Reply to Ever leave the DMV and see successful people who aren't this T20 college obsessed and wonder?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm spending the summer at the beach in south NJ.  
I'm surrounded by grads from Villanova, St. Joes, Lasalle, Temple, Drexel etc.  I knew them in passing (they're neighbors of my in-laws beach house) but now am immersed in their world. 
They're all successful: doctors, business owners, many work in the pharmaceutical industry, etc. 
[b]These schools (especially the Catholic ones) have REALLY tight alumni networks[/b].  I'm always sitting on the beach next to a group of 3 or 5 families who met at St. Joes or Villanova. 
Some are from the area, some came to these schools for elsewhere for college. 
They're well-off, happy, successful.  Some of them own a beach house, some are renting.

Meanwhile in the fall I"ll return to my DC house.  My kids will return to their Big3 high school where they do 4 hours of homework a night in the hopes of getting in somewhere like Chicago 
where they can do 4 more hours of homework a night.

Ever leave the DMV and see people (and their kids) living a MUCH nicer life than you are here and then wonder what the heck you are putting your kids through?  
4 years of stressing about grades to get into a top university (example again--Chicago, Wash U, Cornell, wherever) which probably has half the quality of life of many other colleges so they can work really hard
for another 4 years?  And meanwhile kids all over are living much easier lives and coming out at the SAME place in life.   :cry:

My kids' course is set. I'm not pulling them out and we're not moving (they're in high school).  They'll end up battling it out for a top 30 university admission because that is what is done at their Big3 school. 
But if I had a do-over I really think I would.  
[/quote]

[b]These are the wealthy children of other doctors/business owners, and they are replicating their parents lifestyle.  [/b]

Those folks who are obsessed with T20 are about advancing their children beyond their own class (in our case, we grew up LMC, are DCUM MC (barely UMC on a good day), and hope for our kids to be UMC and have such luxuries as getting to SAH and have short commutes, etc).

[/quote]

OP here.  I beg to differ.  If anything, far more in this world have blue collar roots than my world in the DMV.  For example, a dad who worked in the construction industry (not as a laborer but not as a company owner or executive) or who was a CPA (not blue collar job but by no means an executive).  
They grew up middle class.  Real middle class--not DCUM $400K/year middle class.[/quote]

And what about their spouse’s family?  And seriously, a CPA is generally very comfortable. [/quote]

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