renaissance? And then I realized that we have people who use those things as barriers to women! Oops! Sorry, off tangent!
Now, when I went to college, at USD, we labeled all of those girls M.R.S.’s. They privately called us “ugly” and we chatted back “we’re beautiful but intelligent, employable, and realistic”.
So I am still on here because I am fascinated by the shared wisdom, the intelligence, and the sense of community displayed amongst the families on this site.
I didn’t get that from my family or friends. I am the black sheep of my family because, amongst our family of five, we have five Bachelor’s degrees, two Master’s degrees and one medical degree. A lot of these accomplishments occurred because I asked for help on this site.
So I am here because the little that I do contribute positively, is really meant to help these kids.
I may be a little too realistic and acerbic at times, but sometimes some kids have never heard “no”, nor common sense. And I have based that on my experience of working with young people for 35 years.
My favorite age was the high schoolers. They are awesome kids! They just sometimes have trouble when they leave the train tracks and need to get straight back on.
Well, I opened this thread with a lot to say. I’ve been here since my now 41 year old was looking at NMSF scores. But, having read such eloquent and funny responses from people I’ve “known” for years and new friends who have recently joined, all I have to say is “Yep, you said it better.”
We all hopefully have irl friends and family but sometimes we want an anonymous sounding board for our frustrations and venting. And soooo many topics I’d have never thought of investigating.
Anyway, thanks for all the years of grins and support. Now to schedule my colonoscopy, remodel my kitchen, check my retirement balances, update my will, set up a college account for the grandkid, plan my next vacation , make a gourmet mock tail and maybe buy a microwave egg cooker. But I’m not leaving yet!
I started for D19’s college application process. After she started college my visits were pretty infrequent, but I checked in every so often on the 2019 parents group - it was a great group. Now that my new junior has suddenly not only decided what they want to do but started a college list, here I am back again!
I found CC because I tend to go down rabbit holes once I start researching things. It started with boarding school and then moved on to college.
I stay because I feel I have a bit of a niche when it comes to kids with learning differences or those that are just a bit more neurodiverse when it comes to boarding school options. I also have 2 very different kids and went through 2 very different processes. We concentrated on “fit” and never even considered top 20’s.
But I really stay because it lets me be on social media at night without getting dragged into political fights, tribalism, or “alternative truths”. I’m an education nerd (I’ve had many different roles ranging from teacher to administrator to school board member), so this is right up my alley.
Another old timer here…… started visiting the site 22 years ago. How can that possibly be??? Used to post a lot, but now I mostly stop in to read all the interesting threads on retirement, grandchildren, and other old person stuff! This is the only forum board I visit regularly, and I do so because it is full of knowledgeable and interesting people!
I first started on this site to learn about colleges, of course. Made a couple of posts and was totally attacked, and sent some brutal PMs. I am not remotely sensitive, either. Almost stayed off the forum completely, but then realized that I just needed to stay away from the Harvard forum.
Went on to the election and politics forum, which was awesome, and completely unmonitored, until they shut it down without any warning. Well, okay. Went to the cafe and found amazing people that I trust to give advice about any aspect of my life. Financial, retirement, kids, travel, anything. I trust this group more than just about anyone in real life, strangely. So much knowledge, experience, kindness and wisdom here. And I do enjoy the new politics forum. So many people here willing to help others.
@sherpa I will always recall with gratitude when you helped us get discount ski lift tickets and we met for dinner to get them. Great community.
Several of us are members of the 20 year cc club!
Both my sons dropped out of college! So the “college” part of CC was never of much use to me. 
Although thirteen years later, one graduated from community college and the other is married (she’s a college grad!), so they are both doing well.
I stay for two main reasons. One is the book group, full of thoughtful people whose knowledge, interests, and varied reading tastes greatly enhance everything we read. I highly recommend it!
The other reason is that soon after I joined CC, I typed “cancer” into the search box and found sunriseeast. My husband had just started treatment for colon cancer, and so–months after she started it–I read every word of her thread about living with cancer, and then contacted her. For the last year and a half before her death we corresponded privately, and met once in New York. As many of you know, she was brilliant, and insightful, and kind, and she gave so much of herself to help me understand what my husband might be feeling. In return, I tried to do the same for her from the reverse perspective. I think of her often; my profile pic is a sunrise photo in her honor.
I remember sunriseeast’s journey, too. Many of us kept an online vigil here during her last days. She left an amazing story on CC. I believe the CC powers-that-be at the time helped her DH and son extract that thread for family posterity. What a legacy. Thank you for reminding me of her and giving an example of how powerful and real an online presence can be. People “live” here.
I lurked for a loooong time before posting when my kid was in her admissions process. Learned so much from all of you. Rent the runway was a game changer that we never would have heard of without cc. Kid applied to a quirky safety school based on something I read here - was fun for her to get a really early admission letter with unexpected scholarship. On the college side, it was really helpful to hear that good grades plus good ECs plus Ivy legacy was still a set up for likely rejection - we were prepared, and I can’t tell you how many others just have no idea how much the process has changed since we were young. Was fun to celebrate virtually on cc with other new UCLA parents. And a word about politics - I know it’s not discussed outright, but the overall tone of acceptance was such a lifeline when I lived somewhere that didn’t have that as a majority opinion. Still hoping for an IRL meetup in the Midwest; probably more likely when I retire.
Oh, and I tried to pull away from CC for 2023-2024 so as not to make myself anxious about kid 2’s high school life. You can see how well that’s working…
Family HUG!!! 
We are truly a remarkable group. And I’m not usually a bragger. 
Back in the dark ages when I was in HS I remember how uninformed my friends and I were about college. There was so much we didn’t know that could have been useful, so much we “knew” was exaggerated or just wrong. So as the internet became a thing I wanted answer kids who were (at that time) less than a decade younger. Sometimes I could see myself in their questions or assumptions. Initially I was on a site called Princeton Review. I don’t remember what happened anymore but PR became unpopular and people were moving over to CC.
These days, being much farther removed from my college years, I make far fewer comments in the college forums. But the Parents Cafe has been helpful and interesting. I’ve learned to avoid scams, see pictures from all over, get cooking tips, to name but a few. Much more than most other online forums the Parents Cafe seems to be the promise of the internet come true, people who never would have met in real life have a chance to civilly share thoughts and opinions.
I just checked–I have been here since 2012. My daughter almost never listened to me directly during high school, during which time I was crazy-busy managing care of dad and stepmother. She went to college, worked two years, went to medical school, got married (great guy), and is now a resident in family medicine. My father and stepmother died (alas CC was in the midst of a format change and the parents caring for the parents thread was unusable for a while there but oh, so, so, so helpful before and after), and I decided to go to social work school, starting my first semester the same day my daughter started her last semester at RIT, August 28, 2017.
Then came the crazy almost-decade–presidential administration without precedent, more school shootings, pandemic, and here we are. I am grateful for the political forum, a good place to shoot off my mouth. I am looking forward (hope, hope, hope!) to the grandparent forum.
As most know, I lost the Covid lottery 2022 to a month or so ago, with terrible long Covid symptoms. It was so gratifying to report that I am finally feeling almost totally better! I am hoping to resume my career in the field in which I was trained. I am still an old mom, older every day (aren’t we all?) but such a lucky old mom, grateful to have been in the bubble when it was possible for single older people to adopt from China, grateful for the opportunity to be a parent, and of course to have all of you with whom to share my life. Maybe we can do another NYC reunion somewhere where I’ll be able to hear everyone! A girl can dream, right? But it was really nice meeting those I did (thank you @oldfort for finding a good place near transportation hubs), and of course I loved sharing all the details of my daughter’s wedding!
Thanks, moderators, for all your hard work!
And didn’t your DD get a private college tour from my DD?
@buenavista - Thank you for remembering sunriseeast. She was an amazing and brilliant writer. One of the many people here who I will never forget. I remember the vigil and breaking down and crying when I heard she had passed…