I'm from San Francisco, graduated from high school in Cupertino, am an alum of Santa Clara University, and raised my kids in the City. Northern Virginia is a beast I've never seen before. Seems like every single kid is on a travel team, has specialist coaches, takes calculus in 9th grade, and interns in the US senate while in high school. But...my perfectly average kids are doing extremely well...better eve. Which is why I think we've blown it all out of proportion.