Reply to Fighting for Fractions .. roughly 2% of college students go to a "top 30" school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why is everyone fighting so hard to get their kids into a "top 30-ish" school?

Less than 5% of college students attend a top 50 college. About 2.4% of college students in the US attend a top 30 college. Roughly 1% attend a "top 20" college. What is the point in fighting to be such a tiny fraction of college students.

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For internships and jobs after. For grad school, medical and law school placement. For the contacts one makes at such places.[/quote]

+1 and legacy status after. In my case, I was fortunate to get into Harvard for undergrad and worked hard and got into its law school. I met future presidents, congressman, roommates are household names, that sort of thing. That got me clerkships, which got me offers from top firms, which got me to the top of my field in interesting private and public positions. And now my DD is there. Yesterday I exchanged gifts and calls from H and HLS friends going way back. That’s why it matters. The experience made me a better person and better lawyer - one that could provide for a family and open doors for the next generation.[/quote]

The legacies at Harvard are kids who have been prepped since childhood to go there - prep school, tutors and obscure sports. They will not be innovators but will live to maintain the same life their parents have carved out for them. I really don't envy that life. My kids go to a prep school and I have seen these kids grow up and their whole existence has been about getting into Harvard and then some finance job. Then they will probably marry someone from there and continue the cycle. They hardly are better people.[/quote]

Agreed. We watched a Harvard alum groom their son through his entire upbringing to be admitted to Harvard.

The kid’s total childhood was a charade of parent-managed volunteer efforts that got documented in local newspapers and culminated in a volunteer effort in a poor country where the parents previously lived, again gratuitously documented online and through local media. None of it was revolutionary, life-changing or meaningful, but it artificially demonstrated leadership and compassion over many years.

The kid also went to an expensive private school, played a sport, and got recruited to Harvard to play that sport.

Yes, it all worked, but we saw the entire process play out; it was gross.

Our same-age kid went to a public school, took rigorous courses, got great grades, got a near-perfect SAT and was accepted ED to an elite LAC. [/quote]

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