Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in a "top" sorority of one of the Texas colleges mentioned and my sister at the other, as were my cousins and tons of friends, including family friends there now so I know the scene pretty well. Yes, there are plenty of kids who are crazy rich, but they are definitely in the minority. You get to know them and their crazy lifestyles stand out and are memorable. There are also plenty of kids who have "wealthy" parents, but not super-wealthy, but again, they're not in the majority. The majority of students in the top sororities/fraternities (and these still rule the social scene) are UMC and do not have Chanel bags, luxury cars or haute couture. Their parents are doctors and lawyers who do well but will never own their own jet but perhaps have enough to give daughter a LV Neverfull (more likely, Tory Burch or along those lines) for Christmas.

To put it in perspective, 40% of students at SMU receive need-based FA.

And wealth will not get you into a sorority. Many kids transfer to a different school after rush because they can't get in.

You cannot be talking about SMU though. Most of the girls in my sorority had multiple designer bags. And by "designer" I mean, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Fendi, Gucci, etc, not Tory Burch or (God forbid) Michael Kors.

Most That wasn't my experience- the multiple designer bag types were present but still in the minority. Granted, it was almost 15 years ago and people are flashier now. The girls I know there today are mostly "God forbid" the more Tory Burch types.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in a "top" sorority of one of the Texas colleges mentioned and my sister at the other, as were my cousins and tons of friends, including family friends there now so I know the scene pretty well. Yes, there are plenty of kids who are crazy rich, but they are definitely in the minority. You get to know them and their crazy lifestyles stand out and are memorable. There are also plenty of kids who have "wealthy" parents, but not super-wealthy, but again, they're not in the majority. The majority of students in the top sororities/fraternities (and these still rule the social scene) are UMC and do not have Chanel bags, luxury cars or haute couture. Their parents are doctors and lawyers who do well but will never own their own jet but perhaps have enough to give daughter a LV Neverfull (more likely, Tory Burch or along those lines) for Christmas.

To put it in perspective, 40% of students at SMU receive need-based FA.

And wealth will not get you into a sorority. Many kids transfer to a different school after rush because they can't get in.

You cannot be talking about SMU though. Most of the girls in my sorority had multiple designer bags. And by "designer" I mean, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Fendi, Gucci, etc, not Tory Burch or (God forbid) Michael Kors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty hard to think they are, given that Mississippi is the poorest state in the country.

Mississippi has an extreamly high poverty rate. It's heart-breaking. But there are also people with more family money than you can imagine.

Anonymous wrote:I was in a "top" sorority of one of the Texas colleges mentioned and my sister at the other, as were my cousins and tons of friends, including family friends there now so I know the scene pretty well. Yes, there are plenty of kids who are crazy rich, but they are definitely in the minority. You get to know them and their crazy lifestyles stand out and are memorable. There are also plenty of kids who have "wealthy" parents, but not super-wealthy, but again, they're not in the majority. The majority of students in the top sororities/fraternities (and these still rule the social scene) are UMC and do not have Chanel bags, luxury cars or haute couture. Their parents are doctors and lawyers who do well but will never own their own jet but perhaps have enough to give daughter a LV Neverfull (more likely, Tory Burch or along those lines) for Christmas.

To put it in perspective, 40% of students at SMU receive need-based FA.

And wealth will not get you into a sorority. Many kids transfer to a different school after rush because they can't get in.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty hard to think they are, given that Mississippi is the poorest state in the country.

Anonymous wrote:I come from old southern money. Cotton on my daddy's side. Lumber on my mother's. My parents have a beautiful home, but certainly nothing enormous. My mother drives a nice but not flashy car. My daddy has a truck. They travel quite a bit and give a ton of money to their church. Families in the south with old money don't talk about it. Ever. Everyone knows we have money because of our name. It would never, ever be the topic of conversation. If you met my parents in D.C. you would have no idea they had money. That's just the way they are.

The majority of students at Ole Miss- you know, the college dcum loves to put down - have more money than you could possibly imagine. Especially the ones from the Delta. Rich kids in Mississippi have no interest in going to an Ivy no matter how great their SATs and grades. They go to Ole Miss.

No one who knows me in Fairfax has any idea how wealthy my family is. I was raised never to discuss money...except on an anonymous internet board

Anonymous wrote:There is a big distinction between Texas wealth vs old money wealth in charleston, Nola, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the Texas schools you mention and can tell you, there's a huge, wide range of wealth. Yes, there are many billionaires and multimillionaires in the state (and in the South); however, there is also a huge phenomenon of what I've heard called the "$200,000 millionaires." Meaning, people who make around $200K, probably a little more, and live like they're really wealthy. For example, growing up, our neighbor's house was worth about $500K (probably worth about $1.2M now), but he owned three Ferraris. Perhaps he bought a much cheaper house than he could afford, but seeing this kind of thing was pretty common.

I live in Dallas, and while the $200k millionaire makes sense, the thing you hear more often is the $30k millionaire. Totally a different thing, but the $30k millionaire is the one you hear about most down here. Young, preppy, douchey people who make 30k at their first job out of school and are living high on the hog either supported by mommy & daddy or racking up debt.

I will say, I'm a transplant from Chicago to Dallas, and the Dallas area is for SURE more flashy. Much more conspicuous consumption, more mid-range luxury cars on the road than I've ever seen anywhere else (so many Lexus SUVs it will be hard to find yours in a parking lot - no joke), more shopping, more eating out, etc.

Now, it is completely dependent on which areas you live in, and of course any city is like that to an extent. But it is much more widespread in the Dallas area.

For the poster from Plano, I'm in a suburb right next to you - maybe we should start a DFWUM! There certainly would be no shortage of discussion topics. The city-data boards are decently active for Dallas but the overall experience is nothing like DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread.

I live in Plano, and I wish so much there was a DFW Urban Moms and Dads

That's an oxymoron. There is nothing "urban" about Plano.