Well, I would argue that no one knows if they're GIGA status until later in life. Everyone in GIGA started out as a kid with a ravenous hunger to learn and achieve that was fed well throughout their lives. I'm sure every one of them had a family that was extremely supportive of their emotional and academic needs. Not every PG++ child presents the same. Einstein for instance.
I do think there are kids HG+ that fall through the cracks that present as severe emotional problems, underachievers, etc. I think my brother and I were both unidentified HG+ kids that languished through elementary school for certain. I did ok in the end, but could have done better. My brother still struggles with anything that requires more than minimal effort. Lucky for him, he's a person with very strong social skills that get him by and he chose to kill off many of his brain cells in college. We went to a private school that touted itself on being academically challenging.
Your use of MN as an example is interesting. I think it is reasonable to assume that someone who lives on the coast, is making more money due to higher cost of living or greater "hunger", is more likely to send donations to Harvard. It's been featured on the news here and I cannot find a link, but it doesn't really pay for people to pay for Ivy League schools and return here. There is not a significant difference between the salaries of a U of MN grad and a Ivy League grad.
It is good to feed your child's hunger and present them with many opportunties in life. But at the end of the day, it really is all about them and what they want to do and where their interests and motivations lie. We know a couple in our neighborhood - both professors with PhD's and quite brilliant. They have 1 daughter who moved to Alaska and became an electrician. So - you just don't know until you get there! I have no idea what her childhood was like, but I'm sure it's an interesting story. I heard at woman speak at the NAGC conference and her child that read spontaneously at 2, dropped out of high school for a time and debates going to college at all.
