kfnpemai

My son has been accepted, but he is concerned that he will not fit in. He is social and athletic. His concern is that he comes from a middle income family and, for right or wrong, W & L is known for an abundance of wealthy students. He had a bad experience when we sent him to a private school when he was younger and that is ingrained in him.

Any words of advice.

FLVADAD

Well, I can't speak on this with any real authority, but from everything I've come across, if he's social and athletic, he should fit in perfectly. I don't think I'd worry too much about the wealth of other students. In the present economy most of us are a little less wealthy these days, lol. Seriously though, in such a small town where outdoor activities are more the emphasis, I don't think economic status is factor that garners a lot of attention or that gets emphasized a lot. I could be wrong about that, but of all the concerns we have, that one is not near the top of the list.

Dima343

Seriously? W&L is not Horace Mann, most students are middle class / upper middle class, and I can't think of a single celebrity / but time politician that sends their kids there. If he is social and athletic, he will fit in perfectly.

beautyistruth

Many if not most of my friends do work study, so they're not that wealthy. There are some really wealthy kids, like at any school, but if anyone were really famous, they wouldn't be going to some school that no one's heard of, no matter how good it is. (There was a senator's son here for a while, but I think he was a senator in Montana or some other place that's not exactly a big name in politics).

Jefferson Davis

Work Study only pays minimum wage. I'm not poor, and when I did it as a freshman it was something to do to fill time that otherwise would have spent procrastinating or hanging out. I could study at my job.

In regard to students being wealthy, I'd say most are well off, but someone could be poor, and I probably would not notice unless he complained about it. Living in Lexington does not require one to pay big bucks for any activity. Parties are free. Maybe he won't drive a Land Rover or have a flatscreen in his room, but so what.

WL2011

Yeah, I do work study, and I'm not poor. I study 90% of the time anyways and it's just something for me to do. It's only 5 hrs/week and it's nice earning a little money

beautyistruth

I didn't say if you did work study, you were poor, just that if W&L students were all as wealthy as everyone claims, they probably wouldn't be doing work study. Plus, it is often part of a financial aid package (which, again, doesn't indicate poverty, just not extraordinary wealth).