The impact of family income goes beyond campus social life. Wealthier students can easily turn to private tutors when they are struggling in class, and often have built-in access to their parents’ networks, which they can turn to for jobs and internships.
“People know they want to be rich,” Ms. Mamo said. “That’s the goal in mind, it’s just a question of how realistic that is.”
Growing up in Cohasset, Mass., a wealthy coastal community south of Boston, Dan Toomey knew he was well off. “You would be naïve to think you weren’t born into privilege there,” he said. And he knew U.S.C. had a reputation as a haven for spoiled children, but he has seen little evidence of that.
“Everyone is always pursuing different things, doing all kinds of projects,” he said. “We’ve all been told over and over again: you’re going to be poor, you’re never going to make as much as your parents, you’re going to need to move back in with them. So we’re much more financially sensitive than perhaps other generations.”
This year, Mr. Toomey is living at the Lorenzo, which houses about 3,600 students and bills itself as the largest private student housing complex in the country — and the most luxurious. For students who share a bedroom, monthly rent can be $950 a month, but a private room in a two-bedroom apartment can cost more than $2,000. The upscale amenities are a key selling point to attract students; a private movie theater, a beach volleyball court, nightly aerobics classes and a rock climbing wall. Each apartment comes with a 46-inch flat-screen television, and the Lorenzo website boasts of “spectacular dancing waters that come to life in our Bellagio style interactive fountain.”
But not everyone is proud to call it home. Mr. Toomey said he spends far more time on campus than in the building. Tyler Mazaheri, a sophomore, signed a lease before even seeing his apartment in the Lorenzo, because it was the easiest option late last summer. He cringed when he realized it was just a few blocks away from a welfare office. Soon after he moved in, Mr. Mazaheri clashed with two of his roommates because they wanted to hire a maid to clean the apartment weekly.
“There was no way in the world I was going to do that, it was just a ridiculous thought to me,” he said. “There’s a lot that’s unnecessary there — unnecessary marble in the lobby and unnecessary cars coming out of the garage. Under what circumstances do people in college need a Corvette?”
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