Howard Gu and Julius Gao of Shanghai will be joining Harvard soon, or so they hope. Mr. Gu and Mr. Gao, both 16, are so-called little princes of industry, the sons of entrepreneurs who each spend almost $200,000 on a multiyear program to prepare their scions for a prestigious American university. The goal is not only to matriculate, but also to excel in college.

    What do they get for their parents’ money? Activities include weekend classes, summer schools and small group trips over three to four years before they start school at American colleges. Their teachers at the program, the two-year-old Leadership Academy Shanghai, are mostly recent graduates from the best universities in China. The instruction style is bespoke and not particularly Confucian: small classes in which students challenge their teachers.

    Mr. Gu’s family runs one of the largest supermarket equipment supply businesses in Asia, with clients including Carrefour and Tesco. He hopes to someday run the business. Mr. Gao’s family’s business is a major domestic player in electronics and real estate. He plans to land at an investment bank after college. For wealthy families that want their scions to take over business empires, the $200,000 price tag of a diploma from a top-tier U.S. college is fine, as is a like-size expenditure on the prep work.

    Special classes for these children are coming into vogue. A government-sanctioned program in July for more than 100 members of this “Second-Generation Rich” was featured recently in state media, with classes on the secrets of handling power succession and lessons on party loyalty.

    China has moved beyond the stage of wide-eyed wonder at one-in-a-million shots at an elite Western university. There are now thousands of privileged students following a well-beaten path. They receive consulting on the entire application process, including tutoring for interviews and essays.

    Mr. Gu said that the academy is only one part of his extra studies outside of his elite Shanghai high school. He is also “practicing how to run a business,” he said, helping his older brother sell wines, mostly to parents of classmates.

    “This can also earn me some pocket money,” said Mr. Gu with an impish smile, “as the stock I bought has gone down.” It sounds like he is already prepared for freshman week at Harvard.

    Source: Forbes

 金钱铺就 “富二代”留学之路

    来自上海的霍华德·顾(音)和朱利叶斯·高(音)希望很快成为哈佛大学的一员。顾和高都16岁，他们是企业的少东家。两人的父母为他们在一个持续好几年的教育项目上花了近20万美元，目的是让他们到美国著名高校就读——不仅是进入，还要在那里出类拔萃。

    他们父母的钱为他们换来了什么？在他们到美国大学就读之前的三四年里，他们将在周末和暑期上课，并进行小团队旅行。上海一家成立两年教育的项目给他们安排的老师都是从中国最好的大学刚刚毕业的。他们因人施教，而且并不是非常儒家式的：班级规模非常小，学生可以向老师提出质疑。

    顾家是亚洲最大的超市设备供应商之一，客户包括家乐福和乐购，他希望有一天自己能够接管家族生意。高家的企业是国内主要的电子产品和房地产企业，他准备在大学毕业后就职于投资银行。对于想让子孙接管家族企业的富有家庭而言，为美国最好大学的学历花20万美元并不是很贵，在准备工作上花这么多钱也是如此。

    针对这些孩子的特殊课程目前正流行起来。国家媒体最近对一个政府批准的“富二代”培训项目进行了报道。该项目在7月份进行，有100多名“富二代”参加，课程包括古代帝王处理传位问题的秘笈以及对党忠诚的课程等等。

    中国已经过了对千辛万苦考上西方大学的学生万众瞩目的阶段。如今，数万名有特权的学生通过一条业已铺就的道路到海外大学深造。他们就整个申请过程进行咨询，其中包括面试和留学文书的辅导。

    顾说，到这家机构学习只是他课外活动的一部分。他还在“练习如何做生意”，帮助他的哥哥销售红酒，客户绝大多数是同学的父母。

    顾顽皮地笑着说：“这样我也能赚些零花钱，因为我买的股票跌了。”听上去，他已经为到哈佛报到做好了准备。