It was worth it to me, with kids at three different universities. Lots of helpful info, and I just ignore the helicopter posts.

I thought it was worth it because it was free. Helped DD get a roommate one year, find a doctor recommendation once.

I have mixed feelings about parent Facebook pages. I looked at my kid’s college parent Facebook page only once before they moved in. To each his own. A lot of the issues addressed in the parent Facebook groups are ones that kids should start navigating on their own- dining issues, housing issues, campus opportunities, etc.

Yes

Yes

Yes you should join. The request for acceptance letter is for moderators to validate family connection so you don't have random people joining, etc. It's helpful to have a glimpse into student resources/issues/opportunities. Comments on my kid's parent page ask about housing, move-in tips, greek concerns, school deadlines for tuition, registration, internships, free tutoring, student health, etc. Now that kids are over 18, parents get very little direct communication from the school, so it's good to hear about things going on from other parents. I've gotten a lot of helpful info!

I found out through the FB parent page that some new admits to sororities get gifts from home.

That was news to me!

Useful, and, at times, highly entertaining. Just when you think you have heard it all when it comes to helicoptering, someone takes it to another level.

But as others have said, it various by school. My older daughter goes to a mid sized private college. Lots of helicoptering but it has an amazing moderator employed by the school and she has walked us through everything.

Younger daughter is at a big state school. Less helicoptering and all around less usage.

Good for incoming student questions. After that, not so much.

The one for my younger one is useful and the one for my older one is dumpsterfiretastic

My kid's school parent FB page is helpful. Everything from questions about where to order birthday treats, suggestions for a pharmacy outside of the on-campus clinic hours, to options on places to stay for busy parent weekends. Plus some occasional helicopter parenting. It was particularly helpful before arrival and for those early weeks on campus. It's hard to know if your kid will be the one who needs something so it's worth joining.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You can avoid it by not reading it. I have found it useful a handful of times.

+1

It has been very helpful when needed, like with specific move-in questions. I rarely look at it, though.

It's useful if it's well administered. The "Class of 202X" group was just annoying though.

I joined several when my son was trying to decide between schools (all large public universities) as I was curious. The parents seemed perfectly normal in all of them. I dropped the other groups when he made his choice.

I thought it was worth it particularly freshman year as it was mostly freshman parents posting with the occasional question about sophomore housing or graduation.

Anonymous wrote:It's helpful. And get ready for the complaints about the dining.

The Y is super popular, long lines at the start of the semester, but there's a reason for that. It has great food. I visited a few colleges, and their dining halls were meh compare to the Y. DC#1 at UMD, DC#2 elsewhere, and they said that we were spoiled with the Y.