Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

American-based forum like Mumsnet. US mumsnetters or anyone else?

42 replies

KeepTwirling · 30/09/2021 14:51

Does anyone know of any? Would really like to join one.

I have a lot of family in the US but we've never talked about forums, let alone mumsnet. So I want to ask those who're already here and know what I'm talking about.

Thanks.

OP posts:
MissConductUS · 30/09/2021 20:08

@Delphigirl

Ooh thanks *@MissConductUS*!

So are these in the right order for a politics student who wants something totally different than his large city centre uni in the UK, but academically rigorous? Pitzer, UVA, Northeastern, Maryland College Hill, George Washington?

I'd go in this order
  • Northeastern. Boston is a fabulous small city and also an easy flight from the UK.
  • George Washington
  • UVA
  • Maryland College Hill
  • Pitzer

Some of this comes down to personal preferences, like the size of the uni and part of the country it is located in.

My son's uni is right outside of Boston and it's been a great location for him. It's a very safe, lovely old city with so much to see and do. If you can possibly do Northeastern or GW, they are head and shoulders above the rest of your options.

choli · 30/09/2021 20:17

I too highly recommend both Northeastern and Boston. Excellent public transportation as well.

Original poster
KeepTwirling · 30/09/2021 20:53

what was so funny about the fish and chips? The patients were demanding it. grin

No it was unexpected for me to read. It just made me laugh thinking of the meeting they had before they decided to add it. I can imagine there was a demand for it and it's nice that they did add it to the menu.Smile

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families
Delphigirl · 30/09/2021 20:56

Interesting! We know Boston v well and he has good friends there so that is a plus certainly. I’ve heard a lot that’s good about Northeastern. He likes Pitzer because (a) California (b) couldn’t be more different from a UK uni in size and setup and ethos (c) few trump supporters. Also we have close friends who are profs at CalTech who will be nearby which is nice. Is there any reason you would put it last? GW is great for politics but a big city uni like his UK uni. UVA he is worried might be a bit preppy and Greek for him. Hmmm.

FedUpAtHomeTroels · 30/09/2021 21:00

I used to be on Parenting.com - very mainstream
Mothering.com back when it was paret of Mothering magazine - more granola
breastfeeding.com that has completly dissapeared.

MissConductUS · 30/09/2021 21:15

@Delphigirl

Interesting! We know Boston v well and he has good friends there so that is a plus certainly. I’ve heard a lot that’s good about Northeastern. He likes Pitzer because (a) California (b) couldn’t be more different from a UK uni in size and setup and ethos (c) few trump supporters. Also we have close friends who are profs at CalTech who will be nearby which is nice. Is there any reason you would put it last? GW is great for politics but a big city uni like his UK uni. UVA he is worried might be a bit preppy and Greek for him. Hmmm.
I've done some research on Pitzer and it's a better college (American usage) than I thought. He's not going to find a lot of Trump supporters at Northeastern either. Northeastern is fairly well known outside of the US and I don't think you can say that about Pitzer. But if he really wants Pitzer it's not a bad choice. I didn't realize they were part of the Claremont consortium. That's a big plus.

I'd still take Boston over suburban Los Angeles.

I think he's right about UVA. It also has a reputation as a big party school.

Delphigirl · 30/09/2021 21:26

Thanks that’s really helpful @MissConductUS. Yes he can take classes across the whole claremont consortium as a year abroad student, not limited at all. He Has to make his choices shortly but will probably get one of his top 2 as they prioritise by class position and somehow he finds himself at the top (yay) so I will get him to look more closely at Northeastern. Really appreciate it!

AllosaurusMum · 30/09/2021 21:34

Babycenter.com is similar for US moms.

Original poster
KeepTwirling · 30/09/2021 21:53

I used babycenter a long time ago but didn't think to check if they have a forum. Thanks @AllosaurusMum . I've just looked and it's looking pretty mumsnetty-ish. I don't need the baby/pregnancy/children bit as we're past that stage nowSmile

OP posts:
gofg · 30/09/2021 21:59

I wish there was an American equivalent too. Most people here are lovely, but anti-Americanism surfaces fairly regularly and no one bats an eye at it. There's also a tendency to pile on in those threads with people trying to one-up each other telling horror stories about life in the US.

It's the same for those of us in Australia/NZ.

MissConductUS · 30/09/2021 22:49

It's the same for those of us in Australia/NZ.

Thanks, gofg, that's good to know. Odd how no one feels the need to rubbish brutal dictatorships, just former colonies. Grin

@Delphigirl - I'm sure he will have a great year if he decides to go to Pitzer, and congratulations on his academic achievements! My son is in his last year and thanks to an internship he did last fall, he already has a full time job offer for when he graduates next spring. He'll be in Boston, but that's fine with us. It's about a four-hour drive from us and we have lots of family in the area. We will miss him though.

Delphigirl · 30/09/2021 23:12

Hey that’s fantastic, well done your son! It’s so lovely when they set off into adult life - well done mama GrinStar

Bonheurdupasse · 30/09/2021 23:35

Reddit
Breaking mom subreddit

MouseholeCat · 01/10/2021 00:16

I'm in the US and use Reddit for a lot of pregnancy and parenting stuff. I actually prefer it to Mumsnet (sorry!) as the format it much better for chatting. I wish Mumsnet allowed downvoting too. It's skews towards US but is international.

r/parents, r/sciencebasedparenting, r/newparents, r/breakingmom, r/moderatelygranolamoms are all good.

MissConductUS · 01/10/2021 15:05

Thanks, @Delphigirl. We're really proud of him. He was language delayed and really struggled in primary school, so the fact that he's gone on and done so well in uni makes it very special for us.

SenecaFallsRedux · 01/10/2021 15:18

I'm American. I joined MN about 10 years ago after finding it when searching a particular topic. I don't really think there is anything US based that is close to the breadth of subjects discussed on MN.

I agree that there is anti-Americanism on MN, but I also think on the whole it is welcoming. As to the misconceptions, yes, they abound (healthcare and vacation leave chief among them, for sure), but it can actually be fun to engage with people on those subjects.

Many Americans have lots of downright hilarious misconceptions about the UK, of course, but fewer of those are on MN. Lots of us have connections with the UK; in my case, it was university.

Original poster
KeepTwirling · 01/10/2021 19:31

Thank you all for the recommendations.SmileStar

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page