[crazy2be]

Well, I guess it all depends on what you mean by do poorly in life.

High school valedictorians and child prodigies (especially the former) are disproportionately likely to hold positions of societal power. Just read the bio of any president of the IMF or the World Bank or the Federal Reserve. Essentially all of them graduate university summa cum laude or magna cum laude.

Innovative scientists and people who move the world forward? Perhaps less likely to come from this group, for a variety of reasons.

[Retric]

Sure, when all you need for 'successes' is to be accepted credentials are useful. But, that just means you where picked it does not mean you actually succeeded at something.

It's the difference between getting funding, and not just having an IPO but actually pay real dividends for significantly more than total investments.