<p>Yes, I am obsessed. The world is quite different than the one in which we grew up. In my small town, a middle class young person of my generation who didn’t go to college, or to a very good college, could nonetheless earn a decent wage at one of the textile factories, one of the meat packing plants or dairies, as a bank teller, or working at one of many thriving mom and pop stores downtown. This is no longer the case. In my state today, you can’t actually live on minimum wage or even a bit more than minimum wage. As people realized the economy was changing, more and more students started attending college to earn the required BA or BS. Community colleges popped up to fill the gap for the students with less money or insufficient academic preparation.</p>
<p>Before long, too many people had bachelor’s degrees, so now master’s and PhD’s are needed when 4 years of university had been enough–unless those 4 years are done at HYPS and friends. Indeed, many of my son’s high school classmates found themselves jobless after graduating college. Some are unemployed, and some are working at Starbucks. Others are going into debt to attend grad. school without really wanting to, in the hopes that an advanced degree will remedy their situation. Some of them went to mediocre state schools, and many failed to acquire the now essential career-related internships while still in high school and college. Silly children; they thought a summer job at Target was good enough to demonstrate work ethic. </p>
<p>An exaggeration? Somewhat. But I am definitely invested in this because I have to be. My parents are suffering financially because my father who never got a college education was put out of work in his 50’s by the flight of clothing manufacturing overseas. When he should have been at his peak earning potential, he reverted back to minimum wage and the night shift. We ourselves aren’t exactly on Easy Street. Our home is falling apart around us and we can’t afford to fix it. I want better for my kids.</p>
<p>What I see is that an elite college education allowed my son to obtain a well-paying job after graduation–a job that pays more than his father earns after 28 years in the work force. Thanks to his Ivy League degree, he didn’t have to invest money he didn’t have, to obtain a grad school degree that might not ever pay for itself or allow him to pay off his student loans. (Besides, our region doesn’t need more lawyers!) So yes, I was a little obsessed about D also getting into a good school. She did, and has already obtained some nice internships which put her well on her way to a more financially secure life than her parents have. We are not affluent enough to not care where our children attend college. It’s too important to their future.</p>