[quote=sdrealtor]The advantage of attending high API score scores is having more resources (i.e. the kids are a reflection of their parents who strongly skew to higher incomes) because the parents contribute to them out of pocket, being immersed in a more academically comeptive environment and having teachers able to teach to a higher level because they arent worried about their students not having a safe roof over their heads and full bellies.
There are kids that rise above their surroundings and more limited opportunities and quite frankly I have all the respect in the world for those of them (and you) who can do so. Going to a lower scoring school does not doom you to mediocrity just like going to a high scoring school does not guarantee high acheivement in life. But going to a high scoring scoring school does increase your opportunities to succeed. Why would anyone try to think or argue otherwise?[/quote]
Agree with all of this and would add another: connections. Just like attending an Ivy League college, going to the “right” HS can hook you up with the right people who will be in the right place later in life. I saw this up in L.A. where a lot of my friends had parents who were high up in the entertainment industry. Eventually, they got jobs in the industry (because of their parents’ connections), and brought along many of their high school friends over the years. I’m sure you can find examples like this in engineering or whatever the community’s “common industry” is for a particular HS.
