We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their experiences as non-rich kids at wealthy schools. Here's what our readers had to say:
1. "It sucked. We used my uncle's address, and my mom worked two jobs. I went to school an hour away, but she couldn’t afford to keep a cellphone on. Sometimes, I sat around for hours. Sometimes, I went to friends' houses. Sometimes, I found rides home. But every day was filled with uncertainty."
"My clothes were always the worst off. I couldn’t afford all the extras these kids always had. I was also too embarrassed to bring kids home most of the time, and when I finally got the courage to do so, my friends' parents wouldn’t let them go to 'that kind of neighborhood.'"
2. "I went to a private, all girls high school with under 250 girls on campus. Seniors got to paint their parking spaces every year. Guess who was the one senior without a car? Not to mention, a senior without a BMW/Mercedes/Tesla that their parents bought them junior year."
"Being at such a small school made it even more obvious that I was the one girl who couldn’t afford such a luxury. I made it through that high school on a scholarship all the way."
3. "The birthday parties were so over the top. 'Wanna come to my birthday party? My parents are throwing it at the summer home.' I was lucky to get a cake."
4. "My school had an honor cabinet that I desperately wanted to be on. I won the highest number of student votes and faculty votes. The head of schools vetoed me because I didn’t have enough 'school spirit' (code for parents haven’t donated). The girls who were approved by the head of schools, despite getting fewer votes, just happened to be donors’ kids."
"One of them asked me to help her cheat on an exam, while she was on the honor cabinet, in front of two other members. Several of the others used to sneak alcohol into their rooms and had fake IDs. Not only were they never disciplined, they kept their HC roles while doing all this. Their parents had set up scholarship funds, and the school had to make sure the girls had something on their resume to get them into a good college."
5. "I went to a boarding school and a private school in Munich. I could never afford the expensive trips they went on during trip week, so I always did the local ones."
"When I was older, I was invited to a friend's 18th birthday party. She had gone to a far posher boarding school than myself; celebrities' children went there. They were all talking about what to do in their gap year. Some were going sailing on mummy and daddy’s yacht, some were helping children in Africa, some had scored internships at very well-known places. They asked me what I was doing for the summer, and my reply was I was going to hang out at the pub and possibly go camping."
6. "As a first-generation college student, going from a tiny rural high school to a private liberal arts college was definitely a culture shock. My classmates would spend the summers in NYC or London while I waitressed back in my hometown. It was basically an introduction to worldly middle and upper class people for me."
7. "I went to a private high school where 95% of the students came from wealthy families. The cars they drove, clothes they wore, vacations they went on...these girls were not denied. While they let you know that you were beneath them, it was the teachers who really sucked."
"The way they kissed these students' asses, just because of the money the parents donated to school. But when it came to the poorer students, the teachers had no issue whatsoever shaming them in front of everyone. It always amazed and puzzled me how society could shun those who are less fortunate. Just because we don't have money doesn’t mean we are lazy. Glad high school is over. Went to a reunion, they just picked right up from where they left off. Will never go again!"
8. "I was a day student and lived an hour away, and I worked two jobs to help cover expenses. My friends were rich boarding students — had their own credit cards, got clothing deliveries every week, had custom prom gowns — with no commitments outside school. They were pissed I couldn’t take them off campus every weekend (because I had a JOB and lived an HOUR away).
"They used to pressure me to take them off campus for smoothies or fro yo on weekdays. None of them ever offered me a penny for gas or to buy me food or drinks, even though I only ever had water while they had some gourmet snack. I didn’t realize until after graduation that I was their chauffeur, not their friend. We did not keep in touch."
9. "Most of my friends had 3+ car garages and/or pools. Some people didn’t relate to going to public pools as a kid because they only knew their own house pools."
10. "It never really became a problem until we all got to be about 16/17, and then slowly, money became a bigger and bigger issue. By the time I left the school, I'd lost most of my friends because of it. As we started to get more freedom, we wanted to go out and do things. But I couldn't afford to."
"I remember a big fight when we wanted to plan a group dinner to celebrate something, and I couldn't afford the place they wanted to go. So, I suggested some other places, where my family had gone for celebrations in the past. These were all branded 'chavvy' (British slang for lower class), and I was basically told I should go without lunch for a few weeks to save up.
For years after, I had a pretty effed up relationship with money because all I really learned as a kid is that if you don't have money, you don't get to have friends."
11. "I never invited my friends over to my house. We lived on the other side of the city, which was considerably less nice than the old money area that my school was in."
"I wasn't ashamed of my family, but I knew it would put pressure on my parents if my friends came over. Instead, I always hung out at my friends' places. My friends all knew I was there based on scholarship and financial aid, and they're some of my best friends to this day. However, visiting their first, second, third, and even fourth house or seeing the way their houses were triple the size of mine really hit home that we lived in different worlds."
12. "I went to an upper class high school, and the first time I ever saw a $100 bill in person was when it was casually in a friend’s wallet. I was amazed."
13. "My parents are immigrants; they spent all their money on my education in the hopes of me achieving the American dream. That meant we hardly had any money leftover for food and necessities, let alone braces to straighten my crooked teeth or frivolous things like makeup. Meanwhile, the girls at my school had all the money in the world for their hair, nails, eyelashes, etc."
"It really messed with my self-esteem. Now, as an adult, I realize how superficial that stuff is. But as a teenager, I believed I wasn’t beautiful, when, in reality, I was just poor."
14. "I was the only kid in my French class who didn't go on the trip to France. It sucked because the month leading up to the trip, the class was all about what to expect. I asked my teacher if I could go to the library because I shouldn't have to sit and learn about a trip I'm not going on. The teacher told me that I had to deal with the consequences of not being able to afford to go."
15. "I felt like everyone around me was living true lives while I was living 'life lite.' I was always embarrassed when they talked about all the places they traveled to (the first time I flew was when I was 19)."
16. And finally, "I went to an elite girls boarding school in the UK. I remember one girl on her laptop looking at bags during a lesson, and she turned to me and asked which one I thought looked better. I picked one, and she said, 'Meh, I'll take both.' It was when she was at the checkout that I saw the prices. I literally watched this girl spend over £6,000 with one click."
"What was most shocking was how they were out of touch with reality. Living in such a small, closed environment created a bubble where real-life problems never had to be faced."
Were you a poor kid at a rich school? What was it like? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.