[kidcolin]

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this sounds like pretty much the exact opposite of my high school experience. iirc, no one at my high school was even remotely like this. then again, I am pretty sure no one went to an ivy for undergrad either.

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Sorta same here. I went to a small public school. Total of 600 or so students; my graduating class was 135ish. Two people near the top of the class were sort of like this. A guy and a girl. They were boring and actually not too bright. I think the guy took the SATs something like 4 or 5 times, and had been practicing since 8th grade. I think he eventually squeaked out a high 1300s score (maybe 1400 even). He went to Notre Dame, the girl went to Rensselaer (I got in there (didn't go) trying much less than her and having way more fun, but se la vi). She was smarter than him and pretty smart in general (though no common sense), I just think she invested way more time than necessary.

Most of the rest of the top 10% of the class went to UMass Dartmouth, just 20 minutes down the road. I think this is a problem, too, though. For one girl, it made sense (wanted to be a nurse, they have a great nursing program). For the rest, it shows a lack of "guidance" from our administration. Don't get me wrong, UMass Dartmouth is a decent school, nothing to be a ashamed about. But 7 of the top 10 students going there? 2 of which got a 1580 and 1600 on the SAT and could go pretty much anywhere? Something is wrong with your education system if the brightest kids you're churning out are settling for a small state school.