taking this kid to Harvard is a bad idea, right?

[Anonymous]

Take him for a walk around campus ... grab a snack ... done! Keep it fun and light!

[Anonymous]

Sure! Visit MIT and any others.

[Anonymous]

So OP, you are essentially saying, taking any 9 year old kid to visit Harvard is a bad idea?

No, I disagree.

I'm trying to imagine my immigrant parents being told, "don't take your kid to Harvard because gee whiz, they may be triggered when they can't reach that lofty goal!"

LMAO

[Anonymous]

I wonder how these answers would change if the kid were 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So OP, you are essentially saying, taking any 9 year old kid to visit Harvard is a bad idea?

No, I disagree.

I'm trying to imagine my immigrant parents being told, "don't take your kid to Harvard because gee whiz, they may be triggered when they can't reach that lofty goal!"

LMAO

Your parents encouraged college dreams when you were 9?

[Anonymous]

I would go. I love colleges.

[Anonymous]

Of course, let him run around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So OP, you are essentially saying, taking any 9 year old kid to visit Harvard is a bad idea?

No, I disagree.

I'm trying to imagine my immigrant parents being told, "don't take your kid to Harvard because gee whiz, they may be triggered when they can't reach that lofty goal!"

LMAO

Your parents encouraged college dreams when you were 9?

Duh! You are talking about your own bubble.
My mom was helping take care of my 2 month old DD and whispering in her ear that she was going to be a cardiologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So OP, you are essentially saying, taking any 9 year old kid to visit Harvard is a bad idea?

No, I disagree.

I'm trying to imagine my immigrant parents being told, "don't take your kid to Harvard because gee whiz, they may be triggered when they can't reach that lofty goal!"

LMAO

Your parents encouraged college dreams when you were 9?

Duh! You are talking about your own bubble.
My mom was helping take care of my 2 month old DD and whispering in her ear that she was going to be a cardiologist.

NP

[Anonymous]

Regardless of where we are, if there is a notable college nearby, I will take my kids through it (10 & 7). We’re not doing anything beyond a stroll but I want them to have some reference of large/small, urban/rural, etc for when the college decision is upon us.

Pre-kids and post-college, I would walk around colleges when on vacation, so maybe it’s more for me than the kids.

[Anonymous]

Definitely go see the campus and especially the bookstore!

When I was nine, I wanted to go to Oxford. That changed. But my dream made me work hard in school.

[Anonymous]

You're way overthinking this - go and explore! It's a beautiful campus and who knows, maybe it will be a motivator for hard work in the future? Either way, it'll be a nice family outing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s 9. Sorry but you’re really overthinking this one.

Encouraging a child to dream of Harvard is irresponsible.

I'm not sure visiting the campus really qualifies as "encouraging a child to dream of Harvard", but regardless, encouraging a child to dream big dreams is not irresponsible.

If a kid dreams of being an astronaut, would you therefore explicitly avoid ever visiting Kennedy Space Center or going out to Wallops or visiting Udvar-Hazy or the Air & Space Museum on the mall or basically doing anything else that might even loosely support that dream, for fear that the odds of that child actually becoming an astronaut some day are too low? I hope the answer is "of course not".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s 9. Sorry but you’re really overthinking this one.

Encouraging a child to dream of Harvard is irresponsible.

I'm not sure visiting the campus really qualifies as "encouraging a child to dream of Harvard", but regardless, encouraging a child to dream big dreams is not irresponsible.

If a kid dreams of being an astronaut, would you therefore explicitly avoid ever visiting Kennedy Space Center or going out to Wallops or visiting Udvar-Hazy or the Air & Space Museum on the mall or basically doing anything else that might even loosely support that dream, for fear that the odds of that child actually becoming an astronaut some day are too low? I hope the answer is "of course not".

Huh. When you put it that way...

Though I suspect most kids who visit KSC just want to do something space-related, not necessarily be an astronaut.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars
-Peale

The heartbreak of not realizing high aspirations is not equal to striving for nothing and wasting your potential.
Your kid will survive even if he doesn't get into Harvard (even if he wanted to go) and in the meantime will have learned many valuable lessons about work.