Scott Galloway on Talking About Money, Raising Independent Kids, and Building Wealth | Office Hours

Quick Overview

Scott Galloway advises against relying heavily on college admissions consultants, stating that while his son used one for an $8,000 fee, he personally did not use consultants for his college applications and advocates for students learning to navigate the process independently to build crucial life skills like self-reliance and resilience, which he believes is more valuable than the marginal benefit of consultancy for top-tier schools.

Key Points: Scott Galloway paid $8,000 for a college admissions consultant for his son, but he himself navigated his applications without one. Galloway believes that attempting the college application process independently, even if it leads to minor setbacks like academic probation, builds crucial life skills like resilience and self-reliance. He argues that for elite schools like Stanford, MIT, or even the UC system (where acceptance rates dropped from 74% to 9%), the marginal benefit of a consultant is questionable. The consultant his son used helped with essays and logistics but did not guarantee success, which Galloway views as a potential negative if it removes the learning process for the student. Galloway advocates that parents should not feel pressured to hire consultants, emphasizing that learning to navigate the complex process builds character. The experience of navigating the process independently, even if it involves stress or perceived failure (like his own academic probation at UCLA), is a valuable 'possession' that builds character and financial literacy habits.

Context: This segment of the 'Office Hours' podcast features Scott Galloway and Morgan Housel discussing a listener question about the value of hiring college admissions consultants, particularly when parents have high expectations for their children's university placement. Galloway shares a personal anecdote about his own experience and his son's experience with consultants to frame the discussion around the trade-off between paying for assistance and fostering student independence.