TTG:
And we are talking about 15- and 16-year-olds. I think back to when I was that age, and, jeez, I was a pretty normal kid, but a years-long goal of getting into a school with a sub 5% or sub 8% acceptance rate, where MANY hooked kids (athletes, URM candidates, very wealthy kids, very famous kids (presidents’ kids!)) will have an enormous advantage on me, with years of striving and pressure, where even a B is a significant setback , well, that might be stressful, and maybe would have kept me from doing just things, which have contributed to making my life successful and rewarding.
Those who go to college as pre-meds will continue the grind for another four years, since B grades in college are bad for one’s chance of admission to any US medical school.