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Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case from my experience. In my city the best magnet elementary/middle schools are already asking kids where they want to go to college. The best high schools in my city have "college prep" at the end of their names for a reason.

Community college, especially in larger cities, definitely is underrated.

edit: redundent wording.

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There's a vicious cycle to Community College that I don't think can be readily overcome. Essentially boiling down to network effects. It can't be overstated how much you gimp your career (and to a lesser extent life) by isolating yourself from top performers. From who you're eating lunch with, to the research presentations you can sit in on, to the companies that come in person to recruit; there are huge advantages to going to a top university that are tough to put a dollar amount to. Telling high performers "I guess you're too poor to benefit from these resources" seems to be counter productive (both to them and to the rest of society that could benefit from exposure to their ideas).

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