DESPERATE TIMES

Rich NYC Families Moving to Rural South to Get Kids Into Ivy League Schools

It’s apparently the latest trend in the frenzied college admissions race among affluent families.

Some wealthy New York City families have relocated to rural areas in the South in a bid to make their children more appealing to Ivy League schools, according to an admissions consultant who spoke to the New York Post. Christopher Rim, founder and CEO of Command Education, told the news outlet the obsession with elite schools has “absolutely gone off the rails.” “Many Ivy League admissions officers are actively recruiting in non-urban areas where there are no students currently applying—which means that talented students in those areas who do apply generally have better chances of admission,” Rim was quoted as saying. He went on to say he’d seen families ditch prestigious New York City prep schools like Collegiate and Dalton in favor of moving “to states like Kentucky and Arkansas for high school.” Other families, he said, tried to get their children started in college prep as early as second or third grade—and one family lied about their child’s age in a bid to get them enrolled while still in fifth grade.