I think peer group is also key. When you apply to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, you get a different peer group than at Penn State. Like in my DD's HS. There are 2 test levels to get into her school. The only math available is accelerated. There is no lower level type classes that you can get in a regular high school if you are not strong in math. It is not about surviving but thriving. Like that book that talked about kids that were MG hard working, getting perfect SATs, great grades and then getting into a top school and having a nervous breakdown. The peer group is so above what they are used to in their school in the midwest. (using a known example but the situation was in the book) This kid could have gone to Penn State and excelled but went to Princeton and failed physics. After getting a great grade in AP Physics. And not because she didn't try. at DD's HS, they teach math differently. There was that article about top schools teaching math. I mentioned it to a math teacher and he said they do that already. They have always done the curriculum that way, integrating problem solving. So does it matter, yes, I think it matters what school, what peer group and that can make a difference. In DH's core freshmen housing group, the success rate was very high to achieve an upper class income and job satisfaction. There was the one guy who became a manager at Sears, but otherwise, highly successful 7 out of 8. That was Harvard. And it doesn't seem unusual for that school. I don't think you get the same statistics from Michigan State, taking 8 kids from a housing group and seeing how they ended up. Would 7 of 8 end up as corporate lawyers and doctors? Why they show starting salaries are higher for those graduates. We can argue whether making money makes you happy, but I am not saying you have to be a billionaire. But I find financial security is calming for the nerves.
