[Kevin OMalley]

I think it's doable by any kid who sets his mind to it. Even by the ones in the middle of the bell curve of aptitude.

In my current school district, the high school sent out some kind of circular which mentioned that 90% of the kids had passed the exit exam requirements WHEN THEY WERE FRESHMEN. That tells me that 90% of those kids are wasting their time. The only thing they'd be missing by taking advantage of such a program is some physical harrassment, useless peer pressure, and PC policies.

[GSlob]

There is a verse by Igor Guberman, I took the liberty to translate it verbatim (please take me at my word that it IS a verse in the language of the original). I'd say it is pertinent to the topic.
Environment and chance are strong and weighty,
And still genetics trumps it all:
For no matter how much one tortures them with education,
Still barrels do not give birth to Diogeneses...
Renaissance thinker Francesco Guicciardini, too, observed that "Learning inflicted upon weak minds does not improve them, and is frequently ruinous".