I got a 77. I am not sure how accurate it is for us who grew up in a different country. Some of the questions had very US centric answers too, which is understandable since it’s about the American dream, I guess.
3 Likes
53–seems right
If they were to take the quiz, perhaps their scores would be much higher than yours.
I was a 63. I am benefitted by growing up in a stable 2 parent household in a safe neighborhood with good schools, and my parents valued (public) education.
1 Like
78
meh
6 Likes
I doubt it. For example, I answered the questions as best as I could for my father when he was my age. He grew up in poverty, in an abusive household. As a child he had manual labor jobs, such as picking blueberries, to help with expenses. His father was kind of like a toned down version of Frank Gallagher – alcoholic, finding ways to get paid without working such as medical injury, etc. This led to moving ~20 different times, divorce, etc. Both of his parents did not attend college and actively discouraged him from attending college, as did his HS, and others in the community. Nevertheless, he eventually graduated form college, paying entirely himself by working a variety of jobs, sometimes more than 1 at a time. After college, he was drafted and served overseas in military, during which he suffered significant health issues that still impact him today. I estimate that he would score 63%.
My father had to overcome tremendously more challenging situations than I did, yet my score was 21% higher. The difference relates to things like context and lack of granularity. Number of yes/no type boxes checked doesn’t tell you degree of severity. Context is also important. For example, my father worked 2 jobs because he had to out of financial necessity. I worked 2 jobs because I started a successful website that grew to become a small Internet company, while initially choosing to keep my day job as an engineer, as a safety measure. Both of us checked the 2 job box, but the context and implied degree of financial hardship is completely different.
4 Likes
77 for me; 59 for my kids. DH is likely high 60s/low 70s. I am a pell grant kid w some family of origin struggles; DH is a first gen. We met in college and are grateful for the T10 undergrad education we received, and the financial aid.
We worked hard to make a decidedly easier path for our kids, and they worked very hard to also attend T10 universities, but we don’t have the benefits of generational wealth(that some questions allude to).
2 Likes
Mine is 67 which I think is an overstatement. My parents gave me a stable home where basis needs were met well but it was firmly a lower middle class lifestyle and I grew up abroad which means that none of that stability really translated into a meaningful advantage when I immigrated to the US. I literally had to work myself from the ground up.
1 Like
My score is 53, even after I changed a few responses and took it again. One of the questions I answered differently was whether or not I had a quality preschool experience. I attended a nursery school for one year before K, I think mostly because I just missed the school start birthday cutoff by a few weeks and my mother was getting overwhelmed with my younger sibs. Was it a “quality preschool,” though? It was strictly play-based. Would that be considered “quality”?
- It seemed right to me. I grew up very modestly— dad was a teacher and mom stayed at home, but we never went without. Despite our modest income we lived in a nice, safe town with good schools. We were fortunate that we never had any serious family issues like divorce, health problems etc. The main negative factor one was my gender and birth decade.
1 Like
60, but I think it’s underestimating some of my advantages. There wasn’t any question about both my parents having graduate degrees, or about going to private school from preK-12, or about getting elite college and law school degrees with no debt. I grew up in a diverse urban neighborhood with rough edges, which I view as a privilege, but compared to fancy suburbs, it wasn’t that safe and didn’t have such great public schools. Not that it affected me, since I was in private school anyway!
My kids had higher scores than I did, likely due to their & my chronic health issues. The scores are still fairly low, 60 and mid-60s as they had intact family in good neighborhood and a lot of support to succeed.
53 for me, too, which is no surprise. Unlike my parents, I tried to convey to my children that they were “53s”, too, and should be grateful.
3 Likes
60, which surprised me, as my upbringing felt safe and comfortable, in a nice town with good schools. I think my gender and the decade of my birth, as well as the fact that I didn’t go to preschool were the main factors. wiw, preschool wasn’t much of a “thing” back in the day where I grew up. There was “nursery school”, which was much less academically-focused by comparison to today’s pre-K options. No one really went as most had a SAHM to care for them.
1 Like
I ran the calculator for both myself and my daughter. I was a 70 and my daughter was a 77! I grew up in an intact, financially stable home and only graduated HS. I’ve had quite a few (cough) obstacles along the way in adulthood. My daughter was raised by a single parent, had the typical obstacles financially that are experienced by many single households. Education wise, was always at the top, graduated college and medschool. Many friends and no health problems. Those scores don’t make sense to me. Lots of variables with the questions as well, for instance I grew up in a home that looked perfect, but there wasn’t what I would deem loving support. My daughter on the other hand had a single parent household with financial problems, yet all the emotional support and love that every child deserves to have. I appeared to have the American dream growing up, but it wasn’t. My daughter has accomplished it despite adversity. My take on the quiz is there are many factors that aren’t taken into account for it to be accurate.
Agree—believe the “quiz” to be overly simplistic but a talking and pondering tool. I think my kids had it easier in many ways than I did (and I had it easy), but don’t really know how to weight all their chronic health issues or my chronic health issues which was diagnosed when they were kids.
My S worked 2 jobs for over a decade because he wanted to figure out the best work/life balance for himself. He is pretty with what he’s settled on for now.
- Taking this test gave me an appreciation for some of the great positives that came my way, despite my mom’s, and thus for me and my siblings, descent in social class and economic resources post divorce. We lived in safe and wonderful places, if modestly and I always have had great friends. No preschool, no kindergarten, but intellectually driven parents gave me certain advantages that don’t fit on a checklist.
The two jobs question seems a little odd. The creatives as well as rural folks I know tend to have multiple sources of income, partially to facilitate artistic endeavors and farming life. We don’t do a good job supporting those who grow our food in this country, necessitating multiple income sources. The need for multiple jobs leads to skill levels in many areas however. Think of writers who may be teachers or other professionals till their writing takes off, or farmers who can fix everything imaginable and drive a semi for extra cash. The assumption for multiple jobs tends to be those who drive Uber or work in fast food after working another job for 8 hours.
77 for me and 68 when I answered as my kids- so generationally moving in the right direction, I guess.
3 Likes
I wondered about this, too, so filled the questionnaire out twice – once saying I had gone to preschool; and the other time saying I had not. Same score. I went to nursery school because I missed the birthday cutoff to start school by just a few weeks, and I think my mother wanted me out of the house because she was so busy with my younger siblings. It was play-based, and I remember being outside a lot and that we got pretzels for snack (with maybe milk?)!
H took this and got a 49. I’m not surprised at that.
I wish there was a way to separate the score between growing up and being an adult. I did have a number ob obstacles growing up, but as an adult I have been very fortunate.
1 Like