Is it worth it to join the college parent facebook group?

[Anonymous]

Think of it like DCUM. Some helpful nuggets among the helicoptering, especially in the summer before and during freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Just mute it and then go into it and do a search when you have a question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think of it like DCUM. Some helpful nuggets among the helicoptering, especially in the summer before and during freshman year.

And occasionally after if you need something like a doctor or mechanic in town.

[Anonymous]

They vary in usefulness. Just join and see. You can adjust your preferences so you only see posts if you actually go to the group page, and if you hate it, you can leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ours required proof too

it is fun to join and read the chaos of helicopter parents

Oh, no. That's probably what I was trying to avoid.

OP, how sensitive are you???? What do you think is going to happen if you read some Facebook posts?

[Anonymous]

Joining doesn't mean you are forced to do anything. You can choose to participate, ask and answer questions, read the posts or do absolutely nothing...

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school. I have two at different colleges. One of the groups is super helpful for all kinds of info and has a great moderator. The other rarely has posts and when it does they are not helpful.

[Anonymous]

There are some annoying people but also some very useful tips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ours required proof too

it is fun to join and read the chaos of helicopter parents

Maybe it's just our school, but there has been near zero chaos on the Facebook groups for my kids schools. I don't check them daily but they are very helpful.

[Anonymous]

My friend would regularly entertain me with the latest from the crazy helicopter parents on her kid's school FB group. I couldn't reciprocate. My FB group was useful but quite dull.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure it depends on the page. I joined all the pages of the schools my daughter was accepted to before she made her decision. Some pages were full of whiny parents complaining about everything and some were overwhelmingly positive and provided a wealth of information. Thankfully my daughter decided on a school that was the latter. I’ve also always wondered if the parent pages in some way reflect the energy of the school, either positive or negative. I would like to believe that happy parents count for something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't used facebook much at all for the past 10 years or more, other than to periodically check my kid's high school facebook parent page. It's well-monitored/informational and doesn't allow much controversy.

Did you find the college facebook page to be similar? Has it been helpful for info? Is there a lot of negativity shared?

I'm already sort of annoyed they're asking for a picture of my son's acceptance letter via messenger. Am generally skeptical of sharing things about my family to people I don't know! At the very least I suppose I should white out his name and our street address before sending.

Thoughts?

My experience with ours (VT) is that it attracts the most overly anxious, helicoptering types of parents. It drove me nuts and I quite it. I called the "Anxious Mommies Facebook Group."

[Anonymous]

I found it useful when DC needed medical care and I knew from the group which hospital to avoid

[Anonymous]

It helped us find a local doctor and a garage to fix the car that was trusted.

One woman’s child was in a terrible accident and she posted on the FB group and a mom from the group was a nurse and went to the hospital to help while she flew into town.

It helps get tickets to games.

[Anonymous]

They can be very helpful. The prior poster who mentioned complaints about dining is spot on.