The Obsession With Top Schools Is Sad

[Anonymous]

This forum, r/ApplyingToCollege, CollegeConfidential, etc. is getting borderline depressing now. I understand it from the kids’ perspective, but to see parents falling over themselves because their kid got rejected from a school with an 8% acceptance rate is sad. Supposedly well-adjusted people “crashing out” over rejections from notoriously selective schools.

Learn that your kid isn’t special and that’s okay. Your kid, your family, etc. isn’t destined for greatness because they worked hard during high school. So did a majority of their classmates. You or your kid doesn’t deserve an elite school. You’re just another upper middle class family who is status obsessed who has nothing substantial to offer the world. American dream, whatever it was, never existed or just wasn’t accessible to you. Learn to grow up and teach your kids about life and reality.

When you sit down and watch this clamoring for four years of a person’s life, you realize how utterly stupid this all is. But no one wants to hear this because they think their kid is some savant for getting above a 1500 SAT. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

OK B o o m e r.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree but its just another example of an upper middle class arms race. Everyone is so afraid of keeping up with their neighbors and feeling inferior - its really sad. We learned this early with sports and its carried over to education in spades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum, r/ApplyingToCollege, CollegeConfidential, etc. is getting borderline depressing now. I understand it from the kids’ perspective, but to see parents falling over themselves because their kid got rejected from a school with an 8% acceptance rate is sad. Supposedly well-adjusted people “crashing out” over rejections from notoriously selective schools.

Learn that your kid isn’t special and that’s okay. Your kid, your family, etc. isn’t destined for greatness because they worked hard during high school. So did a majority of their classmates. You or your kid doesn’t deserve an elite school. You’re just another upper middle class family who is status obsessed who has nothing substantial to offer the world. American dream, whatever it was, never existed or just wasn’t accessible to you. Learn to grow up and teach your kids about life and reality.

When you sit down and watch this clamoring for four years of a person’s life, you realize how utterly stupid this all is. But no one wants to hear this because they think their kid is some savant for getting above a 1500 SAT. Give me a break.

Gotcha.

[Anonymous]

The College forum here completely reminds me of the college sports recruiting forum I used to read 20 years ago. I had to step away from that because grown adults getting so in the weeds and emotional about the stats of 18yos and rankings of various teams based on made up parameters was disturbing.

[Anonymous]

It is sad - you know why? It's status obsessed parents who can't stand it when Biff and Buffy at the club tell them that Biff Jr. and Mandy are both going to Princeton and you have to tell them your kids only got into Virginia Tech or JMU. They can't possibly stand the disgrace. Let the kid go somewhere in the real world and learn how to grind, not learn how to snobnob with the country club set on their way up the social ladder, making sure they lock down those Goldman jobs on Wall Street by making the right "connections".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum, r/ApplyingToCollege, CollegeConfidential, etc. is getting borderline depressing now. I understand it from the kids’ perspective, but to see parents falling over themselves because their kid got rejected from a school with an 8% acceptance rate is sad. Supposedly well-adjusted people “crashing out” over rejections from notoriously selective schools.

Learn that your kid isn’t special and that’s okay. Your kid, your family, etc. isn’t destined for greatness because they worked hard during high school. So did a majority of their classmates. You or your kid doesn’t deserve an elite school. You’re just another upper middle class family who is status obsessed who has nothing substantial to offer the world. American dream, whatever it was, never existed or just wasn’t accessible to you. Learn to grow up and teach your kids about life and reality.

When you sit down and watch this clamoring for four years of a person’s life, you realize how utterly stupid this all is. But no one wants to hear this because they think their kid is some savant for getting above a 1500 SAT. Give me a break.

Bitter?

[Anonymous]

It is just this site and the massive combo of wealth and anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Sorry you didnt get in <3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is just this site and the massive combo of wealth and anxiety.

True. Other parts of the country are not really like this. It'll filter out, though, sadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is just this site and the massive combo of wealth and anxiety.

Most on here aren’t wealthy, they are wannabe wealthy. Look, if your kid is bright enough to make it to the top 1% they can do it from anywhere. I did it from SUNY Oswego.

And med school isn’t the answer.

[Anonymous]

This forum is actually quite reasonable and realistic considering the wealth/status of most of it's participants. They don' try hard for Ivy just want decent schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum is actually quite reasonable and realistic considering the wealth/status of most of it's participants. They don' try hard for Ivy just want decent schools.

+1. Plus, this forum doesn’t represent many people in this area either. Most people I know are seeking scholarships/financial aid, and are going to lesser name schools on full rides, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is just this site and the massive combo of wealth and anxiety.

What are you anxious about? So long as you know how to make wealth, you’ll always make it. You can learn how to do this anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is sad - you know why? It's status obsessed parents who can't stand it when Biff and Buffy at the club tell them that Biff Jr. and Mandy are both going to Princeton and you have to tell them your kids only got into Virginia Tech or JMU. They can't possibly stand the disgrace. Let the kid go somewhere in the real world and learn how to grind, not learn how to snobnob with the country club set on their way up the social ladder, making sure they lock down those Goldman jobs on Wall Street by making the right "connections".

+ 1.