Reply to How many people have read "Excellent Sheep" by William Deresiewicz and agree with his theory?

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Reply to "How many people have read "Excellent Sheep" by William Deresiewicz and agree with his theory?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I did, and I do. That said, my kid is only 11 so I'm seeing the rat race he describes only in its early stages. But as someone who went to a fancy school and married someone who went to a not very "good" state school, I can say that it makes not one whit of a difference in our life happiness. I no longer see a point in aiming my child toward the kind of college I went to. If that is what he wants and drives toward it, fine. But we'll be sure he understands he will have an equally good life going to any one of 300 other colleges in the country, and that we'll be equally proud of him.[/quote]

I completely agree. I went to a fancy prep school for high school, and fancy schools for undergrad and grad school. DH went to a strong public HS (which he despised, and graduated a year early to escape it), a strong public university (think the "public ivies") for undergrad, and state schools for both his MAs. He makes 4 times what I do and has better street smarts/ability to navigate workplace politics. I probably have a deeper knowledge of literature and the nitpick parts of grammar than he does, but is that worth massive amounts of money and stress? Probably not.

We have a similar view as PP on this. If our daughter (who is still very young) wants to go to the HS I went to, we won't stop her from applying. Luckily the school has need-blind admissions, so they'll meet all demonstrated financial aid needs. But I'll make it very clear to her that going to my HS (or something like it) is not an expectation, and that she can succeed regardless. [/quote]

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