Community college student Colby Seymore has gone online 26 times in the last three weeks, begging other students to rate his chances of transfer to UCLA or UC Berkeley.
With admission decisions from top institutions due in coming weeks, Seymore's chat room postings have become increasingly panicked: "I am antsy and have to know!! HELP?" and "I have the right grades . . . right?"
In a twist on the college admissions frenzy, thousands of students like Seymore are putting their test scores, grade-point averages and other stats on college discussion websites, hoping their peers will reassure them they're on their way to their dream schools. Many students already get most of their admissions tips online and say these "chance me" postings are a good way to blow off steam and to connect with other people in the same state of anticipatory freak-out.
But college counselors and admissions officers say some of the odds-making is laughably wrong. And some students are so tough on each other, they end up hurting instead of helping their peers at a particularly vulnerable time.
"It reminds me of the bar scene in the first 'Star Wars' movie," said Richard H.Shaw, director of admissions at Stanford University. "It's uncontrollable."
Websites where students can test their college chances include Yahoo Answers, City-Data.com and Mychances.net.
The most popular place for students to post their credentials is a discussion board called "What Are My Chances?" on the for-profit website CollegeConfidential. Roger Dooley, who co-founded the website in 2001, said it helps talented students without much support learn the ropes. Many on the site are trying to learn the secrets of getting into such elite universities as Harvard, MIT and Stanford, which draw enough "perfect" applicants to fill several classes of freshmen, he said.
"It's really unfortunate, but every year students apply to four or five Ivy Leagues after their teachers tell them, 'You're the best student we've had in years,' " Dooley said. "And at the end of the process, they have no admissions."
Students' postings are written in a ritualized vernacular: "Chance me, I'll chance you back." Clubs, sports, volunteer work and leadership positions are "ECs" -- extracurricular activities. A "match" is a good bet, a "safety" is a fallback, a "reach" is a stretch -- but a "hook" could get you in.
