But-- ultramarina, if students who were, say, 'hard-working, but solidly average' (but whose parents were utterly convinced that they SHOULD be in those seats) were the majority of her classmates, what could that experience be like?

Because that is the reality for most kids who are HG+, unless they are in magnets for HG+ students. Even in that setting, yes, it is largely the experience for PG students, for whom the gap between themselves and MG is still pretty wide.

It does become a problem when opportunities intended for HG+ students are given instead to ideally advantaged Tiger Cubs, whose parents jockey for openings. Because it means that somebody else's kids don't get those openings. This is where it turns into a SES problem, because those of lower SES lack the resources to TigerParent.


Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.