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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is Idris' dad a lot older than his mom? He looked old from the beginning and she looked really young.[/quote]
I went to law school with her twenty years ago. She was probably in her very early thirties at the start of the film.[/quote]

[b]Was she that intense in law schoo[/b]l?

The interesting thing about her is that she hasn't seemed to age one year from the beginning of the documentary till now.[/quote]
It was Columbia Law School. We were all intense. Some were more intense than others, but she didn't strike me as an outlier.[/quote]

And I bet she isn't an outlier in her parenting either.  Most parents I know who have similar backgrounds as hers have children who do well in school - at least the same as the parents - which in these cases mean outstanding.   Poor Idris, not easy being the child of parents like that, especially when you are an average student.[/quote]

I agree with the PP. I'm also a graduate of Columbia grad school. And it IS intense. And WE were intense.

However, I disagree that these parents have children who do well in school. Some of us do; many of us do not. Many of us are okay with our "average" children. We're probably alike in our desires and dreams for our children. What parent (Ivy or not) doesn't want wonderful children who excel academically without struggling? The difference is that many of us accept the reality of who our children are. Many Ivy parents will tell you, "That's not my kid. I don't see an ivy in his future." and adjust their expectations. The Michele Stephenson-Brewsters of the world, however, try to force their square children into circles, leading to children who feel unworthy and incompetent with lowered self-esteem.[/quote]

The ones with academically struggling children aren't the ones that shows up at reunions and other events.  It seems like every parent who shows up at my Ivy reunions have kids who are at the same Ivy, another Ivy or Stanford.  Same thing at social events:  You only hear about the kids who are going to Harvard Law.  Certainly no one should force their square children into round pegs but the pressure to have the same high achieving kids is enormous and yeah, I felt bad about what they were doing to Idris but understood.  It's incredibly difficult being a go-getter and ultra competitive your entire life and then having to put it aside.

That scene where the parents were conducting "practice" college interviews with Idris:  OMG![/quote]

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