No suggestions on books, but I think there is a market opportunity for therapy here. We live in an affluent community and sent one of our kids to an elite private HS here. Many of the parents went to Ivies and thought either their lives or their kids’ lives were failures if the kids didn’t get into elite schools. A huge percentage of the kids were on anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medications by junior/senior year. Clearly, not all get in. One of my D’s friends who ended up going to a good Midwestern LAC didn’t get into her father’s alma mater (Brown) despite being a very strong student and captain of the skiing team and cross-country skiing team and … . Anyway, she graduated, got a job, and is going to a top 10 law school next quarter.
I went to three of HPYSM and taught at one at the beginning of my career and believe that going to such schools can give a permanent boost to one’s career (in certain fields). But, I advised my son, who is way brighter and more ambitious than the typical top-of-the-high-school-class kid and is severely dyslexic, not to attend an Ivy but instead to attend an elite LAC. He had a great time there and they quickly saw how bright he was and were able and willing to work with his LDs. Reflecting on the school and not with any braggadocio, he said to me, “I loved the school and made wonderful friends there. The only thing I didn’t like was that there weren’t very many smart people there.” And he was including students and faculty. At one level, very silly statement. At another, probably correct. He is now in grad school getting a degree in Computational and Mathematical Engineering and an MBA and says his colleagues in CME are as bright as he is. They are his people in the same way that when I got to college, I said, “There are people like me here.” I hadn’t felt that in HS.
Objectively, there are some good things about at least some of the very elite schools. But, I think that one can do very well without attending them. Reality-based therapy could be a really good thing especially in affluent towns (at least in the Northeast and probably Mid-Atlantic).