> But it’s a few thousand dollars if that (as low as under $1,000) which is reachable to all but destitute families.
Selling my blue collar parents on $1,000 to slightly improve my chances of getting into a slightly better school so I could spend even more money? That’s absolutely not happening. I’d have gotten a pat on the back and told there’s no shame in community college.
I think you misjudge how people see that value proposition. There are certainly blue collar parents who see value in a prestigious education, but most maybe rightfully don’t.
That's exactly what he is saying. There is a huge culture underlying. I came form this background and I personally knew tons of east Asian parents would do this(don't much know about south Asian cultures). They would work in the day, come home and work with children's study. Many even attend their children's tuition classes with them. Education value is held pretentiously in east Asian culture, regardless of the income or whether they are in Asia or in North America.
I even knew many parents are guiding the children to take up programming at a very young age. `Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg went through this. We should to`.
It is a much better school if your goal is to get your kid into Harvard/MIT/Princeton. Thomas Jefferson is comparable to schools like Phillips Exeter ($38k/year) on Polaris List for the number of kids they send to those schools. https://polarislist.com/
You lost me at 'parents'. I grew up poor as shit in a single parent household. Food stamps. Hand me down clothes.
My mom made damn sure that I went to the best possible schools, did all of the afterschool programs (including the expensive ones like band) and went to summer camp. She had to beg, borrow, save and sacrifice to make sure that happened.
If you grew up in a two parent household you're already significantly ahead of the game by a huge margin.
I've got no interest in playing "who had it worse" but I think two or four or even a hundred apathetic parents put a child at more of a disadvantage than a single parent that actually cares.
My parents had literally zero involvement in my education. I was never helped with homework let alone walked through the college application process. My friend literally paid the $50 application fee for me because I couldn't get it from my parents (thanks Paul).
I can't speak to individual circumstances. I've certainly seen your situation and know that it happens. Just in aggregate though, children of two parent households overwhelmingly have better outcomes. In fact it's the single largest factor determining success in life, statistically. Certainly this can be in spite of, rather than because of your parents.
Also I probably mistakenly gave the impression that my mom cared. No. Her values were more that kids should be out of the house every day from breakfast until dinner. If she had left me to figure that out on my own in New York City I just would have been a kid on the street. As soon as I could get a permit to work and earn my own money was as soon as she stopped giving a shit.
this is exactly what's wrong with (poor) Americans. you can go to any east asian country and see how different their mindsets are to yours. they will make damn sure their kids get their best education even if they starve
> But it’s a few thousand dollars if that (as low as under $1,000) which is reachable to all but destitute families.
Selling my blue collar parents on $1,000 to slightly improve my chances of getting into a slightly better school so I could spend even more money? That’s absolutely not happening. I’d have gotten a pat on the back and told there’s no shame in community college.
I think you misjudge how people see that value proposition. There are certainly blue collar parents who see value in a prestigious education, but most maybe rightfully don’t.