<p>When I sat in on a stats class at NU, there was a core group of around five people participating all the time. The rest of the class seemed pretty chill with that; no one turned around to stare.</p>
<p>It’s funny because I know a kid in my high school that sounds exactly like the OP. He makes the most random connections and talks for five minutes about how they helped HIM understand a concept. It might be worth noting that they rarely help anyone else. He certainly isn’t the smartest in the class, though he’s not by any means dumb. I’d call him a pseudo-intellectual, if there’s such a word. My point is that people don’t hate him because he’s “smarter”, they hate him because he’s wasting everybody’s time. We want to learn about the material, not about the random workings of some schmuck’s mind. (FYI, I did not apply to UC, and it looks like it was a good decision for me. I don’t mean to bash UC in any way.)</p>
<p>That said, the only kid going to UC from my high school this year doesn’t talk much. I think he’s opened his mouth less than 5 times in english class all year.</p>