Everybody gets an A at Yale

[Dr_Paprika]

I do think this is a problem if people are avoiding challenging courses, or just studying Swift (the satirist), because they believe even one or two fairly good mark would lessen their professional options. That ain’t right.

[msmith537]

@MandaJo

@msmith537

I think there’s a lifestyle, prestige, and class component to it as well.

I think we are talking about similar things. Basically, there is a very specific vision of what “success” looks like. My higher income kids, who meet that standard, or who are at least close enough to see it in their families and communities, are aiming at that. What’s really noticeable to me, though, is my low income/first gen kids who go to highly selectives don’t really start out that way. They see moving into the dorms, where they share a bedroom with only one other person and a bathroom with only 5 other people as a pretty serious step up in the world. But within a year or two, the majority acclimate. They still have no real idea what an affluent life is like, not really, but they get the message that this is the next rung on the “success” ladder and they want to climb it. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be where they are. If “success” were defined differently, they’d chase that. These are very bright, motivated kids, but they aren’t super great at reflecting on abstract qualities of what success really is. For one thing, they are still very young, and in any case, the ones that wasted time thinking about things like that instead of cramming SATs never get that far.

I do wish the highly selectives had some sort of counter-narrative to this, but for all their recruitment pitches to the contrary, they seem to be as bought into this vision as anyone else.

LOL I remember when I was in my 20s being one of those ambitious new hires at some consulting firm’s “new hire start class”. It’s pretty exciting to be in your 20s, showing up to clients looking like a dickhead in a fancy suit, having money to go out and do stuff, not have to work in a fucking bar or restaurant. Life shouldn’t ALL be about money. but having money has afforded me the opportunity to do some pretty awesome stuff with the people I care about.