Reply to The insanity of 1%er East Coast parents and college

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "The insanity of 1%er East Coast parents and college "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you think this is limited to the 1% you have blinkers on. [/quote]

True but the point is it’s most insane for the 1%ers. [/quote]

NO. It is easier for 1%. The degree to which it is "most insane" is entirely a dynamic they magic out of their own neuroses and has absolutely ZERO to do with actual limitations on their options.

The 1%ers who choose to go the route of massive donations or spending enormous sums on private school/test prep/college advising/etc. in order to guarantee their kids entry into one of a very narrow range of schools are just being stupid. That's it. It's a stupid game akin to the billionaires who compete over who has the biggest yacht. Only worse because in this scenario their children are the yachts and their educations are being used in a d*ck-measuring contest. Gross. But not actually that hard to opt out of. Just don't.[/quote]

We are in the top 1% or .5%. I grew up as a poor immigrant kid. I was equally focused, if not more, than my current high school student. Education was my ticket out of poverty. There was no back up plan. My rich kid can go to any school and will probably do fine.

Ambition and striving are popular to put down on DCUM. I wonder if this is what non ambitious say. I hear this in real life from adults who come from family money, but are unimpressive themselves or have unimpressive children. They call the achieving people strivers and look down on them.

I am proud of my achievements. I am proud of my children’s achievements. [/quote]

But we aren't talking about your children's achievements. We are talking about the insane efforts of 1%ers to get their kids into a small number of elite colleges by any means necessary, including (and in fact primarily), via parental effort and not student achievement.

Ambition and striving are not the same thing. Ambition is "I'm going to do as much as I can with what I have to achieve as much as possible." No one is criticizing ambition -- if your kids are ambitious I wish them well. Start companies, patent inventions, become leaders in business, law, politics, art, culture. I love ambitious people.

Striving is "I'm going to get myself or my child into XYZ elite institution because I believe that admission to these institutions will validate our family's social status as elite and better than others." I have zero respect for striving. It serves no useful purpose and people who drive themselves and their children crazy over striving are a cultural drag because their behavior divorces success from actual achievement or merit.

Best of luck to you and your kids.[/quote]

+1. Great explanation.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics