September / October 2007
Raising Harvard
Photographs by Walter Smith
When it comes to getting into Harvard, it’s a hypercompetitive jungle out there. Do you really want to know what it will take for your child to make the grade? Then read on. But be warned: Raising a Harvard-ready child requires planning, determination, discipline—and a lot of money.
Tutor Time
(3rd Grade, ages 8-9)
Private tutoring has become as urgent for prodigies as for kids who’ve fallen behind. At $50 an hour and up, tutors promise not just to help kids catch up to their peers but to surpass them. It’s a four-billion-dollar business with four to eight percent annual growth rates in the past four years, according to Eduventures, a Boston-based education consulting firm. Sylvan Learning has some 1,100 locations in North America; Kumon boasts 1,400 math and reading centers. KnowledgePoints, founded in 1999, generates $92 million a year in sales. Harvard-focused parents should schedule their children’s tutorials between weekly cello lessons and equestrian classes, as children begin to select the hobbies through which they will later achieve distinction.
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