It's such an interesting and frustrating phenomenon honestly. I grew up in an upper-middle class part of the bay, so naturally the public schools were very good. Some friends went on the top of the line private schools and many to UC's. I was just an average 3.3 (which is on the low/mid end for my school believe it or not), so I thought I should go to a state school. It was a mistake on my part. I got there and thought it was a joke. The classes are no harder than what I had in high school (except some of the science classes I took were very difficult). It amazes me how many of the students actually struggle through what seems very elementary to me. So let me stop here and say, I am not claiming I am really smart, I am pointing out that the public HS's that these kids came from did not prepare them for a college education. I am in my last year, but I sometimes feel I should have applied to UC's. It's my mistake. I have a 3.9 GPA and have gotten a few internships throughout the summers, so I am happy about my path. However, it has really showed me how under underperforming our high schools and thus the state school can be. I am not sure if the teachers are worse, if they just don't take the same classes, if there are more problems in the home, or what causes it. I feel bad for these kids, because they obviously didn't get the same education I did k-12 or maybe didn't have a role model to push them. I think part of it is that both my parents had post grad degrees so college was not something special, it was expected. Anything less than a B was a disappointment to my father. Many of these kids are first gen, so I think it is harder for them to adapt. And I do wonder if it also because a lack of time. I work 24 hours a week part time, but many of these students are going full time jobs on the side (but I don't think that is the vast majority).