Selingo WSJ Essay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who needs Selingo when the parents of DCUM know everything there is to know about colleges.

Frankly I think he misses the point a lot of the time. UMC families stress about elite schools because they fear their children are not going to be able to do as well as they did.

Example: Fictional Jones went to his alma mater, Ithaca College in the 90s. Came from modest means, worked hard in professional jobs, had some lucky breaks and did well. Both Mr and Mrs Jones are now in the professional class that has exposed them to the privileges of generational wealth, but they are not there. Since they teeter between both worlds, they see the huge benefits of having financially carefree friends, spouses and colleagues are, vs. having debt-strapped, drama filled of the same.

Do you think Jeff would be super excited about his kid trying to break into journalism these days without the benefits of access to wealth? Working at a local paper is much easier if your spouse comes from money, vs. has student loan debt and no professional connections.

Umm that is literally the entire point of the oped. That there are many ways for your kids to be fine. If you think your kid is going to fail because they go to UMD instead of Princeton you need to get ahold of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These articles focus on career “success” and not money “success”.

The insurance policy is that the graduates have rich friends and/or marry someone rich. How many parents on this board earned their 1% vs married their 1%? I am semi-successful professsionally from a meh-private college; my money comes from my husband’s family, not my career.

Both former low-income, heavily aided students who met at an ivy, went to med school at a different but top school, and earn top2%. Most of our adult friends are in medicine or law. About half came from no money and did not marry into significant (top-5%)money. We are younger than the ave college parents, just turned 50, college '97. Our friends are all similar. In fact the smartest two from '97 are a top lawyer and a research MD-phD.about 40% of my ivy was on need-based aid when I attended now it is 55%. parents on dcum who went to college in the 80s have a very different understanding of college compared to people from the late 90s. The legacy friends in my adult involved alum group are predominantly new to the top incomes, and were not legacies ourselves. My ivy absolutely changed my trajectory and it continues to do the same for a larger and larger portion of the undergraduate population.

People gravitate towards people like themselves.
I am going to take a guess that you didn't know anyone of generational wealth in college or grad school - because you don't know how to recognize it. While your ivy opened doors for your generation, the next generation will have a very hard time getting into an ivy because there is no pity party for children of ivy grads.
Many 1st gens that graduate into high salary figures think they have reached an UMC level of wealth but if it's not generational, the children will be wage slaves too trying to maintain the same lifestyle and similarly without any cushion.
Wealth has cushion, those kids can choose careers like art curator or non-profit work because they just need to get by. They don't need to save.

Nailed it.

We are not super wealthy but we have generational wealth (say $20-$25M NW and 1% salary). Kids are high achieving and will do well but there is a safety net for them that most just don’t have because they will never need to save for college expenses or housing down payments. Trusts will cover those things.

Nailed what? Yes you are rich. No it is not necessary to have $20 mil to lead a good life. No, your money does not guarantee your children will be happy and productive, much less your grandchildren. Nor does it prove that a kid going to UVA will never get to the same level you are at.

I only said that we aren’t desperate for Ivy+ schools as many seem to be because there is a safety net for my kids that most don’t have. I personally went to a Public school, not an elite private.

And I am saying you are delusional about your “safety net.” Acting like you have to have $25 mil to be “safe” otherwise you have to make sure your kid gets into Harvard is … deluded. And that is what the article/book says.

That is not at all what I said, you are trying to twist my words. I was pointing out that if you do not have to worry about saving for a down payment on a house when you are starting out or worry about how to save enough in a college fund to put your children through college you have a much wider set of career choices and you may have greater freedom of choice than others. The comment was about the fact that families with generational wealth often do not feel teh same pressuresd that others do when if comes to these schools.

So rich people have less financial pressure - you think this is some genius statement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These articles focus on career “success” and not money “success”.

The insurance policy is that the graduates have rich friends and/or marry someone rich. How many parents on this board earned their 1% vs married their 1%? I am semi-successful professsionally from a meh-private college; my money comes from my husband’s family, not my career.

Both former low-income, heavily aided students who met at an ivy, went to med school at a different but top school, and earn top2%. Most of our adult friends are in medicine or law. About half came from no money and did not marry into significant (top-5%)money. We are younger than the ave college parents, just turned 50, college '97. Our friends are all similar. In fact the smartest two from '97 are a top lawyer and a research MD-phD.about 40% of my ivy was on need-based aid when I attended now it is 55%. parents on dcum who went to college in the 80s have a very different understanding of college compared to people from the late 90s. The legacy friends in my adult involved alum group are predominantly new to the top incomes, and were not legacies ourselves. My ivy absolutely changed my trajectory and it continues to do the same for a larger and larger portion of the undergraduate population.

People gravitate towards people like themselves.
I am going to take a guess that you didn't know anyone of generational wealth in college or grad school - because you don't know how to recognize it. While your ivy opened doors for your generation, the next generation will have a very hard time getting into an ivy because there is no pity party for children of ivy grads.
Many 1st gens that graduate into high salary figures think they have reached an UMC level of wealth but if it's not generational, the children will be wage slaves too trying to maintain the same lifestyle and similarly without any cushion.
Wealth has cushion, those kids can choose careers like art curator or non-profit work because they just need to get by. They don't need to save.

Nailed it.

We are not super wealthy but we have generational wealth (say $20-$25M NW and 1% salary). Kids are high achieving and will do well but there is a safety net for them that most just don’t have because they will never need to save for college expenses or housing down payments. Trusts will cover those things.

Nailed what? Yes you are rich. No it is not necessary to have $20 mil to lead a good life. No, your money does not guarantee your children will be happy and productive, much less your grandchildren. Nor does it prove that a kid going to UVA will never get to the same level you are at.

I only said that we aren’t desperate for Ivy+ schools as many seem to be because there is a safety net for my kids that most don’t have. I personally went to a Public school, not an elite private.

And I am saying you are delusional about your “safety net.” Acting like you have to have $25 mil to be “safe” otherwise you have to make sure your kid gets into Harvard is … deluded. And that is what the article/book says.

That is not at all what I said, you are trying to twist my words. I was pointing out that if you do not have to worry about saving for a down payment on a house when you are starting out or worry about how to save enough in a college fund to put your children through college you have a much wider set of career choices and you may have greater freedom of choice than others. The comment was about the fact that families with generational wealth often do not feel teh same pressuresd that others do when if comes to these schools.

So rich people have less financial pressure - you think this is some genius statement?

If it was a genius statement you wouldn’t get it.

[Anonymous]

Let’s face it. We (top 1 percent DCUM) all say they will be fine wherever they go while secretly doing everything in our power to make sure it’s a top school. Even the kids try to undermine each other in school. It’s our ridiculous reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/the-elite-college-myth-268c4371?st=zZtGi8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Excerpt from his new book. His basic point is that career paths are more affected by personal ties, such as what region you come from, than the brand of the school. He claims that Ivy-plus outcomes are no different than highly ranked public universities such as Texas, UCLA and Ohio State (although I wouldn't put Ohio in that list, LOL) for most fields.

The problem, of course, is that in the DMV, desirable career paths are affected by the brand of the school, hence the worrying and lamentations on this board.

Didn't even need to read the behind a paywall article as the article's first page misspelled "Bucknell" as "Buckeyes" and, therefore, immediately lost its credibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s face it. We (top 1 percent DCUM) all say they will be fine wherever they go while secretly doing everything in our power to make sure it’s a top school. Even the kids try to undermine each other in school. It’s our ridiculous reality.

+1 much relief after mine got in. One more to go…matters more now that I see what an ivy provides as far as opportunities on campus and getting summer positions

[Anonymous]

Can't believe snake oil salesman crap is still alive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/the-elite-college-myth-268c4371?st=zZtGi8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Excerpt from his new book. His basic point is that career paths are more affected by personal ties, such as what region you come from, than the brand of the school. He claims that Ivy-plus outcomes are no different than highly ranked public universities such as Texas, UCLA and Ohio State (although I wouldn't put Ohio in that list, LOL) for most fields.

The problem, of course, is that in the DMV, desirable career paths are affected by the brand of the school, hence the worrying and lamentations on this board.

Just 6 % of all students attend a college that has an acceptance rate of </= 25%.

Perhaps parents should look beyond the top 50 colleges.

>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/the-elite-college-myth-268c4371?st=zZtGi8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Excerpt from his new book. His basic point is that career paths are more affected by personal ties, such as what region you come from, than the brand of the school. He claims that Ivy-plus outcomes are no different than highly ranked public universities such as Texas, UCLA and Ohio State (although I wouldn't put Ohio in that list, LOL) for most fields.

The problem, of course, is that in the DMV, desirable career paths are affected by the brand of the school, hence the worrying and lamentations on this board.

Didn't even need to read the behind a paywall article as the article's first page misspelled "Bucknell" as "Buckeyes" and, therefore, immediately lost its credibility.

What are you talking about? There is no mention of Bucknell or Buckeyes in the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/the-elite-college-myth-268c4371?st=zZtGi8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Excerpt from his new book. His basic point is that career paths are more affected by personal ties, such as what region you come from, than the brand of the school. He claims that Ivy-plus outcomes are no different than highly ranked public universities such as Texas, UCLA and Ohio State (although I wouldn't put Ohio in that list, LOL) for most fields.

The problem, of course, is that in the DMV, desirable career paths are affected by the brand of the school, hence the worrying and lamentations on this board.

Just 6 % of all students attend a college that has an acceptance rate of </= 25%.

Perhaps parents should look beyond the top 50 colleges.

>

6% is too high. There are 11MM students at 4 year colleges so that would mean 660k attend those colleges.

There are only like 80 colleges that fit this definition and the average size of the 80 is like 5000 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s face it. We (top 1 percent DCUM) all say they will be fine wherever they go while secretly doing everything in our power to make sure it’s a top school. Even the kids try to undermine each other in school. It’s our ridiculous reality.

+1 much relief after mine got in. One more to go…matters more now that I see what an ivy provides as far as opportunities on campus and getting summer positions

Same here. Agree entirely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s face it. We (top 1 percent DCUM) all say they will be fine wherever they go while secretly doing everything in our power to make sure it’s a top school. Even the kids try to undermine each other in school. It’s our ridiculous reality.

+1 much relief after mine got in. One more to go…matters more now that I see what an ivy provides as far as opportunities on campus and getting summer positions

Same here. Agree entirely

Finally! Honesty!

[Anonymous]

This weekend I was chatting with a neighbor who said they had a grandson at Bucknell and I couldn't hep but think to myself how much DCUM hates Bucknell, lmao.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This weekend I was chatting with a neighbor who said they had a grandson at Bucknell and I couldn't hep but think to myself how much DCUM hates Bucknell, lmao.

LOL

Very few heard of Bucknell and even fewer have any opinion on it. Most just dont care about some small obscure non-entity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This weekend I was chatting with a neighbor who said they had a grandson at Bucknell and I couldn't hep but think to myself how much DCUM hates Bucknell, lmao.

LOL

Very few heard of Bucknell and even fewer have any opinion on it. Most just dont care about some small obscure non-entity.

Your ignorance is showing.