When his dad threatens to cut him off financially, a bad boy rich kid must graduate his senior year at a strict prep school, only to fall for the principal’s daughter.

DPG - I've been studying this one and only just realized you've contradicted yourself.
** Loglines are about objective goals, not subjective needs. **
Months back - you said that the action goal/outside story/objective goal is not a hard and fast rule in a logline. That sometimes it can be a subjective need (as long as the hook is strong.)
They want to get to LA.(action goal.)
They want the money. (action goal.)
They want a kidney. (action goal.)
They want the girl. (Subjective goal. I personally see nothing wrong with this - as long as the hook is strong and unique.)

They want to graduate (an action goal. not thrilling but it's there.)

Also - some of your tone in this suggests you really don't like rich people. All of which makes me think of Sorkin's words - "be careful who you listen to. make sure they're not trying to write your script the way they'd write it."

DPG - thank you for your notes (and for challenging me and helping me to develop the idea.)

I think quite possibly it's the I.I. is wrong and yes I agree about the high stakes.

(The stakes I'm suggesting might work for the script but not for the logline. Interestingly I kept thinking about Sorkin's Jobs. Why should we care about this guy who is at times - quite unlikable? Why should we care about the stakes if we know what will happen. Sorkin says "you need to understand why the stakes are so important to him." - paraphrasing.)

Regardless - I do want to want the stakes as high as possible.

Or serious jeopardy: It’s not clear that the love interest is a major threat. Yes, she’s a complication, but how is she a potentially fatal one? *** agreed.

And if he threatens to embarrass his family, well, so what? They got money. They’ll survive, even prosper. ***
agreed. My best idea here is that the dad's a politician and his son is ruining his campaign. (But I dunno.)

What does his family stand to lose *materially* if he flunks out? What is their skin in the game (besides ego)? *** my other idea here is that "When his dad threatens to cut him off permanently".

Indeed, isn’t breaking free from parental authority, defying their expectations a *central theme* of the coming of age genre? *** I kind of felt he could do this as the end. The idea is that his dad accepts him back because he won the race. But the kid doesn't want his money/superficial love. He'd rather make it on his own.

I'm fiddling with these two for now...

1. When he attends an elite prep school, a bad boy rich kid must or else
2. When he falls for the principal's daughter, a bad boy rich kid must or else.

Right now - I'm outlining and quite literally on the scene list. First draft starts Monday. I dunno. It might be a bit foolish to push on if the concept is a little muddled. Half tempted to write on - see what I discover.

Have a good day.

Yes, taking the current logline at face value, I don't get a sense of high stakes .

Or serious jeopardy: It's not clear that the love interest is a major threat. Yes, she's a complication, but how is she a potentially fatal one?

And if he threatens to embarrass his family, well, so what? They got money. They'll survive, even prosper.

What does his family stand to lose *materially* if he flunks out? What is their skin in the game (besides ego)?

And as I figure you know, it can be a point of pride to embarrass one's parents, to subvert their plans and expectations.

Indeed, isn't breaking free from parental authority, defying their expectations a *central theme* of the coming of age genre?
Ultimately, doesn't he have to answer to his own expectations for himself, not theirs?