I think the private school kids have a higher percentage of NMS because they had higher IQs to start with - as there is a fairly strong correlation between income and IQ of parents, and a quite strong correlation between IQ of parents and IQ of kids. As we know, drill seems to have 'mixed results' with gifted kids - it benifits some of the time and produces worse results other of the time.
I thought so too, but I've spent time with some of the kids from the top private schools in my area and, while they are bright, they are not driven polymaths. And the private curriculum suffers from the same limitations as the top public schools'. And looking through the curriculum, it seems to peak in intensity and subject matter in the 9th grade with the other subsequent years being a rehash in depth. So, I do think it is just intense preparation rather than sheer brilliance.
I agree with this. We have a number of friends with kids in top private schools. While I'd guess all these people are all above average IQ, only one family would realistically be identified as gifted. Overall this group are people with family money and good jobs through good connections or they are people who have been prepared to work very hard and take risks (and are smart enough that they have been well calculated risks, but not so smart as to avoid the risk all together). To me it's the propensity to take calculated risks that is the common theme in these friends' financial success rather than anything else. From what I understand from all the reading I've done (and I am aware this is a generalization), the gifted population is more prone to being risk adverse and therefore not necessarily more likely to make up the population of prestigious schools (risk adverse gifted parents = not necessarily highest income earners = gifted off spring not necessarily at prestigious schools, etc).
The hard work and risk taking, the desire to give their kids the skills to achieve results are all things that make the kids from those schools high achievers. Also, it's in the interests of those schools to achieve excellent results and so they will ensure those kids get them through rigorous coaching and plenty of support.
I also have a theory (ah yes, another of my personal, untested theories) that what really gets people in to top positions more than anything else is the feeling they deserve it. That kind of mentality means that those people naturally position themselves in their work environment in such a way that they get noticed and validated. Perhaps that is the quality that is hot housed more than any other in elite private schools
