<p>It's only a matter of time before they make this book into a movie.... Thankfully, PhotographerDad has had me laughing all morning with hilarious film titles.</p>
<p>What an interesting - and cautionary - tale. It can be so hard as a parent to discern the fine line between “supporting” and “enabling,” “protecting” and “imprisoning.”</p>
<p>I know, like all of us, the parents mentioned in the article truly love their children and want the best for them. As my senior DD works on her college essays and apps, it’s good to be reminded that I need to step back and let her truly own this process, and let her voice shine through.</p>
<p>@mountainhiker “I know, like all of us, the parents mentioned in the article truly love their children and want the best for them.”</p>
<p>I think this is a very important point to remember. So tired of all the articles and commentary on how the rich “stunt” their children. We probably all overreach at times, but it is done with the best of intentions. Most of us have the ability to self-critique, catch ourselves and take a step back. But I try not to judge those who approach parenting in a different manner. If you look at the college admission landscape you will discern pretty quickly that EVERY interest group is using whatever advantages they have working in their favor. I would submit that the advantage of having resources is pretty low on the totem pole these days.</p>
<p>This shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Seriously, how many of us can donate buildings? Not many. So majority still get in on their own merits. Even if they get in with influence, they still need to do the required college work.</p>
<p>The stories seem fairly blah to me. </p>
<p>In the poor-little-rich-kid genre:</p>
<p>Schooled, by Anisha Lakhani
Academy X, by Andrew Trees
Both authors taught in New York private schools. Andrew Trees seems to have lost his job as a consequence of his novel.</p>
<p>On raising children well, despite the temptations of affluence:</p>
<p>Too Much of a Good Thing, by Dan Kindlon
The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, and The Blessing of a B Minus, by Wendy Mogel</p>
<p>The publisher’s doing a great job on publicity. One note, though, on this passage:
</p>
<p>Guess what? The Cabot and Peabody families didn’t die out. I gather from context the newspaper writer thought the names would be taken as the equivalent of “Jane Doe.” I’m pretty sure there are Miss Cabots and Mr. Peabodys applying to college nowadays too. Oops.</p>
<p>Plenty of these kinds of kids/families at DS’s school. His NYC classmates all seem to have had incredible internships this summer, obtained via parents’ connections. Was surprised to learn how many of them have private college counselors. These same kids were shocked to learn from him that he did not have a private consultant nor SSAT tutor to help him get into the boarding school.</p>
<p>Last year, one of the seniors got off an Ivy WL after the parents donated a building. I told DS not to hold his breath waiting for me to do the same, lol.</p>
<p>Just goes to show that one should not pick a BS because of its Ivy matriculation rate.</p>
<p>
Very true. The stories of “the rich and powerful” gaming the system are good novel material, but one has to remember when reading them this is just one very small group’s way of of “using whatever advantages they have working in their favor”. The Ivy or top school admit/matriculation rates in top schools are indeed distorted by these scenarios but not by as much as popularly imagined. Just think in your child’s class, how many kids are on financial aid, how many are well-rounded kids with solid stats, and how many are kids from humble background but with special talents… It’s really just a small fraction that would and could use their wealth and connections to get their kids in a prep school in which they know they don’t belong and would struggle. And it’s a fraction of that small fraction that would be able to do so in top college admission. Yes, you’d hear a lot of such stories but when down to one particular school, it is not a significant factor that contributed to the whole matriculation picture. </p>
<p>The high Ivy+/top college admit/matriculation rate in top prep schools is the result of a combination of widespread interest in these schools among the students and families, a self select group of candidates that have already been rigorously screened, the academic and social life preparation of its students known and desired by the top colleges and a good college counseling department, and last but not least the fact that “EVERY interest group is using whatever advantages they have working in their favor.”</p>