Ivy League Babies: Getting An Early Start

(MoneyWatch)  Want to get your kid into Harvard?
If your child has outgrown the high chair it may be too late.

I didn't know until I read an article at College Confidential, a popular higher-ed website, that some parents are raising "Ivy Babies."

In a piece entitled, Ivy Babies: Preparing for Academic Excellence, Dave Berry, a senior advisor at College Confidential, argues that it's never too late to get little tots prepared for the Ivy League:

In today's elite-college market, the stakes are high - and expensive. The smart move is to implement long-range strategic planning.

Obviously, we're talking really long range. If you aren't plotting your newborn's Ivy strategy before the epidural wears off in the delivery room, it might be too late. No wonder my two kids won't be earning Ivy League diplomas.

Barry urges parents to identify a child's passion beginning at age three. "Passion is the key that can unlock those Ivy gates," he insists. He also recommends compiling an "accomplishment diary" for your little babes.

As I recall, when my 16-year-old son was just a toddler, his biggest accomplishment was being the sole kid in his preschool class who still sucked on a pacifier.

Here's my only consolation:

The eight schools in the Ivy League account for just .2% of college freshmen. Put another way for you non-math majors, 99.8% of teenagers wind up somewhere else.

Parents consumed with an Ivy fetish seem to believe that only Ivy worthy students land great jobs and make incredible career connections. But if you buy that argument, you must believe that only .2% of all jobs in this country are worth having.

You don't need an Ivy League degree to appreciate how silly that sounds.

Teddy bear image by Quite Adept, CC 2.0.