NY Times – Letting Your Grad Student Go

That is, if they can’t apply without Mommy, how will they hold a quarterly earnings conference call with hostile investors, or argue a case in front of a judge?


Parents who are tethered to their children continue to hover over the graduate admissions process — and beyond. They routinely swarm business school tours in the fall and admittance weekends in the spring. Some even show up at law school recruitment fairs, minus the child.

If you ever, ever catch me acting like this, shoot me.

What ever happened to teaching self-reliance?

Step back, helicopter parents, for your kids’ sakes.

  • Otir

    I agree, it’s scary. As a parent with a child who is barely independant because of disabilities, I tend to let his sibling be over independant and I have very little comparison as to what he should be doing at his age though. It makes me feel very sad when I see that other parents are self-imposing so many limitations, and I wonder…

  • Otir

    I agree, it’s scary. As a parent with a child who is barely independant because of disabilities, I tend to let his sibling be over independant and I have very little comparison as to what he should be doing at his age though. It makes me feel very sad when I see that other parents are self-imposing so many limitations, and I wonder…