... and I'm coming from the perspective of not only parenting a high school junior right now, but also from a point of believing that there is much, MUCH more at stake than having a child who gets into an Elite College.
Not getting a perfect 4.8 GPA in high school? (Yes, this is weighted, but it's also fairly realistic for most of our kids, who will be taking honors and AP coursework throughout that high school career)
versus...
Not knowing how to be happy with anything less than an instant, low-effort 100%?
Not knowing how to STAY in those elite situations (college, internships, etc.) once the material becomes more challenging and requires study skills/task persistence that the student has never needed to develop?
Ooooooo. Not good. I'll take whatever turns out to be behind door number one, since I can see how that one can be really good. I don't really see how numbers two or three can be healthy or lead to a happy adulthood.
