Competition is way up now because the stakes are so high. When I was a kid, there was a spectrum of success: people who did well in school and went to college did well as adults, people who did a little well were a little successful, people who did average had average adult lives, etc. We are moving toward a bimodal winner-take-most world. Straight A’s plus good university in the right major and you’re set for life, but come up short in any way and you’re going to end up on welfare or homeless. That’s the message my fellow parents are telling their kids (I’ve heard it in person), and that pressure is the norm. The Middle Class bus only has a few seats left, and you need to do everything at 150% intensity during school to get a ticket.