Are you raising your sons to be competent ivy league applicants?

[Pizzagirl]

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I started talking to my son about college at a very young age. Culturally, too many non-college like behaviors are expected of him by society. I wanted him to know that he had options, and I started early. Sometimes I see some of the posters on CC talk about their children’s summer camps, trips, special classes, tutoring, boarding schools, etc., and think, aren’t these all a part of getting ready for higher education, even if you don’t call it “talking with my kids about college at an early age.”

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<p>I see a huge difference between talking about doing well in school, valuing doing one’s best academically, stretching and pushing yourself towards your best efforts, being a lifelong learner, and being well-rounded by engaging in other pastimes … and talking about “how you’ll get into the Ivy League.” As has been stated eloquently by other posters, the goal is to become a smart, kind, productive human being, not to get into one of only a handful of schools. I came on these boards very Top-20-focused and I’m glad from interacting with the many smart people on here that my worldview has widened considerably from that.</p>