@41WHB: How are you defining “worth it”? How are you defining “top”?
I think that’s where I differ with many on this topic.
Of course it is anyone’s choice to take the “go big or go home” approach to BS. I just don’t share that POV. I would also argue that these folks are 1. overly impressed by name/prestige; and 2. prioritizing the wrong things in a HS experience/thinking of the BS “ROI” in the wrong terms.
Also to go back to my quote you cite, the OP is talking about “top schools vs. ‘aiming lower’”…NOT Exeter vs. Local Public School. If you’re going to tell me you think a school like Episcopal or Thacher [or insert any BS mentioned with any frequency on the forum that is not Andover or Exeter here] is the BS of “generic State U”, well, then we’ll have to agree to disagree.