This takes me back to a Roth meeting in Seattle where he shared a story about a conversation he was having with students over dinner at the President’s house. Three kids, full school support, were complaining a bit that they couldn’t afford to fly home for Thanksgiving (2 I think on the west coast) and they felt left out. He replied, “ok, I can fly you back home for break, but then one of you won’t be here.”
Maybe after reaching $1.65 billion and counting, that’s no longer the case. But it raises a point about how we categorize people. We are financially secure and, other than some private (non-Wes) scholarships we were full pay. We didn’t fly ours 3,000 miles back home for Thanksgiving. We may have done it once and I kind of suggested to her, “you need to go old school and find a friend in Boston and stay with her.” And that’s exactly what happened, and the other one in the NE didn’t need the nudge.
We had a great and balanced experience at both schools. Both kids finally internalized their good fortune for having their UG paid with no debt and for having the other nice things, a car, spending money and ability to go out with friends to eat dinner, nice laptops, etc.
They also attended school with a lot of very wealthy kids, including some from nationally prominent families / famous parents. All of the wealthy kids in my kids’ orbit were down to earth, friendly, generous and easy to get along with. Some of the parents are friends to this day. There was one parent who is a stereotypical Westport Hedge Fundie who really needs someone to kick his behind for a behavioral reset. But he was far and away the exception to the rule. He was also like 5’6", so that probably had something to do with it.
Anyway, for us there was sufficient diversity. My kids never complained really all that much, although the one had a bit of a reaction to the prevailing intense and sometimes competitive northeastern academic culture that sometimes happens with kids from west coast. The other one never blinked an eye.