My child attends an elite college. It is overrated.

[Anonymous]

What a place of privilege you write from. Maybe that rubbed off on your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You think those kids going into consulting are only making $60k? Kind of makes me doubt the rest of your post, honey.

More misconceptions. Even at HYPS, Bain, McKinsey and Boston offers are scarce and extremely cutthroat. The bulk of the class will go onto places like PwC and other normal 9-5 gigs often branded as “consulting” — $60k offer is pretty average in that bucket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My only child goes to Northwestern. It was her choice. We are full pay. She is pre-med and struggles but is doing ok. She is surrounded by high achievers who care about learning and most are Liberals which is a nice change from her high school.

Never thought in a million years that NU (or really any college) is any kind of golden ticket. Not sure why any educated parent would think that.

NU is not elite. It's a run-of-the-mill good university. Not elite.

[Anonymous]

My kid got into a topo 20 university through connections. He has immense intellectual capacity and works hard, but has major learning disorders. I so wish he was going to JMU. I know he would gain more confidence, surround himself with grounded people, and find his way there. Instead, he'll be surrounded by more of the same, overly intense, unsupportive, striving jerks he's been in high school with for the last four years. He does not see it that way, just taking after his father and that side of the family, who puts elitism ahead of what's best.

[Anonymous]

My son is an athlete at a top university.

75% of his friends are insanely wealthy
He got an internship from a friends mother’s connection

His friends also seem really nice and smart

“Elite” colleges only require 4 classes a semester instead of 5 which is so much easier to manage .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is an athlete at a top university.

75% of his friends are insanely wealthy
He got an internship from a friends mother’s connection

His friends also seem really nice and smart

“Elite” colleges only require 4 classes a semester instead of 5 which is so much easier to manage .

What exactly is so special about the internship? Most people don’t understand there are so many tiers of finance, tech, and consulting. Getting a normal 9-5 job offer or internship from a friend’s parents is a really routine occurrence at hundreds of colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My only child goes to Northwestern. It was her choice. We are full pay. She is pre-med and struggles but is doing ok. She is surrounded by high achievers who care about learning and most are Liberals which is a nice change from her high school.

Never thought in a million years that NU (or really any college) is any kind of golden ticket. Not sure why any educated parent would think that.

NU is not elite. It's a run-of-the-mill good university. Not elite.

DP, and no affiliation to NU, but the fact that you go around hunting down threads that mention Northwestern on DCUM and spouting the same tired spiel over and over again is weird. Cut from the same cloth as the rabid UVA boosters on this forum (unless you're one of them which... I suppose would not surprise me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is an athlete at a top university.

75% of his friends are insanely wealthy
He got an internship from a friends mother’s connection

His friends also seem really nice and smart

“Elite” colleges only require 4 classes a semester instead of 5 which is so much easier to manage .

What exactly is so special about the internship? Most people don’t understand there are so many tiers of finance, tech, and consulting. Getting a normal 9-5 job offer or internship from a friend’s parents is a really routine occurrence at hundreds of colleges.

For us he applied to 25+ internships, hired at 1 then it was cancelled. He literally would not have one without the connection. He would be doing summer camps counselor... if they don’t get cancelled again. Also they asked what salary he expected and they offered him double. What even is that? Rich people world.

It routine at rich people lives not ours.

[Anonymous]

It’s routine*

[Anonymous]

Interesting data on percentage of students with families in the top 1% income and the bottom 60%. Note you can there is a box below a table on the first page where you can add any college to the table.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/upshot/some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60.html

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reminder, OP.
My entitled DD thinks she deserves $350k undergraduate education because she worked so hard in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My only child goes to Northwestern. It was her choice. We are full pay. She is pre-med and struggles but is doing ok. She is surrounded by high achievers who care about learning and most are Liberals which is a nice change from her high school.

Never thought in a million years that NU (or really any college) is any kind of golden ticket. Not sure why any educated parent would think that.

NU is not elite. It's a run-of-the-mill good university. Not elite.

DP, and no affiliation to NU, but the fact that you go around hunting down threads that mention Northwestern on DCUM and spouting the same tired spiel over and over again is weird. Cut from the same cloth as the rabid UVA boosters on this forum (unless you're one of them which... I suppose would not surprise me).

You go to college to pick up skills. No one's gonna hand you opportunities just because of college. Get real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My only child goes to Northwestern. It was her choice. We are full pay. She is pre-med and struggles but is doing ok. She is surrounded by high achievers who care about learning and most are Liberals which is a nice change from her high school.

Never thought in a million years that NU (or really any college) is any kind of golden ticket. Not sure why any educated parent would think that.

NU is not elite. It's a run-of-the-mill good university. Not elite.

DP, and no affiliation to NU, but the fact that you go around hunting down threads that mention Northwestern on DCUM and spouting the same tired spiel over and over again is weird. Cut from the same cloth as the rabid UVA boosters on this forum (unless you're one of them which... I suppose would not surprise me).

You go to college to pick up skills. No one's gonna hand you opportunities just because of college. Get real.

Did anyone claim this? No. You're projecting your own insecurities all over the place, and it's not flattering.

[Anonymous]

Any company that pays $100,000+ will want something in return. No one's gonna pay that kind of money because of a degree from XYZ. That's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's too early to tell or maybe she just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities (I suspect very few do) but it most certainly has not changed her life. The thing I do notice is overall a higher percentage of deeply committed pre-med students than my son's peers at the state flagship. Other than that there's this laughable idea that an elite college is a golden ticket to a $150,000 job offer and a rich spouse and that's just not accurate. The plum six-figure job offers are scarce and go to the connected and elbowy overachievers with perfect grades. And generally the rich socialize with the rich. If you want your child in that orbit they need to be in that orbit by 9th grade at some ritzy prep or boarding school.

I have a niece at Cornell who is close with my daughter and she has had a similar experience. At Cornell the rich are in the rich kid sororities and fraternities.

A few years back we were caught up in the admissions frenzy but in retrospect it seems so nutty. I'm [now] far more impressed with a parent who tells me their kid is at a less selective school but just got into medical school than some Ivy League parent who tells me their ubiquitous kid is going into "consulting" for $60,000 a year or some second rate grad program.

Where did your kid go?