Reply to Fascinating article from the WSJ re the methods of an "elite" college counseling firm

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s interesting to me how openly cynical the founder of Crimson is.  I suppose it’s capitalism at work,  but turning a kid into a luxury good to be purchased does feel icky to me,  personally.  And a bit sad.  [/quote]

I know.  That was the worst thing about the article.

[b]The founder seemed like a really motivated bright guy and all he's doing with his talent is groom rich kids to get into Ivies[/b] with maybe a small pro bono angle along the way.

It's sad to think about how structured these kids' lives must be.  I spent a lot of my youth reading about anything and everything I was interested in.  This process turns kids into mini-adults before they are done growing.[/quote]

I presume he owns probably 30% or more of a company with a $550MM valuation (article said that was the valuation of last funding round).

[/quote]

The fact that he has made a lot of money on paper does not mean he is contributing much value to society.

Are the counseling jobs adding valuable productivity to the economy? How many new jobs?

Has he invented anything patentable?

Is he applying his talent for public policy and education to change lives on a scale that impacts the broader society?

Seems to me like he's running a big 50/50 lottery for a chance to get a prestige undergrad degree.  With a side of tutoring and life coaching.

[/quote]

You can make the same claims about 95% of commercial enterprises.  His company is satisfying a market demand and providing jobs.

He has set up 26 offices in 21 countries, acquired five counseling businesses that he remade to implement his strategy and built an accredited online high school, which now has 2,000 students. The company employs 850 full-time staff, and has another 3,000 part-time tutors.

Too many government/NPO/academia folks on DCUM.  I know you find capitalism distasteful.[/quote]

PP.  I don't find capitalism distasteful.  I find certain industries distasteful/wasteful.[/quote]

I bet you find a large percentage of industries distasteful/wasteful…fast food, processed food, tobacco, maybe alcohol, payday loans, social media…the list is probably extensive.

In the scheme of things, a company that takes money only from wealthy people such as this kid’s company, is probably less distasteful than most that prey on people with less means.[/quote]

Dp.  This guy sacrificed his whole youth to build a company that has other young people sacrifice their youth to attain the goal of attending one of a set of select colleges.  Presumably to earn professional degrees where they then sacrifice their twenties to work in unforgiving industries like big law or consulting.   For what?  To be rich but never have attended a party in college?  Wtf is that?  You get one life, this is how they spend it?  Unreal. Talk about missing the forest for the trees. [/quote]

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