What makes responders on these boards say things like, "I'm sorry your kid didn't get in."

[Anonymous]

Serious question. We are adults who are trying to help our own kids and possibly the other kids, too?

Goes something like this (actual posts):

OP: What school would you not want your child to go to even if admitted.

Answer: Vanderbilt. Never believed a school from the south would be good. Plus they just bought a campus in New York City??? Seems sketch

RESPONDER: Sorry your kid didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

It's just a mean, trolly response. Like any message board, presumably a lot of people on here are teenagers, angry losers in basements, people with no connection to the issues, people with axes to grind, etc.

[Anonymous]

Low cranial capacity

[Anonymous]

Some people just like to be mean jerks. Period.

[Anonymous]

You have to be kidding if you think parents of rejected kids aren’t bitter and aren’t gonna make purposefully negative comments about a college simply because they didn’t get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be kidding if you think parents of rejected kids aren’t bitter and aren’t gonna make purposefully negative comments about a college simply because they didn’t get in.

The problem is you see this comment even with schools that have a 95%+ acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always wanted to make this exact post, so thank you! I’m always torn between teenagers or an adult reliving their glory days like the high school kid and the touch down pass kind of thing. They are insecure and didn’t amount to much, so any negativity around their alma-mater is met with that phrase. I always wonder if they think they sound smart, tough, and cool? It’s hard to imagine anyone grown could think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be kidding if you think parents of rejected kids aren’t bitter and aren’t gonna make purposefully negative comments about a college simply because they didn’t get in.

This is a negative comment about a CHILD...not about a college.

- OP

[Anonymous]

I just assume the responder is a low-class uneducated fool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just assume the responder is a low-class uneducated fool

Exactly !

[Anonymous]

I've never uttered that sentiment in any form. But I suspect it's often a reaction to another poster's bizarrely strong opinion on a particular college. Again, I think it's a dumb thing to say to people. That said, I've sometimes wondered why some posters hold such zealous, almost emotional opinions on certain schools.

[Anonymous]

They are mean teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be kidding if you think parents of rejected kids aren’t bitter and aren’t gonna make purposefully negative comments about a college simply because they didn’t get in.

+1 That's the issue. The kinds of comments being responded to tend to be unnecessarily vicious, suggesting bitterness rather than any kind of rational or fair analysis.

[Anonymous]

Are they same people that say sorry you didn’t get a bid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never uttered that sentiment in any form. But I suspect it's often a reaction to another poster's bizarrely strong opinion on a particular college. Again, I think it's a dumb thing to say to people. That said, I've sometimes wondered why some posters hold such zealous, almost emotional opinions on certain schools.

+1 People seem to have vitriolic views against certain universities--often elite ones with under 5% acceptance rates. I don't say this either, but I often think that the vitriol comes from sour grapes.