<p>
I would guess most (but not all) families who do not care at all where their pre-med kids are going to UG must not be CCers, because CCers surely are a paranoid bunch – always paranoid about whether their kids (high school or college) are “ahead.” LOL.</p>
<p>I notice a “trend” at DS’s school over 4 years when DS was there though:</p>
<p>If the kid’s parents are well-established (e.g., already quite sucessful in their own careers but not super rich), (s)he may still choose to go to a cheaper /free school, even if (s)he was admitted to HYPSM. An example: A kid whose parents were both lawyers decided to attend the public school instead of Harvard – which costs too much from his family’s point of view.</p>
<p>However, if the kid’s parents are new immigrants (especially Asian Americans, who happen to be not particularly poor), without ANY exception, the kid will attend one of HYPSM if (s)he is lucky enough to be admitted to such a school.</p>
<p>I think the latter parents are like many paranoid CC parents, who are always concerned about whether their kid will have an “edge” in all stages of their education career or in their future job career. In a sense, these more paranoid parents are not as confident as the parents who send their kids elsewhere in order to save money. An analogy is that some parents just want to buy the “best” things (e.g., the more expensive iPhone instead of other cheaper cell phone, iPad instead of other brand like Kindlefire) for their kids. It is not purely a financial decision.</p>
<p>This is just my observation, based on observing a sample size of just one high school over 4 years or so.</p>
<p>Here, I did not claim that one way is better or worse than the other way.</p>