Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 14:27     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:I visit DCUM only to marvel at the narcissistic parenting. These parents make college admissions (and everything else their kid does) all about them. It can be jaw dropping how dysfunctional and weird and sad it is to read. It's utterly fascinating.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 11:26     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
folks need to post their credentials before offering advice. where you went to college/job, kids ended up in college --> job to validate their statements. otherwise its just junk.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 11:23     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:DCUM is almost always wrong about Cornell and they have a weird take about NY kids getting into Cornell "because it's a a SUNY" and they also sometimes think it's a state-level tuition.

The contracted colleges at Cornell give about a 20k break to NYers - so 70k vs 90k - and there's zero benefit to being "in-state". Zero.

But it's said 100% of the time.

Sounds like a benefit to me.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 10:56     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:DCUM is almost always wrong about Cornell and they have a weird take about NY kids getting into Cornell "because it's a a SUNY" and they also sometimes think it's a state-level tuition.

The contracted colleges at Cornell give about a 20k break to NYers - so 70k vs 90k - and there's zero benefit to being "in-state". Zero.

But it's said 100% of the time.


Little bit of a side note...but for all DC residents, you can use TAG for the contracted colleges. So, you pay $75k vs. $90k (you get the $15k TAG...assuming they approve the increase to $15k)...Cornell is the one quirk school that has both private and public components.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 10:51     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
DCUM is almost always wrong about Cornell and they have a weird take about NY kids getting into Cornell "because it's a a SUNY" and they also sometimes think it's a state-level tuition.

The contracted colleges at Cornell give about a 20k break to NYers - so 70k vs 90k - and there's zero benefit to being "in-state". Zero.

But it's said 100% of the time.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 10:25     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:it's weird that I still think about the poster who told me my unhooked kid had zero chance to get into Williams. And applying ED was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard of. With a sign off like, hope your kid likes their safety because that's where they'll end up because you gave your kid terrible advice.

it was so mean and personal. And hey, I didn't give my kid any advice. Anyway, they got into Williams ED.


Pro tip: don't take college admissions advice from DCUM.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 10:11     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:it's weird that I still think about the poster who told me my unhooked kid had zero chance to get into Williams. And applying ED was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard of. With a sign off like, hope your kid likes their safety because that's where they'll end up because you gave your kid terrible advice.

it was so mean and personal. And hey, I didn't give my kid any advice. Anyway, they got into Williams ED.


Congrats! I've been on DCUM for 21 years. I've found that it's more wrong than right, but when it's right, it can be incredibly helpful. I'm grateful to Jeff and Maria for starting it.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 10:08     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Thanks for posting, OP and congrats to your kid. It's really discouraging reading this board sometimes.

I do think that there's just a big lottery effect to all of these schools. So of course there will be some great kids with great stats that lose that lottery, and some that win. My oldest was lucky to get ED to their first choice school, but their good friend--who was an amazing kid with similarly great stats and maybe better ECs--got rejection after rejection. It was really hard just as a friend-mom watching that kid take the blows and not get too discouraged. They were just really unlucky with the spin of the wheel.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:59     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
I have run across helpful posts that made me consider issues before unclear to me (check housing options early).

I think there are also plenty of parents trying to throw off the competition with fear and bad advice (your 1560 SAT child doesn't have a chance - don't even apply!, It's a horrible school with no job placement!).
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:57     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:it's weird that I still think about the poster who told me my unhooked kid had zero chance to get into Williams. And applying ED was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard of. With a sign off like, hope your kid likes their safety because that's where they'll end up because you gave your kid terrible advice.

it was so mean and personal. And hey, I didn't give my kid any advice. Anyway, they got into Williams ED.


Ha. My unhooked kid got into an Ivy and 2 T10s, Pomona and Williams —RD. The board told me he was basic and stood zero chance.

Lesson to all: ignore the haters.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:48     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Look for the kind posters here. Nasty and snarky posters are usually wrong and just want to share their misery. Congratulations to your child!
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:45     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:DCUM is pretty much always wrong


People talk a lot about probabilities on this site.

If someone tells you your kid has a low chance of getting into an Ivy, that's not a bad probabilistic guess.

Intangibles, such as how great the LORs and essays may be, are impossible to assess without having seen them.

I was a scholarship committee member for a PTA. Over 5 years I learned that there were only two teachers at the high school who wrote recs that were better than pedestrian. They were both English teachers. And one of the references I remember most came from an employer about a future business student's marketing acumen. With examples.

One of the teachers has retired. One of his protégés became an OOS Banneker Key at UMD and now she works at the NYT. He knew talent and how to showcase it. The rest just write boring stuff cribbed from the brag sheet.

This is why DCUM skews negative. They don't see the magic.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:35     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:Honestly reading DCUM you get the impression that a 1550 4.8 kid may be able to be waitlisted at a Pitt satellite campus if they are lucky. Our experience for a typical strong but in no way exceptional student was so different. In at several T50sand some T20s. I’d say DCUM is more wrong than right and maybe more trolls than real.


DCUM is useful when people ask very specific questions...but I agree here when people are told to opine on open-ended topics that responses seem to go off the rails.

On DCUM, people with great stats are rejected from JMU...yet, it seems like any and every kid who applies from my kid's school is accepted (which also is confirmed by JMU's publicly-stated 72% acceptance rate).
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:33     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Anonymous wrote:Honestly reading DCUM you get the impression that a 1550 4.8 kid may be able to be waitlisted at a Pitt satellite campus if they are lucky. Our experience for a typical strong but in no way exceptional student was so different. In at several T50sand some T20s. I’d say DCUM is more wrong than right and maybe more trolls than real.


And from some of the insulting responses on this thread, DCUM posters don’t like being told they’re wrong!
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2026 09:31     Subject: When DCUM was wrong ..
Honestly reading DCUM you get the impression that a 1550 4.8 kid may be able to be waitlisted at a Pitt satellite campus if they are lucky. Our experience for a typical strong but in no way exceptional student was so different. In at several T50sand some T20s. I’d say DCUM is more wrong than right and maybe more trolls than real.