Tell me about your *average* student at W-L

[Anonymous]

Also, there is lunch, PE, electives, etc. spanish isn't the only class where your special snowflake would mix with the non intensified kids.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:LOL this brings back memories of when our oldest was a junior and only taking one non-AP class in the core subjects.

On back to school night every class we went to was packed with anxious parents with lots of questions -- except that class. For that class, we were the only ones who showed up.

Umm ok, are you laughing at parents in this situation?

Yea, pretty much. And laughing at ourselves. What a waste of time. The bad parents had it right.

The “bad” parents? The ones who may have been working two (or more) jobs to support their families?

I think PP is actually making a point about the futility and self-importance of so-called “good” parents.

Yes, that was my point exactly. So much wasted time . . .

Why do you feel this way?

I don't want to hijack OP's thread . . . but since you asked, with the benefit of hindsight everything just seems sooo important at the time but really it's all such bullshit. The PTAs, the back-to-school nights, the obsessing over which school is "better," test scores, teachers, blah blah blah. In the end none of it makes a bit of a difference. The kids end up fine regardless.

Couldn’t agree more with this. To the other poster who said some parents may still feel all the angst is worth it - fine. Do what feels right to you. But if your gut is telling you that all this seems really over the top: it is.

I have two kids who went to W&L. One graduated 4 years ago, one 7 years ago. One went to a top college one went to a mid-tier. We parented the same way - they were just different kids. For the kid who went to a mid-tier, guess what? He’s three years out of undergrad and very, very successful. The reason I think he is (even though he wasn’t a great student in high school) is that we let him find his own path. He took hard classes if he liked the subject and easy ones if he didn’t. And that was fine. He puts effort in when he likes something and he pursued a career in something he likes and he’s excelling. AND he has excellent interpersonal skills. Which I think he learned by being in classes with all sorts of people.

Please let your kids start to direct their lives once they are high school age. Your failing to let them take ownership will probably cause more failure than whatever specific classes they take. I know a lot of kids who have graduated from top colleges - driven there by their parents - who aren’t working now or have terrible jobs. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The kids don’t have ownership of their lives and as a result not a lot of direction/drive to know what they want to do.