[brimble]

Not by much, I'd bet. If at all.

The poster seems to have confused top-tier private schools and gifted programs. Read enough politician and C-suite and such bios and it's very clear what's going on. You practically never see "attended a pretty decent public high school—but was in the gifted program!" Private college prep secondary schools (at the very least—often it's private schools all the way) on the other hand are overwhelmingly the norm in that set.

It's kinda depressing as a parent. If you haven't scraped together 25+k/yr for elite prep school tuition (and, probably, boarding) all your "you can be anything you want if you try really hard!" is kinda a lie. Like, that's still much better than not trying hard and will likely improve your life outcomes, but, looking at the actual world, realistically... nah, sorry, you're probably locked out of a lot of options. There are de facto requirements, and we couldn't afford them. Sorry kid.

Similar story with The Arts. You start looking at the backgrounds of very high-paid artists of all kinds (actors, musicians, even authors a lot of the time if they're considered good and not "merely" popular) and you're likely screwed if you weren't at least one of: 1) born to a family that's already successful at that, or 2) had an expensive and very focused education starting before college. Lots of the successful folks had both of those things. Again: there are counter examples, and it's technically possible to get in if your parents weren't in the arts and you didn't start gigging/acting/attending-an-artsy-private-school by the time you were 12, but realistically you're looking at a serious uphill battle.

[lemarchr]

> Private college prep secondary schools (at the very least—often it's private schools all the way) on the other hand are overwhelmingly the norm in that set.

To which data set are you referring? Data from 2019 found that 80% of Fortune 100 CEOs hold undergraduate degrees from public institutions[0].

[0]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/09/07/a-ne...

[visarga]

I think in most cases supporting kids with money and professional experience is family merit. The family spent money and effort to help its next generation. Maybe they are not rich, just education focused and ready to sacrifice a lot to achieve it. On the other hand having too much family wealth correlates negatively with academic accomplishments.

The complexity of art and math doesn't change depending on how you learn or how rich is your father. Even with support a kid has to gain the same useful skills. What matters is ability, not how the kid got there. They are just kids, everything that shaped society into what it is happened before they were grown enough to have any say in it.

[icedchai]

I was in the 80's gifted program in elementary school (for grades 3 through 6), but went to private schools for jr high and high school. I learned more from public gifted education.

FYI, $25K/year won't get you an elite prep school these days. For that, you'll need at least $60K+.