What is an unpopular belief that you hold about the college application process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Early action is extremely unfair to those who need financial aid.

You must mean early decision. Early action allows you to weigh your FA awards and then choose one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That going to community college for the first two years greatly increases your options for where you attend for your last two years. Not to mention the tens of thousands you will save on tuition.

That going to community college the first two years is for the poors and lesser than students.

This is a very east coast sentiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That going to community college for the first two years greatly increases your options for where you attend for your last two years. Not to mention the tens of thousands you will save on tuition.

That going to community college the first two years is for the poors and lesser than students.

This is a very east coast sentiment.

Agree. East coaster here who went to community college and now has an advanced degree and a 7 figure HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That going to community college for the first two years greatly increases your options for where you attend for your last two years. Not to mention the tens of thousands you will save on tuition.

That going to community college the first two years is for the poors and lesser than students.

This is a very east coast sentiment.

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Actually no. And I’ve lived everywhere. It’s very common in California to go to community college and transfer but that’s because that system is relatively new and built to accommodate that track. Few of my ca public high school friends had the money to go four years public or private. Most went to “junior” college, now called community college and then transferred to the great UC system. Or tge it went straight into the Cal State system, which no other state has. My own relatives did community college and transferred to USC before it became so expensive. The same is not true in the east coast and certainly not in VA. I wish it were but it’s not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That going to community college for the first two years greatly increases your options for where you attend for your last two years. Not to mention the tens of thousands you will save on tuition.

That going to community college the first two years is for the poors and lesser than students.

I back this up 100%

My husband went to community college, transferred to a flagship state university, then went to Harvard Law, and is now a prominent Washington figure.

I’m not quite as accomplished as your husband but I also went to community college. Nobody that I know in the DC area is aware of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That helping your kid find a school where they will thrive is better for them as people and produces better outcomes than helping them get into the highest ranking possible on USNWR.

I have come to agree with this. College is what you make of it, and if you’re not in a positive frame of mind, you won’t set good goals and do well. But maybe the most important piece of this is that the difference in external perceptions from one school versus another is in reality not significant. Yes Harvard is better than Iowa. But worrying about turning down 10th ranked school for 20th or 20th for 30th, it’s not meaningful. So many people even educated ones have such a limited understanding of the quality, nature or location of any school. So focusing on how the school is perceived by others isn’t really that important (within reason)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That it’s not worth the stress and pressure to play a sport in college.

I never knew there was pressure to play a sport in college. Most students don't.

This isn't about pressure to play a sport. The pressure comes from actually playing the sport.

[Anonymous]

A mediocre boy with good extracurriculars will get better admissions results than a strong girl with great extracurriculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That going to community college for the first two years greatly increases your options for where you attend for your last two years. Not to mention the tens of thousands you will save on tuition.

I think this is myth that people tell themselves and the majority of students will not ever finish the 2 years much less go on to a 4 yr school. Those who do are the exception

[Anonymous]

It’s no victory to game the system and end up as the dumbest kid at middlebury.

[Anonymous]

That colleges actually care about students once they are admitted. They become nothing more than student numbers.

[Anonymous]

That athletic recruiting is disgraceful. There’s no reason it should be an advantage.

[Anonymous]

There must be a parent of a student attending Colby very actively posting on DCUM. It’s a tiny small school in freezing cold Maine that cost 85,000 per year. Only on DCUM do I ever hear it mentioned at all. It’s smaller than a high school and there is nothing amazing about this school.

The only reason that it has a low admissions number is because it’s free to apply and they spam emails to everyone about the school so they get lots of applications compared to its tiny size.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe the old mantra that there are thousands of schools and everybody lands where they should. Everybody is fighting for the top 100, maybe 150, and from around this area, everyone wants to go to about only 30 or 50. Outside of that, kids settle and many don't land somewhere that works out for them.

[Anonymous]

That this forum is not representative of the real world.