Every parent wants the best for their children, especially when it comes to education. But the stress of getting young heirs into top schools starts particularly early and comes at a wildly high price for those in the 1%.

Before little tycoons are old enough to know their ABC's, parents are spending unimaginable sums of money on tutors, language and behavior classes, and consultants to make sure their children get into the best preschools. Ensuring a child's future spot at Harvard can even involve getting recommendations from VIPs, offering to donate large sums of money (or buildings), or hiring after school snack advisers to make sure the kids are eating enough brain food.

And if all of the worrying and positioning pays off, parents have to pay up: New York City's elite private preschools can cost up to $40,000 per year.

Related: How New York's 1% get their kids into preschool

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