Chill applications thread

[Anonymous]

All the parents on here who are congratulating themselves… be careful. Your next kid might need you to be involved. I for one thought I was amazingly chill and so laidback with my first kid, but my second has needed more nudges and has wanted my involvement more. So it might just be your particular kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I welcome anyone who has let their kids fill out their own applications, have NOT hired a counsellor or coach, and are letting this be their kids journey, not theirs.

Please come on in and share your stories!

Here’s mine - DD refused to let us look at her essays and supplementals - not even just to proofread. Wasn’t about to fight with her on that. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and I’m sure she will end up exactly where she belongs!

I have a child kind of like that too…will not let us see the essays…wants to “sink or swim” on their own. Part of me is impressed by the confidence and self motivation…part of me is frustrated as heck because I would like to at least proofread them.

IMO, it is a sign of immaturity and arrogance to want to “sink or swim” on your own for important things. Even the top people in any field get review & feedback and make changes based on it. It does not have to be a parent proofreading, it can be another trusted adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of this thread?

To let people make up stories about themselves they wish were true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of this thread?

Apparently for parents to show how they are managing their own anxiety.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that private school parents can sit back and chill more because of the hands on help from their counselors. Public school parents have to fill in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that private school parents can sit back and chill more because of the hands on help from their counselors. Public school parents have to fill in.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I welcome anyone who has let their kids fill out their own applications, have NOT hired a counsellor or coach, and are letting this be their kids journey, not theirs.

Please come on in and share your stories!

Here’s mine - DD refused to let us look at her essays and supplementals - not even just to proofread. Wasn’t about to fight with her on that. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and I’m sure she will end up exactly where she belongs!

I have a child kind of like that too…will not let us see the essays…wants to “sink or swim” on their own. Part of me is impressed by the confidence and self motivation…part of me is frustrated as heck because I would like to at least proofread them.

IMO, it is a sign of immaturity and arrogance to want to “sink or swim” on your own for important things. Even the top people in any field get review & feedback and make changes based on it. It does not have to be a parent proofreading, it can be another trusted adult.

Meh, I did all that myself as a teen. My parents were barely involved. Not that they wouldn’t have been if I had asked, I just didn’t feel the need. I was a decent writer and wrote and edited my own essays.

I realize “times are different” or whatever, but some kids are confident in their abilities and it isn’t immaturity at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that private school parents can sit back and chill more because of the hands on help from their counselors. Public school parents have to fill in.

This.

I am OP and my kid is in public.
I’m not sure what I have to “fill in” for? What can’t my daughter handle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of this thread?

Apparently for parents to show how they are managing their own anxiety.

OP here. But that’s the thing - I started this thread for all of us who DON’T have anxiety over the process. There are 10,000 threads of parents freaking out. Can’t we have one non freak out thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I welcome anyone who has let their kids fill out their own applications, have NOT hired a counsellor or coach, and are letting this be their kids journey, not theirs.

Please come on in and share your stories!

Here’s mine - DD refused to let us look at her essays and supplementals - not even just to proofread. Wasn’t about to fight with her on that. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and I’m sure she will end up exactly where she belongs!

I have a child kind of like that too…will not let us see the essays…wants to “sink or swim” on their own. Part of me is impressed by the confidence and self motivation…part of me is frustrated as heck because I would like to at least proofread them.

IMO, it is a sign of immaturity and arrogance to want to “sink or swim” on your own for important things. Even the top people in any field get review & feedback and make changes based on it. It does not have to be a parent proofreading, it can be another trusted adult.

Meh, I did all that myself as a teen. My parents were barely involved. Not that they wouldn’t have been if I had asked, I just didn’t feel the need. I was a decent writer and wrote and edited my own essays.

I realize “times are different” or whatever, but some kids are confident in their abilities and it isn’t immaturity at all.

Meh, you didn’t even have one teacher or counselor who you trusted to read your essay. How sad for you :-/

[Anonymous]

We don't talk a lot about where people went to college or follow college sports in our house. As a result, by 11th grade they had heard of HYPSM, NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Brooklyn College, UCLA. And the schools DH and I attended.

(I did it all myself when I was a kid. And I could also have named about a dozen colleges at the time. It's just that in the last century it wasn't hard to get into that Brand Name School I had heard about that one time. Not like now)

When people are like, we did nothing!! .. and their NYC kid ends up at Bowdoin or Pomona or Kenyon or McGill (x500 schools) and not Brooklyn College? Um, you did something.

This is water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I welcome anyone who has let their kids fill out their own applications, have NOT hired a counsellor or coach, and are letting this be their kids journey, not theirs.

Please come on in and share your stories!

Here’s mine - DD refused to let us look at her essays and supplementals - not even just to proofread. Wasn’t about to fight with her on that. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and I’m sure she will end up exactly where she belongs!

I salute you! You are a breath of fresh air!

Our kid went to one of those Big 3 schools that everybody hates. While we did meet the college counselor, my kid was on his own to find what he wanted for college and was on his own to fill out applications.. It's his journey, not ours!

Except I'm footing the bill. So yeah, my journey too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that private school parents can sit back and chill more because of the hands on help from their counselors. Public school parents have to fill in.

The “just don’t bother applying to any T20 schools” part of it just wooshes over the heads of all the high stress parents posting here. Doesn’t even register.

If you’re applying to 3-5 schools (not 25) and half of them don’t even have supplementals (50%+ acceptance rates, they don’t want to read all that shit when it’s obvious you’re getting in), you actually have to try really really hard to make it complex beyond remembering to get a couple of reference letters from teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't talk a lot about where people went to college or follow college sports in our house. As a result, by 11th grade they had heard of HYPSM, NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Brooklyn College, UCLA. And the schools DH and I attended.

(I did it all myself when I was a kid. And I could also have named about a dozen colleges at the time. It's just that in the last century it wasn't hard to get into that Brand Name School I had heard about that one time. Not like now)

When people are like, we did nothing!! .. and their NYC kid ends up at Bowdoin or Pomona or Kenyon or McGill (x500 schools) and not Brooklyn College? Um, you did something.

This is water.

Googling “what are some great small colleges” beyond the ken of today’s youth.

DC follows the TikTok antics of a student at AU, she has a big following thus students nationwide have brand awareness.

Yes in 1990 a Brooklyn kid would not know about Bowdoin, that’s almost impossible today. They’re getting an email after the PSAT.

I didn’t know about the college I went to beforehand and nobody at my high school had EVER applied and nobody in my family was even remotely aware of its existence.

What sorcery was used to inform me? A mailer after the PSAT. This was in 1990.

[Anonymous]

sorry but do you know how many great small colleges there are? about 4000.

you end up at Bowdoin? yeah, all on that kid.