I think it shows up in the kid not being able to do the school work. DD is in a HG school like Hunter, 7-12. And there are no lower math credits. It is all accelerated. And there are some kids that struggle. We have a friend who's DD was in Hunter and dropped out after 8th grade because it was too hard. She goes to a regular HS now and gets top grades. If you get into Harvard without having the ability to keep up, you won't. There was that book about kids that are MG and top of their school and then get into IVY schools and it is a whole different level and have a breakdown. There is one in our extended family. Had done all AP courses, perfect SAT and went to Princeton and failed physics. Not for a lack of trying, but it was at a whole different level than she was used to. Took a year off and went back and did political science. Nothing against political science, but just saying that if you cannot do the work, it will show. The peer group is mostly what you are going to get at top schools.