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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Like so many straight A students who were chief school newspaper editor, captain of a varsity sports team, volunteering, and more who can't even get to VA Tech. I don't know what people who get into schools like Michigan or the Ivy Leagues are doing in high school. [/quote]

My daughter's friend who got into Yale was an Asian male with a very high wGPA who won Science Olympiad competitions and is an advanced string player.

Straight A doesn't mean anything, OP, you should know this. There is a world's difference between an A in a regular classs and an A in an AP class. [b]Kids who get into the top colleges have 10+ APs, have a national level EC, etc. [/b]Your newpaper editing and team captainship worked a generation ago, but not today. [/quote]

This is sounds exhausting. Kids have no time to be kids.[/quote]

I am 44, and in my European country, high school was a stressful workathon culminating in one heck of a national exam week. I was so stressed out I couldn't eat on the first day of national exams. But that's nowhere near the worst. My cousins come from a country in Asia known for its teen suicide rate due to exam failure. Over there, when school ends for the day, the kids go to afternoon prep schools to cram. I know *elementary school kids* who had [i]tutors[/i] to prepare for admission into the most prestigious afternoon prep schools!!! Separate from their regular school! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?

All to say: don't ever believe the US has it bad. I promise you, even for the kids who take grades seriously... it's still a layabout's paradise. :-)

[/quote]

Huh? [b]My NYC sibling had a tutor for her 2yo to prep for preschool admissions to get into the right preschool that would line up for the right elementary. [/b]That was over 20 years ago. She had two kids - one ended up graduating from Wash U and is unemployed. The other is at an Ivy.

[b]One of my kids had a tutor by elementary.[/b] All had tutors in high school and SAT prep. All took multiple APs, as early as 9th grade. The thing about US education isn’t that it’s laid back - it’s that it’s very individual. It’s a huge country and getting into the top 10-15 schools is very hard - but no one will force you to do those things. There are a lot of less competitive options and that’s where most of the laid back kids will end up. [/quote]

And yet mine and many others are in ivies, unhooked , and got into the "top" preK and elementary, and later magnet high school,  based on testing with no tutor and no prep. Rose to the top. There are naturally intelligent , self-disciplined motivated and focused kids out there. The ivies are chock full of them. Why would any parent have their kid in a school they only could survive with tutoring?
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+100

My unhooked kid is headed to an Ivy.  You could tell from when he was little.  We never tutored or test prepped and he was self-motivated—-but frankly never had to study or struggle like other kids. [/quote]

Next we will be hearing about first chairs at MCYO who never practice. Please. There exist prodigies for sure, and I've met some. Nowhere close to fill top 5, much less top 20 schools.[/quote]

[b]The PP is speaking of not needing to study as much as other kids[/b] and being highly slef motivated at school not music prodigies. The ivies are filled with naturally bright students who sailed through high school without tutors and aced the SATs and APs in the hardest classes. The vast majority of them were absolutely standout 1-2 kids in their high schools, not counting the mega donors or athletes or other big hooks. Well over half there are unhooked and were superstars in their high school. The adjustment that most will just be around average at the ivy can be hard. It is a significant mental toll on some. [/quote]

The brilliant kids I know study most of the time, typically more than average kids. However, they study much harder material, so they perform at a much higher level.

I know a kid who won a silver medal at IPHO as a HS sophomore. It's no secret that he studies all day long, he will tell you this. I don't think he has a tutor in an ordinary sense, but he certainly has a lot of support. You don't get to that level on your own, just like you are not winning the Menuhin by being self-taught.

So, yes, these kids don't need to study much to get a 5 at AP, but they need to study just as much to go beyond that.

[b]I wish brilliant lazy kids were more sought after but I don't think this is the case.[/b][/quote]

I'm active in the profoundly gifted community, and a super-high IQ doesn't necessarily translate into academic success. A lot of super-bright kids walk to the beat of their own drummers. Some of them don't go to college at all. They start businesses in high school or become so good at a niche skill (often programming) that they are able to earn a decent living at 18 rather than going to college. They often become disillusioned with the-rat-race-gotta-go-to-an-elite school perspective. Many of them make rather poor students. There's probably an optimal IQ (maybe 135?) that is ideal for getting through high school with good grades, fitting in well enough to enjoy extra-mural activities, etc. "The system" is not designed for profoundly gifted kids. [/quote]

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