@ceilingroofgoat if that family thinks that is a priority, of course they can. Why on Earth not? It’s a one time expense, much like a family vacation.
@OHMomof2 Are you anywhere near that income level?
Because after tax, mortgage, food, cars, utilities, cable, etc. there is no money for that. Especially if the family has multiple children. I suppose a family could technically do it and go into debt, but that doesn’t imply that a family should or would do it. My family earns more than that and they can barely pay the bills, let alone blow $10,000 on a “consultant”
So your family makes different choices. You can pull $10k away from a home or car choice pretty easily if that is what you think is important. I personally wouldn’t but that hardly means such a family cannot.
I think I have a pretty good “concept of reality” as you put it, and the reality is, they can if they want to.
I never thought she was saying it’s common everywhere. What she did say was the cost of living is lower in her area. That was a starting point, the context. Make sense to me.
And people will make the discretionary choices that matter to them. I doubt that’s a 10k consultant, but that’s not the specific point, we’re on some sidebar.
Do the wealthier have advantages over the poorer? Of course. Is it a given that those choices make their kids better able to get into top tier colleges? Of course not. CC has got to have shown you that being rich doesn’t mean kids can think. Nor that they know the first thing about the colleges they apply to.
The real advantage is the sorts of support that- maybe- those parents can give, the way they shape dreams and show how the ladder is climbed. I daresay most of us here have well-mentored our kids. But don’t ignore that many lower SES kids (the sort applying to top tier) are also being mentored, some for a number of years, some with good teachers and more.