Monday's Most Active Threads

The college admissions process continues to produce threads that are among the most active. Yesterday's most active thread, for instance, was titled, "Anyone else thinks the whole college admission process is a total farse?" and posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. The original poster, who presumably meant "farce", assures us that she is not bitter but rather feeling helpless about the college application process which apparently has not gone well for her child. She is most bothered by claims that colleges review applications "holistically" which she does not believe is possible given the huge number of applications that they receive. In her view, colleges are lying to kids. Just about anyone whose child didn't get admitted to their first choice college seems to dislike the current application process. However, there is little agreement about what to do about it. Some posters want to adopt a system like that in Europe in which admissions are primarily based on the results of a single exam. Others propose limiting the number of colleges that can be included on the common application. Many posters are convinced that colleges are intentionally marketing themselves to students who will never be accepted simply to collect the application fees. Other posters attempted to explain how they think the process actually works. If they are correct, which I have no way of knowing, the original poster is essentially correct that the vast majority of applications don't undergo holistic reviews. Some posters argue that if students correctly set their expectations, they will get into one of their targeted colleges. Similarly, posters suggest that college admissions are too often tied to parents desires and egos rather than what is realistic for their children. This causes undo pressure and leads to disappointment.

Once in a while I come across a thread for which I have to assume the goal was for every poster to make themselves look as terrible as possible. If that was case for those posting in a thread in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum titled, "What is the future of heterosexual dating when the number of men attending college continues to drop", it has been wildly successful. Almost every poster is more ridiculous than the previous one and things didn't exactly start out at a high point. The original poster describes herself as a woman who knows that most women want to marry college-educated men. She is concerned about what will happen if women continue to outnumber men in colleges and universities and the pool of college-educated men decreases. Responses range from predictions that women will all compete for the same small group of educated men to expectations that women will transition or turn gay. Others point out that education is not a perfect indication of intelligence and describe examples of intelligent men who lack college degrees. Along the same lines, posters explain that earning power is also not necessarily linked to education. Just about every offensive stereotype related to gender, class, and even ethnicity that you can imagine gets aired at least once in this thread. Educated men are generally perceived as effeminate and incapable of tying their own shoes while one poster praises "Irish carpenters" due to "The brogue, the finesse of their work and an old fashioned sense of what it is to be masculine". Finally, almost as if it is a requirement of posts in the relationship forum these days, posters lament the failure of men to undertake an equal amount of work at home.

The third most active thread yesterday was titled, "DH won't use any inheritance for a house" and posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. The original poster says that her family is moving to an expensive west coast housing market and trying to figure out how to afford a house. Her husband recently received a large inheritance after his father passed away, but refuses to use any of that money for a house because he is planning to assume full responsibility for his disabled brother upon the death of his mother. The original poster receives significant financial assistance from her parents and is resentful that her husband wants to use those funds for a house rather than his inheritance or their own savings. The responses are basically divided between those who believe the original poster is a heartless parasite who deserves to be immediately divorced by her husband and those who suspect the original poster's husband is protecting his inheritance in order not to be forced to share it with the original poster in the case of a divorce. Many posters challenge the original poster to explain her own plan for caring for her brother-in-law, something the original poster fails to do. Instead, the original poster describes herself as being convinced by the responses to sit down with her husband for a difficult conversation about his plans for his brother. For the most part, this thread is really about relationship issues rather than money and probably should have been posted in the relationship forum.

The last thread at which I'll look today is another one that was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "Why do people insist that their kid can always 'go to an Ivy for grad school?'", the original poster is bothered that many people don't seem to understand the value of undergraduate prestige and — incorrectly in the original poster's view — believe that attending graduate school at an top university can make up for attending a less prestigious undergraduate program. This thread is another one filled with stereotypes and prejudices. As seems to be a current trend in education, humanities degrees maligned with only degrees that lead to employment in a top firms meriting appreciation. To be sure, many of those responding object to this view and remind the original poster that not everyone has the same goals. At some point, much of the discussion turned to the mechanics of graduate programs and including such topics as who pays for them. The thread was continually hijacked by financial topics and it is easy to believe that knowledge and eduction lag far behind earning potential as a goal many of the posters have for a college degree. I removed nearly a page of posts discussing area housing prices. Basically, this thread provides a very depressing look into how some posters approach university education. It is a cold and heartless mindset where little beyond money is valued.