Getting the most out of reading college forums

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is for entertainment, not expert information. Most people here have zero experience in admissions or counseling. Reddit is a little better because they vet people who get the counselor/admissions tag.

You have access to experts. They aren't anonymous people on message boards.

lol @ Reddit “experts” being vetted. There’s the former AO who doesn’t know BC from BU, the Indian dad whose son got into a non selective school and who provides inaccurate advice, the fresh hs grads who seem to have nothing better to do than post even though they are in college….

[Anonymous]

I use DCUM College and CC to track when colleges release decisions. It has been very helpful for that as sometimes kids don't get emails that a decision is posted in the portal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use DCUM College and CC to track when colleges release decisions. It has been very helpful for that as sometimes kids don't get emails that a decision is posted in the portal.

This. I don’t rely on the DCUM college forum for anything beyond this.

[Anonymous]

If you are the kind of person who can easily distinguish between facts and opinions, any forum (or a combination of forums since they tend to draw different audiences) will work for you. Pay attention to the facts.

Another point, the only correct answer to most questions about college admissions is “it depends”, so instead of looking for a yes, no or a number, try to understand all the different angles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For VA public universities, the State Council on Higher Education in VA (SCHEV), has a remarkable amount of information. Most US states do not have an official authoritative information source as specific as that web site.

+1 SCHEV is phenomenal. Much more data than the federal government's IPEDS. I wish other states would get on the ball.

[Anonymous]

dcum is for entertainment purposes only. CC was very helpful to see posted stats of accepted/rejected and merit aid around release dates. Especially because my kid never checked his portals unless I asked him to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another point, the only correct answer to most questions about college admissions is “it depends”, so instead of looking for a yes, no or a number, try to understand all the different angles.

This.

So many threads ask questions where the only truthful answers are either "it depends" or "mostly X, but exceptions exist".

The UVa threads are a classic example. UVa is consistent in asking for 4yrs FL and max rigor all subjects, but of course there are exceptions. No one outside UVa could know whether an exception would apply to a particular applicant - until an official decision were reached by UVa for that applicant.

[Anonymous]

I wish all states had public web sites equivalent to the SCHEV data for colleges and universities. Virginia is more transparent than most states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New to this.

I’ve seen college confidential and reddits applying to College forum.

What do you read each for, and what else do you read that’s informative? And informative about what?

Thanks.

you have to take everything with a grain of salt. sometimes good info or resources are shared. othertimes it's total clueless people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish all states had public web sites equivalent to the SCHEV data for colleges and universities. Virginia is more transparent than most states.

How has this extra information helped you more than the basic info available for all schools? Can you give a few examples?

Not being snarky. Genuinely wondering about the practical applications and value of this additional information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- common data set
- your own high school profile
- naviance (etc) data from your high school

for 95% of kids:

- take the 5 year matriculation data from your high school. often on your school profile. This is maybe 120 colleges.

- cross out all schools that are easy omits. you probably already know if your kid has any interest in places like Julliard or West Point or Purdue or Bennington. This should bring it down to 60-80 schools.

- Take out another 20 that are either under matches or overmatches ie Eastern Kentucky and Princeton.

- if you have any other limitations like geography or religion, limit the list further.

You should be able to start junior year with 50 colleges. Next step is do a couple tours locally even if your kid has no interest in staying local. See a big school, a small school, a Jesuit school .. whatever. Try to see a couple of schools in each band of big/small/urban/suburban. This is the biggest cut of all so take your time on this one during junior year. Will you care about sports culture, frats, etc. And also think about major here.

- By spring break junior year, you'll have a list of 20-25 schools. Run the NPCs. Go look at 5 or so that are near each other. and maybe a long weekend to look at a couple more. List is down to 15-20

By end of junior year, with grades and test scores in hand, you'll get realistic about money and odds. The list will be 10-15 and you're good to apply.

I dont like message forums, but I did like podcasts.

+ 100! Logic prevails - just make sure the child is involved and driving the analysis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish all states had public web sites equivalent to the SCHEV data for colleges and universities. Virginia is more transparent than most states.

How has this extra information helped you more than the basic info available for all schools? Can you give a few examples?

Not being snarky. Genuinely wondering about the practical applications and value of this additional information.

For each university, acceptance rate by county. Accurate gpa/SAT ranges (JMU, for example, does not publish gpa of incoming class on website anymore. But SCHEV has it)

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/b8_admissions_locality.asp

Acceptance rate or in-state vs out of state, most popular majors (helpful if you’re trying to find something unsubscribed), etc: https://research.schev.edu//iProfile/233921/Virginia-Tech

And it has it for EVERY higher ed school in the state, public & private

https://research.schev.edu/Institutions

Maybe other schools offer this info, but it’s scattered in different places. And

[Anonymous]

^^And having it in a consistent format & in one place is infinitely easier & more helpful

[Anonymous]

College Confidential is best for useful information. There are a few annoying posters but there are some real experts in areas like the UCs, HA athletics, etc.

DCUM has some nuggets per thread but there is quite a bit of toxic nonsense along with many opinions not aligned to reality.

Some of the podcasts like YCBK are good but remember they are selling services.

[Anonymous]

I found the lessons learned threads to be very helpful. I actually copied and pasted a lot of the answers into a Word Doc to have for easy reference.
Otherwise, lots of people opining about colleges about which they know nothing.