Chinese Families Paying to Get Their Kids into Elite, American Colleges

[sanantone]

I saw this article on the sister forum. 

Paying to get your kid into a prestigious school in the U.S. is an international operation. Many wealthy Chinese families have paid to get their children into top schools. One family paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/yu...ctionfront

[jsd]

6.5 million? what kind of return on investment are they expecting to get from Stanford? Fantastic school, but... Why?

[MNomadic]

6.5 million? what kind of investment are they expecting to get from Stanford? Fantastic school, but... Why?

Agreed. I don't understand the obsession with getting into "elite" schools. There are definitely perks from getting into a good school but a smart student can thrive in whatever school they attend and make it wherever. A dumb student will struggle more in those elite schools (unless they're paying people to cheat for them which a lot of them do).

[sanantone]

I know some countries don't have world-renowned schools, but China has some. Maybe bribery doesn't work as well there.

[Supermind]

The wealthy families of China just don’t know what to do with their money. They spend so much on luxury goods, or on gambling! It is good they are atleast spending such money on sending a child to Stanford or Harvard, instead of gambling in Macau! Did you know Chinese are among the top customers for casinos, and Macau island has casinos with stakes way higher than Las Vegas??

[dfrecore]

If you can afford to pay $6M to send your kid to Stanford, your kid really doesn't need a degree from Stanford (or anywhere). Just give them money and teach them how to invest, or start a business, or whatever. Makes zero sense.

[davewill]

The answer is status. They get to brag to their peers that their son/daughter is going to Stanford. Our culture doesn't see it that way, but theirs does.

[Ideas]

Yep, status for their social circle. Because say they have 4 friends with kids going to Ivys. They don't want their kid going to a non-Ivy since it's just a matter of money.

Also, I think they get looked down upon for just having a daughter in the first place. But if she went to a top school it helps.

[Jonathan Whatley]

A Chinese family could reasonably have a different pro-con list than an American family, and it’s not just about ‘status’ or ‘culture.’

For example, imagine you’re a young Chinese citizen interested in working, becoming a permanent resident, and maybe even naturalizing as a citizen someday in a country like the United States, Canada, or – this isn’t just about moving to a Western culture – Singapore. A solid performance at a global elite university seems significantly more likely to lead to employer sponsorship than the same performance at a non-elite university.

[Life_One]

6.5 million? what kind of return on investment are they expecting to get from Stanford? Fantastic school, but... Why?

To certain family's money is no issue and only being the best is. I had the pleasure of meeting a 'Tiger daughter" and read her thesis. She was an amazing and kind person but her home life and what she had to endure was insane by "American" standards they only allowed her to be the best and nothing but.

This person had more accomplishments than my family combined, hell probably most families. The only reason she was at an IVY was because of her parents and they wanted her to be the best. Anything she wanted was hers but if she wasn't top of the class in everything she did, there would be hell to pay.

If you haven't heard the term Tiger parent or Tiger daughter here is a link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_parenting