Why are people so weirdly mean and competitive on this forum in particular ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s caused by disappointment in their kids and maybe themselves. It causes a lot of scapegoating and ill-will toward those who succeeded in getting into the coveted schools.

There is also an anti-intellectual movement among the right-wing conservatives which causes them to troll here even if they don’t have college-aged kids.

I thought it was a liberal thing, no?

Liberals through out history have never been anti-intellectual.

Correct. Pseudo-Intellectual would be more fitting.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read all the replies here but I think there are a couple trolls on here that do much of the stupidity. If we just ignore their posts, however enraging, they’d be more likely to go away. I find it difficult to believe they are parents of college-bound high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of racists on DCUM who have a specific bias against both Asians and immigrants. It's really disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of racists on DCUM who have a specific bias against both Asians and immigrants. It's really disgusting.

The fake accent person(s) has been on here for ages. I wish they’d get blocked. So gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read all the replies here but I think there are a couple trolls on here that do much of the stupidity. If we just ignore their posts, however enraging, they’d be more likely to go away. I find it difficult to believe they are parents of college-bound high schoolers.

+1 But people keep taking the bait and it is enraging because their posts are so darn obviously troll posts. Why do people respond? If we collectively ignore the trolls and obvious instigators they will move on to new, greener pastures. As for me, I keep coming to this forum in particular because my husband, kids and I have gotten some really good information here and we're not about to throw out the baby with the bath water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of racists on DCUM who have a specific bias against both Asians and immigrants. It's really disgusting.

White people inAmerica have been this racist for ages. They’ve never changed. They are the same bunch to have enslaved the blacks and murdered the (real) native Americans to steal their lands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where a kid goes to college is social capitol for a parent. Its why parents are willing to spend thousands on counseling, tutoring, and test prep. A dad in Bethesda knows his smart son will be successful at UMD, but he won't be able to brag about that to his friends so he becomes over invested in the college admissions process. On the flip side, this creates this weird insecurity among parents when it comes to their kid's grades and admissions prospects. So, they come to pages like this to rant and attack each other. I saw this dynamic first hand as a high school senior at a wealthier, competitive high school. If i had to guess, half of the posts here are just insecure parents making up stories about how their 1590 sat kid is going to Yale, etc. It is embarrassing.

Where a kid goes to college really isn’t social capital for the parents (my friend’s housekeeper has one son at University of Pennsylvania and the other at Yale). I doubt her life or social circle changed at all. However where the parents went to school still is. And that’s what parents want for their kids. No crime in that.

I tend to disagree. Your friends housekeeper got a boost by likely being an URM, and people tend to know that and be more accepting of that fact, when it happens, since so many slots are reserved for URMs.

My friends whose DC were admitted to T20 have people who they barely know, who barely acknowledged them over the years approach them and aggressively ask how they did it. They were at the top of their class, and their parents (my friends) are amongst - if not THE - smartest people I know! Of course their children do well with zero boosts.

I think some people just happen to think they are better than other people. My friends are not like that, so they were surprised when so many randoms approached them about the topic.

That, and people are extremely insecure, OP.

No, my friend’s housekeeper is a white American.

Is this a teen stirring the pot?

Are you serious?! You’ve never met a white American housekeeper?

No, I am not a teen. I’m a mother of two college aged kids and a high schooler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s caused by disappointment in their kids and maybe themselves. It causes a lot of scapegoating and ill-will toward those who succeeded in getting into the coveted schools.

There is also an anti-intellectual movement among the right-wing conservatives which causes them to troll here even if they don’t have college-aged kids.

I thought it was a liberal thing, no?

Liberals through out history have never been anti-intellectual.

Correct. Pseudo-Intellectual would be more fitting.

No, dude. You’re wrong on this. Let it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s really alarming to me. What do you get from berating a family or young adult and their choices, etc? It’s awful.

Thanks for saying this OP. The Wilson/private school thread got me. I couldn’t believe what I was reading and that people actually think this way.

What’s the Wilson/private school thread?

Oh, didn’t realize it was in the private school forum, not this one. But it’s private school parents complaining about Wilson kids getting into Ivy’s and then gleefully proclaiming that even when they do, the Wilson kids do terribly. It is a horrifying thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of racists on DCUM who have a specific bias against both Asians and immigrants. It's really disgusting.

The fake accent person(s) has been on here for ages. I wish they’d get blocked. So gross.

WTF??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s really alarming to me. What do you get from berating a family or young adult and their choices, etc? It’s awful.

Thanks for saying this OP. The Wilson/private school thread got me. I couldn’t believe what I was reading and that people actually think this way.

What’s the Wilson/private school thread?

Oh, didn’t realize it was in the private school forum, not this one. But it’s private school parents complaining about Wilson kids getting into Ivy’s and then gleefully proclaiming that even when they do, the Wilson kids do terribly. It is a horrifying thread.

That thread was completely fake. A lot of what was said didn’t even make sense.

[Anonymous]

Start reporting the trolls! I never understand why people respond to them rather than just reporting them and having them deleted and/or banned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where a kid goes to college is social capitol for a parent. Its why parents are willing to spend thousands on counseling, tutoring, and test prep. A dad in Bethesda knows his smart son will be successful at UMD, but he won't be able to brag about that to his friends so he becomes over invested in the college admissions process. On the flip side, this creates this weird insecurity among parents when it comes to their kid's grades and admissions prospects. So, they come to pages like this to rant and attack each other. I saw this dynamic first hand as a high school senior at a wealthier, competitive high school. If i had to guess, half of the posts here are just insecure parents making up stories about how their 1590 sat kid is going to Yale, etc. It is embarrassing.

Social capital on this site tends to be Ivy or bust, but IRL sending kid to a cushy, full price private without discussion of ranking is the bigger flex. E.g. my aunt loved to talk about the apple butter you get near Kenyon, something else for Colby, etc. Cousins are now done and settled into working life, no bragging beyond pics of nice houses and cute babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite is when a booster from a no-name school starts calling everyone else peasants or peons or nouveau riche striver idiots for daring to think their school is not prestigious or desirable. And then they complain about how DCUM is so toxic and mean.

+1

And here is exhibit A. Translation: “I called someone’s chosen school trash, and now I’m calling them mean because they responded in kind” (although they probably really just tried to defend their choice, and pp can dish it out, but not take it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s caused by disappointment in their kids and maybe themselves. It causes a lot of scapegoating and ill-will toward those who succeeded in getting into the coveted schools.

There is also an anti-intellectual movement among the right-wing conservatives which causes them to troll here even if they don’t have college-aged kids.

I thought it was a liberal thing, no?

You think the anti-intellectual movement is LIBERAL? Oh, sweetie.