My kid (full pay but I wouldn't consider us rich) has close friends who are on financial aid (middle class - parents are educators, etc) and a close friend who is truly "rich." I don't think she has any close friends who are low income.

Completely stratified at my DC’s private college.

honestly, these experiments to add so many FGLI students to colleges seem like they are just failing, leaving the students to flail.

https://www.reddit.com/r/college/comments/1n950in/struggling_mentally_at_wealthy_college/

very stratified, less among athletes... but they are sort of their own strata.

This is the kind of diversity equity and inclusion that makes sense. Why don’t these colleges push more opportunities to commingle? They can easily offer a way to have kids mix and learn from one another rather than let them self segregate

Anonymous wrote:I have one at a $$ private and one at a state flagship. The SES groups are largely stratified at both schools with multiple tiers just like IRL. The exceptions: athletes and the super charismatic. At the flagship the SES tiers also tend to have groups of different racial/cultural backgrounds who stick together.

We're an MC family with 2 GS-12 feds. My DS was a non-revenue top recruit at an Ivy, and was the best player on the team. One of his best buddies, a non-athlete, was the son of a F100 CEO. DS regularly got invited to private parties, lavish vacations, and drove his friend's Porsche GTS. Rich kids want to hang out with athletes, according to DS, because athletes are perceived as cool, something that money can't buy.

My kid at a non-southern state school has no idea who is on financial aid. "Rich kid" activities like skiing are so heavily subsidized that they are within reach for almost everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stratified at both Ivy and SLAC. Many of the rich kids know each other (or of each other), even if from different high schools, before showing up on campus as first years.

I saw this happen this summer with my private school kid and was surprised. People connecting them in far away states - private school seems to have its own set of connections.

I can say from experience that this is true of the NYC private school crowd. The connections also extend through summer camp, sports and other ECs, and people who spend summers in the Hamptons.

Which is why I don’t understand people who aim for top schools thinking their random UMC kid is going to be hanging out with the rich.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one at a $$ private and one at a state flagship. The SES groups are largely stratified at both schools with multiple tiers just like IRL. The exceptions: athletes and the super charismatic. At the flagship the SES tiers also tend to have groups of different racial/cultural backgrounds who stick together.

I'm sorry but how can you possibly know this?

They should just say hot because rich kids are rarely impressed by poor kid charisma unless they are hot or talented in some way.

My SLAC did a decent job of mixing the students in dorms first year. There was some stratification sophomore year, with athletes choosing to dorm with teammates, but even that was limited. That was 30 years ago when there was a different mix of students (more athletes, less diversity of interests, less racial diversity). We need to return to the days of random roommate pairings.

My kid is at Michigan and I haven't seen this. Maybe it's too early, but they have friends from in-state and Cali, NJ and Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is actually THE primary reason I want my kids to attend top publics rather than private schools. We can easily afford either (and privates would probably give more merit apart from Ivies) but I started at a private and transferred to a top public because I did not like the “rich kid” vibe at all. YMMV.

At those publics, the rich kids find each other in the tony fraternities and sororities.

+1 My kid is at Michigan. Yes, it is VERY stratified. The kids from affluent areas on the coast (+rich Chicago suburbs) find each other- Greek life, Ross School of Business, etc. are are like a whole social scene unto themselves. They're not hanging with the kids from Beal City.

I've heard Michigan is one of the very worst.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is actually THE primary reason I want my kids to attend top publics rather than private schools. We can easily afford either (and privates would probably give more merit apart from Ivies) but I started at a private and transferred to a top public because I did not like the “rich kid” vibe at all. YMMV.

At those publics, the rich kids find each other in the tony fraternities and sororities.

+1 My kid is at Michigan. Yes, it is VERY stratified. The kids from affluent areas on the coast (+rich Chicago suburbs) find each other- Greek life, Ross School of Business, etc. are are like a whole social scene unto themselves. They're not hanging with the kids from Beal City.

Anonymous wrote:This is actually THE primary reason I want my kids to attend top publics rather than private schools. We can easily afford either (and privates would probably give more merit apart from Ivies) but I started at a private and transferred to a top public because I did not like the “rich kid” vibe at all. YMMV.

At those publics, the rich kids find each other in the tony fraternities and sororities.